THANK YOU FOR THE OUTER LIMITS LOVE!!!!! I absolutely love this album, and I cut my teeth on "Nothingface" back in high school & bought "Dimension Hatröss" after a Hard & Heavy segment. Always debated "The Outer Limits" over "Angel Rat" with my friend Jarno, and I'll revisit "Angel Rat" due to your score... as well as add "Killing Technology" to my Discogs wish list! Keep up the great work, bro, and do what you wanna do. I've had my long hair off and on for my 50 years, currently on and long-ass goatee, but you look like a progressive Anselmo rn. Keep up the positivity!
I'm a huge Voivod fan. Proud they are fellow Canadians, and I have to say I think you nailed it with the ratings! The early albums are great, 90's stuff is good, mostly underrated in my opinion. But the last few albums are amazing! a combination of modern recording tech, song writing and instrument proficiency. Amazing stuff. Keep up the good work man.
I seem to enjoy The Outer Limits more than some people. It’s actually one of my favorites from them along with albums like Dimension Hatross and Nothingface. Synchro Anarchy is definitely my favorite of their more modern work. The Wake is pretty good too. Nice review👌🏻
For a long time I didn'tt dig the Outer Limits much either and even liked Angel Rat a lot more. It's grown on me a lot though and I love it now. Also, I can't agree with meltdown that it's front-loaded -- in fact, the last two or three tracks are among my favourite. 'We are not Alone" is bloody awesome. I do think the Outer Limits is missing one particular thing, and that's maybe a part of what held me back from it for a while. The distinctive "Blower" Voivod bass tone. Even Angel Rat has it. But then Blacky left and I don't know if its really Piggy or a session guy on bass, but while you can hear it fine, it's just not got that special Voivod rumble and clang than the bass always has.
Finally, Robert Fantano from The Melon Meltdown! Angel Rat is beautiful, probably because when i discovered this album i used to live in a cold and rainy city bordering with the sea (The Prowl being a good example), so many things from that album fit very well with that time . The Outer Limits features my Voivod song of all time: Fix My Heart. I think what made Negatron great was the fact that the band went heavier again but updated for the 90s, with Nanoman being a banger. Phobos is... Weird, not something easy to take, although i enjoy the album, specially Bacteria. Now with the Chewy era, he's truly the Piggy sucessor. Is not easy substituting an anchor member in the band, but the band nailed bringing a guitarrist who's very into Voivod sound. That thing just extended the life of the band for more years to come. Great video!
I said it in the server and I'll say it here, Phobos is the best for me, it's so heavy and sci-fi like, I love it! I'll defend this album till I die. Forlorn goes harder than it has any right to.
Looks good dude... And if Anna approves it is all good. I need to try Voivod again. Could never really get into them way back when... My tastes have changed since then so who knows?
definitely go back and re listen with new ears my friend, maybe start with Dimension Hatross and if you like it go forward or back to the other styles? its well worth it
Voivod is definitely one of thrash's most interesting bands out there. I enjoyed their last album from last year but haven't explored much of their other discography. Definitely will do so soon. Also digging the new look LOL
Fantastic analysis and explanations. Too many reviews culminate in “this record is great” with no detail on why it’s great. Took me many years to get into Voivod but when I finally did I was floored by their unique style. Can’t get enough of them.
Because of this channel I know Voivod exist. You pointed me towards Synchro Anarchy, which was so good I checked out Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross, and Nothingface soon after. DH is my current favorite in the discography, but damn it all slaps hard.
I personally love The Outer Limits, one of my favorites. Fun fact, when it came out, it had 3d glasses and a little comic drawn by Away(I think he might do all the artwork) Nothingface of course was great, also really dig The Wake, and Synchro Anarchy.
I got into Voivod back in 1988 when I found Dimension Hatross at a used store. I would say that from Killing Technology through Outer Limits, they were fantastic. I love that stretch of albums as much as anything. And for the Angel Rat naysayers, I want to remind them that "alternative metal/rock" was really not even a term quite yet when the album came out in 1991, so it's reconning music history by claiming it is such. Angel Rat to me still sounds different than anything else that came out in that era because Voivod was so distinct. I generally agree with most of the ratings here. The last two albums in particular are so damned good that it's stunning. I hope they have a couple more good ones left in their system.
