ANGEL RAT

Well, this was my first Voivod album I bought around '93 and I was blown away. It was completly different from the bands I knew, but I liked what I heard here and started to collect Voivod albums and became a 'Vodhead' (who spread the Voivod virus accross the universe).

This is the last album with original bassist Blacky who decided to leave due to musical differences and career opportunities. This is the middle album from the 'prog holy trinity' and Voivod newbies often think about it as the most accessible, soft and commercial album. Yes, the song seems to be easy and simple but actually understanding the album and enjoying it in its entirety is not that easy! Comparing the music what you can hear on this album with the previous ones ("Nothingface" and "Dimension Hatross"), the whole style changed; "Angel Rat" is a different approach. The journey from chaos-thrash to prog-rock was not so long.

Tracks like 'The Prow', 'Angel Rat', 'Clouds in my House' and 'Freedoom' are so unique that I wouldn't know what to compare it to, very Floyd-ish sometime (this is just a feeling, there are not any straight musical similarity or only minor) and very 'spacey', the typical ethereal Piggy-chords made this music so unique, some parts easily could be the soundtrack of the history of Universe. ('Nuage Fractal', 'Freedoom') Most of the lyrics are based on a book written by James Gleick, "Chaos. Making a new Science", which is a good introduction to fractal-geometry and chaos for non-professional readers.

If you have never heard voivod,and your tastes run towards the so-called progressive metal subgenres,this album will most surely satisfy. This album is not metal, "Angel Rat" is progressive rock, so here is the chance to start your Voivod collection (well, it can be difficult, I think it's out-of-print for a while). I call your attention once again: understanding the songs is not so easy!

Highlights: Clouds in my House, The Prow, Best Regards, Twin Dummy, Angel Rat, Freedoom

9.5/10