By Avinash Mittur
Folks have been going around calling Voivod’s new album, Target Earth, a comeback. For it to be a comeback however, Voivod had to have gone away or become stagnant first. If anything, the 2000s have perhaps been some of Voivod’s most consistent years. The three records in this period, the self titled album, Katorz, and Infini, have been strong, respectable slabs of mid-tempo thrash (the self-titled album is a particular standout), and saw the band more confident in their songwriting abilities than ever before. Though the band lost their brilliant axeman Piggy, Voivod continued to forge on with live shows featuring original bassist Blacky and a new guitarist Chewy in tow. Voivod have certainly been a force to be reckoned with in the last decade, but their first release without Piggy is the true test of whether they can carry on without him. Luckily for all Voivod fans out there, it is nothing less than an absolute pleasure to say that the current lineup of Voivod have proved themselves worthy of carrying on Piggy’s legacy. Target Earth isn’t merely a great Voivod album, it’s their finest album in two decades and it stands tall among the genre-defying classics this band has produced in its prolific career.
Much has been said of Blacky’s return to the band for this album, and the guy manages to leave his mark right from the get-go. His signature “blower bass” kicks off the title track, and the rest of the band makes an understated entrance into the album. Snake’s raspy and lithe vocals are familiar, as is Chewy’s riffing, which recalls the more recent efforts from the band. At the moment, this isn’t anything we didn’t hear off of Infini four years ago. And then the track pulls a total 180 halfway through- for the first time in twenty years, we hear weird riffs on a Voivod song and Snake starts singing about space invaders. The Voivod that fans knew in the late ’80s is back in a big way, and for the rest of Target Earth the band maintains that sound. On ‘Kluskap O’Kom’ the guys even reach back to the Killing Technology-era with a classic d-beat drive and some choice double bass from drummer Away. The excellent mix from Sanford Parker has to be mentioned at some point here. The recording itself sounds very modern, but unlike far too many metal albums these days, every instrument is perfectly audible. Blacky’s bass is always present, and Away may as well be firing cannons when he hits his snare. One almost gets the feeling that this is what Nothingface would sound like if it had been recorded with modern technology, especially considering the fact that both records feature near-perfect mixes.
Voivod’s return to the progressive thrash sound is perhaps best heard on track four, ‘Mechanical Mind’. The song goes through more twists and turns than Voivod have attempted on any one song since ‘Jack Luminous’ from The Outer Limits, and sees Snake giving one of his most varied and diverse performances as a singer. His atmospheric narrations, rough shouting and his signature nasal crooning are all on display here, and help make a track that recalls many classic moments from the Voivod canon. When Voivod were at their most progressive decades ago, they sometimes forsook their thrashiness (the jury’s still out on whether Angel Rat is their sellout record or a prog-rock masterpiece). On ‘Mechanical Mind’ and ‘Warchaic’, Voivod return to a level of heaviness and intensity that hasn’t been seen since Dimension Hatross; this lineup of Voivod has the progressive ambition of The Outer Limits-era of the band, but also the ferocity and viciousness of Killing Technology. Just check out ‘Corps Estranger’ for a pure, undiluted thrash attack that hasn’t been seen from Voivod in twenty five years.
The new guy Chewy has done a superb job of not only bringing Voivod back to their progressive era, but also infusing just a bit of speed and adrenaline into that style. Only a truly diehard fan of Voivod’s classic albums could have possibly composed a song like ‘Kaleidos’, which revisits sounds heard on Angel Rat and the sheer weirdness cultivated on Dimension Hatross. To fill the shoes of Piggy and move Voivod into the future, Chewy is quite clearly the man for the job. Blacky’s return to the band is also most welcome. With zero disrespect to Jason Newsted, who did a fine job on the last three Voivod records, Blacky’s “blower bass” was something that the band has sorely missed for far too long, and hearing him drive each and every song while Chewy flies off into Piggy’s jazz-metal realm is nothing short of exhilarating.
Target Earth is the Voivod album many fans have been waiting for years and years. The band’s recent output is nothing to scoff at, but Target Earth will likely make more Voivod fans happy than any album of theirs since Nothingface. Though Target Earth doesn’t feature the intensely focused musical vision of Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross or Nothingface, there isn’t a bad song in the bunch and the songs are all full of small details that reward dedicated listening. As of now, this is one of the most complex and intelligent metal releases of 2013, and it’s an album that has more and more to offer with every listen. Considering the adversity Voivod had to face in order for Target Earth to be made, it’s not only an immense achievement that the album exists to begin with, but also that it is an all around outstanding record. Piggy’s spirit and weirdness live on in Target Earth- wherever he is, dude’s probably rocking out to this album along with the rest of us.
Rating: 9/10
Related: Voivod Drummer Talks About Making Of New Album ‘Target Earth’
Record Label: Century Media
Release Date: January 22nd 2013
Track Listing:
1. Target Earth
2. Kluskap O’Kom
3. Empathy For The Enemy
4. Mechanical Mind
5. Warchaic
6. Resistance
7. Kaleidos
8. Corps Etranger
9. Artefact
10. Defiance
Links:
Voivod Official Website
Voivod Facebook Page