Description

Black vinyl. Limited 500 copies

In 2005, the metal world had to bear some terrible news; Denis Piggy D’Amour of Voivod had passed away from cancer. It was a crippling blow to Voivod. Their driving force, the one that gave them creative ideas and kept the band’s creative juices flowing was no longer with them. It would only mean the imminent demise of the band, and fans would have held their heads down saying There goes another one, just like Death. But as it turns out, Voivod’s story had a happier ending. They would recruit Daniel Chewy Mongrain of the death metal band Martyr and soldier on with him at the creative helm. The result was 2013’s Target Earth, an album that came out of the blue and gave fans a sense of the renewal and rebirth of Voivod. You would think that replacing a guitarist that was completely ahead of his time would not be a good decision on the band’s part, but Chewy really had an idea of what Piggy would have written had he still been with them. He must have studied his work real hard, cos he knew what diminished and augmented chords and arpeggios were when he joined Voivod. He incorporated those techniques into the music, making it sound as if Piggy never even left. Songs like the single track Kluskap O’Kom sound so much like Piggy’s work, it would do him real proud. The album also marked another major change in the band’s line-up. Gone is Jason Newstead, who had been with the band throughout the ’90s and 2000’s, and in comes Jean-Yves Blacky Thériault. His booming bass guitar work can be heard on the interlude on this track. Blacky knew Voivod’s sound well, as he was a founding member of the band that had known it better than Newstead, so I guess that adds to Voivod’s rejuvination in Target Earth. Also parts of Voivods signature sound are the progressive elements. There are approximately two to three different tempos in Kluskap O’Kom, whereas Macrosolutions to Megaproblems on their Dimension Hatross album had more than five. It might not be much to take away from the band’s sound, but the change is still somewhat noticeable. The Kluskap O Kom track has some fractious thrashing riffs and some weird punk influenced throat singing. Overall the track is addictive, with its great, haunting chord pattern, nice escalated mutes that make you feel like you’re on the edge of something alien, larger than life, and then the great use of the backing, percussive gang shouts that don’t sound similar to any they’ve used in the past. Not to mention, they pack better riffs into this 4 and a half minute piece than most of the longer tracks that dominate the Target Earth album. 30 years later, Voivod might not be revolutionary anymore but they are still unique and any Voivod fan should immediately grab this release.

Track listing:
1. Kluskap O Kom
2. Kluskap O Kom-live in Berlin, Germany at Cassiopeia on October 16th, 2012