KATORZ

In times of "Silly Clones" of legendary rock'n'roll bands and rock revival times, Voivod contribute in their own unique style to this new trend and create an amazingly fresh rock'n'roll record with ten heavily addicting and straight songs. They are all killers and no fillers and the young and modern "Motörhead" or "AC/DC" clones may just get blown away by this album of the good old Quebeckers. They have just lost one of the best guitar players in the world during the writing session of the album, but this album has nothing about sadness or goodbye. Voivod are digging the grave for the modern rock bands, but they live a very personal resurrection after the one-dimensional and dumb self-titled album. After thrash metal, progressive metal, extreme industrial metal and alternative rock, this diversified band goes rock'n'roll.

The amazing straight opener "The Getaway" already shows that this album works best when you play it on a warm summer day at a maximum of volume in your car. "The X-Stream" goes in the same direction, has an amzingly tension filled chorus, interesting breaks and would have been a perfect single in a very positive meaning of this term. Nobody who likes good rock'n'roll would be able to not amazingly adore this song. "Polaroids" is my third favourite song on this album and is the most diversified one on the album because it has all the trademarks which made Voivod what they are today.

But "Polaroids" is a little and fresh exception because the rest of the album offers really straight and good rock'n'roll, only some sound effects and samples in the end of some songs show us the connection to the band's addiction to science-fiction and the story about the Voivod creature which had found its end with the last album and just before Piggy has passed away. Liberated from the conceptual perfection, the band really breaks free on this album and tries something new even if this style might not please to most of the fans of the band's progressive era.

Personally, this is maybe the best hard rock or rock'n'roll album I have ever listened to and it has still slightly Voivod trademarks. The band has gone into another universe and jumped the period of experimentation and transition as this first rock'n'roll album of the band goes straight in your face without any warning after the faceless alternative rock reunion album.

Originally published on www.metal-archives.com on October 6th of the year 2010.