DIMENSION HATROSS

Voivod is so technical that the "thrash metal" label didn't describe this music on all of it's aspects. The avant-garde rhythms and dissonance chords made Voivod some strange blend between Metallica and Captain Beefheart. A sticker on the front cover gives the following description:" Canada's nuclear Metal Warriors. More Psychedelic Than Ever. THE CULT LIVES!"

This is the kind of metal band that plays on metal festivals and most of the headbangers go away, because they don't know how to handle this strange kind of metal. Only some fanatic progressive-minded metalfans stay and are having the time of their lives! This did really happen when I saw Voivod on a Dutch metal festival. This record was my only knowledge of this band at the time and I did really enjoy the show. Voivod played several songs of this record and I was really surprised that their last song was a metal cover of Astronomy Domine of Pink Floyd; I didn't know this was one of their greatest hits!

This highly technical metal band still have some catchy moments, especially on side one which is my favourite side. Denis Belanger seemed to be the perfect vocalist for this band. His vocals are different then most vocalists in the trash metal genre and have something in common with punkvocalists. This fits quiet well in this anarchistic metal act. Within the strange rhythms in all pitch spectrums there are also some technical solo's. This band just really knows how to handle this complexity!

The second side contains some less catchy riffs and that's why I'll stick to the four star rating. This record is recommended for metal fan's with a affinity for complexity and avant-garde approaches.