PHOBOS

Phobos continues the aggressive metal path Voivod had chosen on Negatron, and I always thought it was as bad as that preceding album. But when I picked it up two months ago for reviewing and listened to it for the first time in 10 years, I was totally blown away. How could I have entirely missed the point? Another 20 listens later and I can safely say I'm deeply in love with it. A strange evolution, but on the other hand, this is a Voivod album that devides Voivod fans so it's maybe not too surprising being devided over it myself.

Voivod joins Neurosis here in creating a dense and difficult type of metal that was years ahead of its time. More then a decade after its release the visionary sound and influence of this album is so evident. To give one example, the extreme metal band Intronaut, a recent favourite of mine, must have played this album to bits. At the risk of being bashed from all Voivod forums and discussion groups for ever and after, I must admit this album works a lot better for me then the critically acclaimed Nothingface. It's much more organic, aggressive, dissonant, harsh and spacey.

Why this album is so good:

A number of vintage Voivod elements that had been absent for years, have been properly restored, mostly the more progressive Voivod features: their unusual time signatures, the highly dissonant riffing and the cosmic delay and reverb effects on the guitar. Also their drive and rage are back. Much more then on Negatron, which was an uninspired return to their thrash roots, Voivod manage to convey an inspired intensity here and launch their more aggressive side successfully into space. Because of all this, this album could have been a logical continuation of Dimension Hatross.

And the voyage continues, the album adds a lot of new elements as well, such as the high level of 'industrialization'. The sound is cold, harsh and unmelodic, the vocals are screamed and distorted and the rhythms are mechanical and hypnotizing. Voivod must have had their ears open to bands like Neurosis and probably even Nine Inch Nails. There are also occasional sidesteps in psychedelic realms. Members of Voivod have often claimed to be big kraut rock enthusiast. Well, this album would be the first though to let in some of those influences, especially in the more natural and hypnotizing flow of the songs. The title track is a good example.

The album is far from perfect though and there are sure reasons why it can be and off-putting experience. Many songs suffer from Eric Forrest gruff vocals. He has grown a lot since Negatron and avoids his earlier death metal clichés in favour of a more Snake-like delivery. But still, his tone can be grating, especially when he tries to be more melodic. Another problem might me the raw drum sound, it works perfectly on the repetitive grooves of most songs, but when faster drumming is required, as on the 21st Century Man cover, the drums sound too much like tin cans and break the tension on this not very inspired cover.

Yes, I'll go as far as committing pure sacrilege and rate this higher then Nothingface. I prefer its organic power and spacey sound. It's not as good as Dimension Hatross or the more melodic Outer Limits but it comes close. Well, I may get back to you in five years and tell you otherwise. I indulge an evolving taste as much as I like evolving music.

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