Very enjoyable video for a great band. I really like a lot "angel rat" and "outer limits" although dimension and nothing face are my favorites with killing technology and the wake close behind them. Their last was also incredible.....
I came to Voivod late (2 years ago). I think if I had gotten into them young, I'd hold the thrashier stuff in higher regard (Killing Technology definitely being the best balance of that early career) but for me, it's all about Dimension Hatross and Negatron. The angularity and cartoon weirdness of Hatross is spot on for my taste, and Negatron is a great left turn into genuinely menacing territory. I even dig Phobos a fair bit for the same reason, even if the album feels like it's dragging a lot. Anyway, good ranking.
Really glad you finally did this. My bottom ranking would be much easier than the top ones. i havea really hard time deciding between favourits. One for every mood I guess. I personally think the early 90s albums are both great, and I believe Angel Rat in particular has been treated with more kindness in the last bunch of years, which is really deserved. My least favourite Voivod album (and I should stress that I don't really dislike any of them as such) is very definitely negatron. And I pretty much feel the exact opposite from you it seems -- Phobos is amazing to me and I really love that album, and for me it's 150% better than negatron. it's also I think Voivod's darkest and scariest album in some respects. Couldn't agree with you more about Syncro Anarchy though. What a masterpiece. Will be interesting to see if in ten years you feel the same about all these albums. They're definitely not the easiest band to get into (I loved War and Pain and Killing Technology right away but a lot of other stuff, especially Nothingface, took quite a while) but once you find the groove and it clicks, I think you become a fan for life.
Actually you look more badass with a shaved head! As for Voivod, I have the 20th Anniversary CD reissue of War and Pain, but I need to invest in more of their catalogue. I'm actually kinda surprised you didn't wear your Killing Technology shirt for this review. Anyway, cheers!
Dude, you’re looking good, even better. When it’s time, it’s time. Had the same experience… in my late 20s… On another note: have you thought about adding some clips to your videos? It’s really convenient when someone is not that familiar with the output of a band.
Killing Technology blew my mind when I first heard it. It literally sounded like nothing I had ever heard before, but my favourite Voivod album is Dimension Hatross. I love the trio of Nothingface, Angel Rat, and The Outer Limits. I checked out around Negatron. Which is funny because I was really into industrial metal, cold wave, and EBM. Now I feel kind of silly because I'm listening to Negatron now and it's heavy AF! I just couldn't get into their 00s stuff. They didn't catch my attention again until the Post Society EP. This latest album (Synchro Anarchy) is good, really good, but the guitars sound kind of limp and are mixed too quiet. Otherwise, they got the magic back.
I see the Oli Rae Aleron cosplay is coming along well. Memes and goofs and gaffes aside, i dig the new look. Now Voivod is a band that didn't click with me TOO much, same can be said for Synchro Anarchy, but hey, nothing a revisit can't fix, right?
Dude, Great video,i'm agree with almost all ypur scores only with phobos i disagree, i love this record so much, and like you said, angel rat it's a great album,but it took me almost 25 years to finally accepted,now i love it.
Okay, yeah, it's an old video, but I'm gonna comment because Voivod is my favourite band of all time and it's not even really that close. Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross and Synchro Anarchy are all 5/5 albums for me. So, I have a few other comments. - You're correct that the Batman cover sounds tacked-on to Dimension Hatros. That's because it is. It wasn't on the original vinyl or cassette releases of the album, only on the CD. This was 1988, so most fans were not buying this thing on CD at the time. It was common practice to tack a bonus track or two onto CD releases in that era to make people think it was worth buying into this new and revolutionary medium. I don’t know if it was ever stated to be a bonus track but in effect, that’s what it was. - I was a bit of a stubborn teenage Thrashin’ Jackson type (well, not quite that bad) when Nothingface came out, but I had still absolutely loved Dimension Hatross the moment I heard it - it's maybe leaning away from thrash a tad but it's still pretty intense and relentless in its own way. It was Nothingface that was my “I don’t like this because it’s not heavy/thrashy/intense enough” moment. I’ve since seen the error of my ways, this is an amazing record. I also now love the next two, which I more-or-less disregarded when they were released. - Like you, the Jason Newsted area left me cold at the time. I thought it was boring… at first, and for a long time. He’s the thing, though. I was wrong about that, too. It took me a decade or longer to discover the true Voivod spirit in these three albums, but it’s definitely there. It really is. There’s a run of four tracks on the second half of the self-titled album that really started to hook me in after a couple of listens on revisiting the album - Les Cigares Volants, Divine Sun, Reactor and Invisible Planet - my appreciation for these albums really expanded out from there. I've come to really love these albums now. There’s now no Voivod album I can rate lower than a 3.5 (on your scale).
