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Century Media Records
Website:
Voivod
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As a young teen I was always
captivated by bands like Captain Beefheart, Magazine,
Hawkwind, Zappa etc... bands that were different and often
somewhat strange when compared to their more run of the mill
(and often boring) contemporaries. I also loved thrash/speed
metal so it was only natural that I would become a Voivod
head, and I did, big time.
I think I first saw Voivod live in the arse-end of
1986, when they toured with Possessed and Deathrow,
promoting their second album, ‘Rrröööaaarrr’... yeah you
don’t get many lineups like that anymore. I may have seen
them earlier but can’t recall. Over the next 34 years I
probably notched up about 15 to 20 Voivod gigs and am still
fucked off that I didn’t see them in Little Devil a few
years ago. Anyway, fucked-offness aside, Voivod have always
been a great live band, with the possible exception of a few
lame years in the mid to late 90s - I remember a
particularly tame gig in Rotterdam, actually. Got drunk
instead... well would have anyway but hey ho. In my (not so)
humble opinion the Canadian space rockers are one of the few
heavier bands around who I personally would label as truly
original... instantly recognisable, markedly different,
infintely interesting and, of course, galactically
traveling... and still traveling the rifts in the space-time
continuum after forty-odd cosmic years. Thank the old, cold
ones for that!
So, as a lifelong fan a new Voivod live album is always a
treat and this is their fourth! You can ignore their first,
‘Voivod Lives’ (see earlier comment on lame years), although
it is worth listening to hear Piggy play live (the other
three live albums are all with Mongrain on guitar). Of the
other two live albums, ‘Warriors of Ice’ and ‘Live at
Roadburn’, I prefer the former. However, the fourth, ‘Lost
Machine’ actually may just edge it for me, even though we
have no Denis D’Anour (Piggy, replaced by Dan ‘Chewy’
Mongrain ages ago) and no Jean-Yves Thériault (Blacky,
recently replaced on bass by Dominic "Rocky" Laroche). I
really like the choice of tracks, thirteen in all and a
pretty representative slice of Voivod history... some weird,
some wonderful, some wicked, some like you’re being
violently tossed off by a six-armed, patchouli-wearing space
succubus, dressed in a latex catsuit, after having chomped a
cocktail of acid and E, washed down with a few shots of the
green fairy... ermmmm, anyway, more on my smutty fantasies
some other time, space fans!
I’m not gonna go into a detailed review of every track, it’s
all been said before, but crank up the volume and listen to
the first track, ‘Post Society’... it’s spacey intro with a
heart-monitor-nod to 1987’s ‘Killing Technology’ (one of my
favourite metal albums of all time) - ‘we are connected’ -
quickly makes way for a chunky, semi-distorted bass riff (I
love the way a bass guitar sounds like a bass guitar should)
which is then joined by classic Voivod guitar riffing and
the ever-present, tortured vox of Snake! Excuse my French
but it’s just fucking brilliant... the riffs, the
change-ups, the freakishness. There isn’t a band on earth
like Voivod and bands that attempt to sound like them always
fall short, hopelessly. A few tracks are particularly
noteworthy... ‘Into My Hypercube’ (from 1989’s
‘Nothingface’, my second fave Voivod album), ‘Obsolete
Beings’ (from 2018’s ‘The Wake’ (see my review)), ‘The Prow’
(from 1991’s ‘Angel Rat’ - God I love that album), ‘The Lost
Machine’ (from 1993’s ‘The Outer Limits’ - brilliant too)...
actually, they’re all just great coz it’s the mighty Voivod!
Buy it, download it, rip it, do whatever you like, as long
as you listen to it... you will soon find yourself floating
through an asteroid storm somewhere in a galaxy far, far
away.The production is pretty damn good for a live album
too... it’s clear, it’s dirty, it’s heavy and it’s fucking
Vvvvvooooooooiiiiiiiivoddddddd. Enjoy! (A.J.)
PS, dear Voivod, sort it fucking out, why isn’t
‘Nothingface’ on Spotify??
85/100
Tracklist:
01. Post Society
02. Psychic Vacuum
03. Obsolete Beings
04. The Prow
05. Iconspiracy 05:21
06. Into My Hypercube
07. The End of Dormancy
08. Overreaction
09. Always Moving
10. Fall
11. The Lost Machine 05:51
12. Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover)
13. Voivod |
