VOIVOD
I’ll make this review quick! Do you love the ‘Killing Technology’, ‘Dimension Hatross’ and ‘Nothingface’ era of Voivod? If the answer is yes then buy this album. Thanks. What...you want more? Oh, okay then! ‘Target Earth’ is the 13th (not unlucky for this band) studio album from Canadian thrash prog masters Voivod and is a veritable smack in the mouth for anyone who thought that the very sad passing of Denis 'Piggy' D'Amour in 2005 would signal the end of the band. In fact, it not only honours his incredible talent beautifully but if I didn’t know better I would say he was actually playing on this. Of course they have released two studio albums ‘Katorz’ (2006) and ‘Infini’ (2009) without him but these were using tracks and pieces of music that he had himself written. ‘Target Earth’ is the first full ‘Piggy’ free album and, with all due respect to Jason Newsted who handled bass duties on those albums, there are two reasons why ‘Target Earth’ is so damn good. Firstly, the return of original ‘Blower’ bassist Jean-Yves ‘Blacky’ Theriault has reunited the remaining three original members of the band and his incredible bass lines have given this release that classic Voivod feel that had been slightly missing. Secondly, ‘new’ guitarist Daniel ‘Chewy’ Mongrain has more than done his homework when it comes to emulating the style of ‘Piggy’ whilst still taking the sound of the band forward. This guy is an absolute find and one listen to the solo on the opening title track will leave you in no doubt as to his ability; in fact, it gave me goose bumps.
Everything you could possibly want from a Voivod album is present in spades. I’ve always been astounded at how this band can essentially play what appear to be four different songs at once but still make it sound beautifully melodic in a robotic and angular manner. As ever, the vocals of Denis ‘Snake’ Belanger are jarring but hauntingly gorgeous at the same time and the astounding rhythms and time signatures of Michel ‘Away’ Langevin make me want to hang up my own sticks in despair. They have always been considered the thinking man’s thrash band and whether this release will actually gain them many new fans I don’t know, but for the thousands of Voivod fans already out there who were either worried that they couldn’t release an album without ‘Piggy’ or were looking to see what they could come up with next, their prayers have been answered. This is easily the best thing Voivod have recorded in twenty years and coincides perfectly with their 30th anniversary. To finish this I’ll quote from the press release: Voivod have found “a place of rebirth, rejuvenation and respect” and long may it continue.
Everything you could possibly want from a Voivod album is present in spades. I’ve always been astounded at how this band can essentially play what appear to be four different songs at once but still make it sound beautifully melodic in a robotic and angular manner. As ever, the vocals of Denis ‘Snake’ Belanger are jarring but hauntingly gorgeous at the same time and the astounding rhythms and time signatures of Michel ‘Away’ Langevin make me want to hang up my own sticks in despair. They have always been considered the thinking man’s thrash band and whether this release will actually gain them many new fans I don’t know, but for the thousands of Voivod fans already out there who were either worried that they couldn’t release an album without ‘Piggy’ or were looking to see what they could come up with next, their prayers have been answered. This is easily the best thing Voivod have recorded in twenty years and coincides perfectly with their 30th anniversary. To finish this I’ll quote from the press release: Voivod have found “a place of rebirth, rejuvenation and respect” and long may it continue.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Century Media
Album
TARGET EARTH
Review by Rick Tilley
RUNNING TIME:
56:42
RELEASE DATE:
21st Jan 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 Étranger
9) Artefact
10) Defiance
2) Kluskap O'Kom
3) Empathy for the Enemy
4) Mechanical Mind
5) Warchaic
6) Resistance
7) Kaleidos
8) Corps Étranger
9) Artefact
10) Defiance
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Canada
"...for the thousands of Voivod fans already out there who were either worried that they couldn’t release an album without ‘Piggy’ or were looking to see what they could come up with next, their prayers have been answered."