I love the self titled I guess b/c it was my introduction to Voivod. I saw them at Ozzfest and was convinced that this was Newsteds new project (having no idea that they were already a thing and had been banging out records since I was wee) so I definitely don't feel the same as everyone else about self-titled. Now that I've wrapped my head around their entire discography...my favorite would be either Hatross or Synchro (which is just amazing to be coming from guys in their 60s.)
absolutely yes for me KIlling Technology number 1. Its the ultimate point of the raw angular thrash and hints at next era prog without going too far into it. I love dimension Hatross as well, but KIlling Tech is uglier (therefore more in my wheelhouse). xx
You shaved!? Oh... I wasn't serious when I said Disturbed had an open member slot for a new vocalist. You didn't have to--- I'm sorry I should've have not let it get this far.. No, I'm jk. I was listening to Mutoid Man for the first time yesterday to see how they were, I'll go back, and check out their discography. 💅🏾🤘🏽🎃🎸
Wow, Thank You for doing this. Roughly agree with most of Your takes. Except: I´d give the first 2 albums 0,5 to 1 less - and: I´d praise the shit out of Voivods most underrated album: Phobos. I really like, how they have that little bit of a Godflesh vibe on it, which i think suits them very well. Oh yeah, and i prefer Dimension Hatröss (favourite) over Killing Technology (No2), but that´s ... whatever. Overall, Voivod are not among my alltime favourite bands, i do like them, i did spend a lot of time with them, but somehow i always had the feeling like, they were onto something, but not quite there yet. A feeling like they were up to scratch an itch in my liking, but not exactly doing it. Then Vektor came along with their Terminal Redux, and i finally knew, what i always wanted to get from Voivod, but never really did. Finally having that, i could approach Voivod with a new mindset and finally appreciating them for what they really are. And that´s cool. A band we still can expect great things from. How many bands would have broken by the loss of Piggy? Replacing him with Chewy was a monster move. The point where respect borders on awe.
Woah, looks like you followed in the footsteps of Jamie and Questy with the shaved head. In all seriousness though, Voivod is amazing and are pioneers of tech thrash; long before the likes of Vektor and Cryptosis even came a long. Every album ranges from good to amazing. Here’s my scores for each one: War and Pain: 3.5/5 Rrroooaaarrr: 3.5/5 Killing Technology: 4.5/5 Dimension Hatross: 5/5 Nothingface: 5/5 Angel Rat: 4/5 The Outer Limits: 3.5/5 Negatron: 3.5/5 Phobos: 4/5 Self-titled: 3/5 Katorz: 3/5 Infini: 3.5/5 Target Earth: 3.5/5 The Wake: 4/5 Synchro Anarchy: 4.5/5
Ngl you look badass Af with the shaved head. You’d look like the type of fucker that would drink Jack Daniels straight from the bottle, beat up Nazis and mosh your head off in the pit Voivod are one of my favorite thrash bands of all time arguably probably top 3 for me. I looove their original take of Motorhead, Discharge and Kreator meets King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Pink Floyd take on progressive thrash metal. Piggy is one of my favorite metal guitarists, his style is so unique and totally was his own. Snake is one of the most unique vocalists in all of thrash metal S++:Dimension Hatross, Killing Technology S: Synchro Anarchy, The Outer Limits, Phobos A: The Wake, Rooooaarrr, Target Earth B: Katorz, War and Pain, Voivod C: Angel Rat, Nothingface (Controversial I know) D: Infini, Negatron
Holy shit, dude! Gonna' have to get used to bald Robert. You kinda' look like Henry Rollins or George Clarke from Deafheaven or even a tattoo-less Damían Anton Ojeda from Sadness, Trhä, Life and like a dozen other black metal and emo/shoegaze-adjacent projects.
