aglasshouse Rrröööaaarrr is a very interesting followup to the band's 1984 debut album. It's certainly an improvement in recording quality, as even though the band remains firmly set in lo-fi thrash territory, their abandonment of the then-young Metal Blade Records for the even younger Noise Records kept them there while also making them sound better. The music has an overall presence that it didn't have before, all while retaining the garage-thrash feel they obviously are going for. But the inability for the band to leave their comfort zone creates an album that is more or less a continuation of War and Pain, even featuring an almost identical album artwork that, instead of featuring the band's mascot, depicts a rusty looking robot instead. There is not that huge of a boundary leap in terms of maturation of sound, and instead Rrröööaaarrr just makes it seem like Voivod's trying to pull the same trick twice.

Granted a maturation is shown in a few areas, like the song-writing's ever increasing gravitation towards progressive eclecticism that would sprout particularly in the coming albums, and in general there's a better selection of fun songs. 'Ripping Headaches' in particular is to me the most aggressive bit from the whole piece, showcasing not only vigorous power but also a few interesting tonal shifts that do well to pique my interest and come back often. Said tonal shifts would become commonplace of course, so it's fun to see the early stages of Voivod's massive appeal. Also it has a great guitar solo, plain and simple. 'Horror' is another good track that would have better fit on the first album in terms of lyrical value of combat and vicious, otherworldly conflict, and also has some of the best guitar-work of the album in whole. But that aside, Rrröööaaarrr is an album that, if the band didn't have an explosive epiphany following it, almost seems like Voivod running out of ideas. Like War and Pain, it doesn't really have the chutzpah to rival something like Dimension Hatröss. But I will say that it comes a bit closer to doing so.

UMUR "Rrröööaaarrr" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod (and one of the releases in metal featuring the most cool album title ever). The album was released through Noise Records in March 1986. Voivod originally formed in 1981 and released two demos before being signed by Metal Blade Records for the release of their debut full-length studio album "War and Pain (1984)".

"War and Pain (1984)" featured a filthy and noisy heavy/speed metal style and a chaotic and lo-fi sound quality, and in many ways that sound is continued on "Rrröööaaarrr". "Rrröööaaarrr" is however slightly more sophisticated than it´s predecessor both when it comes to the songwriting, the performances, and especially when it comes to the sound production. The latter is still very raw and quite noisy too, but it´s sharper, and more detailed and powerful than the sound on "War and Pain (1984)".

While the basic heavy/speed metal sound of the debut is pretty much intact, there is audible development of the band´s sound to be heard on "Rrröööaaarrr". The tracks are actually slightly less catchy and occasionally even a bit harder edged than the music on "War and Pain (1984)". "To the Death!" is for example the most thrash oriented track in the band´s discography, but with the improved production values, "Rrröööaaarrr" is still more easily accessible than it´s predecessor. It´s not an easily accessible album by any means though. The tracks take a while to tell apart, and Snake´s voice and raw punked singing style is probably an aquired taste too. There aren´t that many catchy choruses and hooks in the music either, and the greatest assets here are the raw energy and badass attitude which oozes from the raw rhythmic assault, the above mentioned vocals, the hard edged rock´n´roll on steroid guitar riffing, and the rumbling distorted bass attack.

The sci-fi themed lyrics and imagery which would become a more fully developed feature of the band´s sound on the subsequent releases is also present here, but many of the tracks are more focused on other subjects like violence, praise of heavy metal lifestyle, and horror. In addition to the above mentioned "To the Death!" other highlights include "Korgüll the Exterminator", "Thrashing Rage", and the "subtly titled" "Fuck Off & Die", but it´s generally not an album where the tracks stick out much and the style and quality of the material is pretty equal throughout. Even to the point where it´s slightly one-dimensional.

So upon conclusion "Rrröööaaarrr" is a pretty strong sophomore release by Voivod. The songwriting could have been a bit more varied but the raw musical performances and powerful sound production pull in a positive direction, and to my ears it´s a definite step up from "War and Pain (1984)". A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

The Angry Scotsman Rrröööaaarrr is a purely thrash metal album. As if the album name wasn't metal enough, just look at that album art! This is thrash metal to the core. Very fast paced, held together with thrash beats, and lots of double bass with blazing guitar solos sprinkled throughout.

There are some interesting things I noted about this album: The bass work is pretty good, and for thrash metal there is very little tremolo picking. Instead most of the guitar work are chords instead of pure tremolo picking. I rather like it. Gives the album a kind of frantic feel to it.

My personal favorite songs are: Slaughter in a Grave and Ripping Headaches.

However, while is a thrash album with some intriguing playing, it does sound a bit uninspired at times. The vocals are honestly pretty bad. The sound quality, (though for me not an issue) is not too good.

Overall, fast. Lots of thrash, double bass, face melting solos but also some interesting stuff for a mid 80's thrash metal band, if you really listen. Decent album.

Two and a Half Stars

kluseba This album is the only album in the whole Voivod discography which isn't an improvement or a change in style in comparison to the previous album. This is a very fast, aggressive thrash metal approach with some dark, hypnotically and almost industrial approaches, an interesting mixture somewhere in between the sound of their idols "Motörhead", "Megadeth" and "Venom" plus an unique approach, the special certain something that this band always had and will always have.

This one sounds really much like the first album minus some really catchy and energetic songs. It seems to me that the band has written about twenty songs and put the best ones on the first album and the weaker ones on this album to present as fast as possible something new to their record label and their fans.

While there is nothing innovating about this album, I must admit that it really addicting, straight, easy to listen to, compact, energetic and agressive. Voivod sound very heavy and motivated and there is a certain "live" sound on this album that goes straight in your face, even more than the more diversified and interesting debut album. This is what makes this album interesting and why I would class it above an album like "Voivod" and not talk about it as the weakest one in their discography.