I’ve been a fan of Voivod for decades. But I never saw them live when I was most into them (late 80’s). Then after Denis “Piggy” D’Amour’s death in 2005 I assumed I never would.
But amazingly they found a guy who plays guitar very much like Piggy did–a bizarre hybrid of prog, metal, dissonance and eerie harmony. That man is Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain. Chewy is able to play Piggy’s parts. And his new parts are very much in the style of old Voivod, but are certainly his own (his soloing style is definitely different for instance. And since recording songs with him in 2013, Voivod have been touring fairly regularly. (They played Philly in 2015 and 2016–to see them at the Black Box in Underground Arts would have been amazing!)
For a band that’s been active (in one form or another) for over 30 years, they still had a lot of fun on stage. If there’s one thing I love it’s seeing a band enjoying themselves.
Strangely, in the 30 years that they’ve been together, nearly everyone has been replaced (with some returns), and there have been a number of styles. (more…)
After all of the Dave Grohl love I’ve been sending his way, Grohl went and fell off a stage and broke his leg. But, he is so badass (and such a thoughtful musician), that he went to the hospital, got his leg fixed up and went back on stage to finish the set! Holy cow.
This is amazing (and he must have incredible endorphins (or something else) to be able to do this (the video is long because it shows his re-arrival):
Grohl has always been very open about his love of heavy metal–and the liner notes here go into pretty good detail about he bands he grew up listening to. He wanted to create a kind of tribute/dream lineup album of metal vocalists. As far as I can tell he was sitting around and banging away riffs and every time he got one that he liked, he recorded it. He eventually added bass and drums and made demo tapes out of them. Then he contacted some of his favorite metal singers from when he was a kid and asked them to write lyrics and sing.
I assume that Grohl sent the demos that sounded most like the bands to the appropriate singer, because so many of them are spot on for the original bands. The Venom song sounds completely like Venom (Cronos’ bass certainty helps) and it’s one of the best songs here. I don’t know Sepultura that well, but the music fits perfectly with Cavalera’s style. And this song is just fantastic.
The Lemmy song sounds unmistakably Motörhead, again possibly because Lemmy plays bass, but the riff is pure Motörhead. It’s another great song and one that the Foo Fighters have played live.
The song with Mike Dean is very punk, very C.O.C. It’s followed by another punk/metal song from D.R.I. This song also matches perfectly with Brecht’s style of singing on the more metal side of D.R.I..
Lee Dorrian used to sing in a guttural cookie monster growl with Napalm Death, but in Cathedral, he turned to proper singing. I don’t know Cathedral, but the main riff coupled with the twin guitar solo notes from Thayil make a great epic song, especially that mosh section in the middle (I didn’t think Cathedral did mosh but whatever), although at 6 minutes it does go on a bit.
I also don’t know Wino, so I don’t know if this is the kind of thing he sang on, although I do hear a bit of Saint Vitus vibe from it. There’s a really long middle section which is interesting for the backwards guitar solo, and while it’s a little long, when it comes out of that, the heaviness is really great.
Tom Warrior is a fascinating guy with all kinds of tricks up his sleeve, so the weird industrial sound on top of the heavy bass is pretty interesting. There’s no way Grohl could hope to emulate Voivod’s Piggy, so he doesn’t even try. Rather than playing up to Voivod’s proggy style, he goes deeper to the heavier stuff. And, perhaps it’s Snake’s voice, the bridge sounds very Voivod. The chorus is more poppy than what Voivod might do, and yet it’s a great song. Voivod’s Away also designed the album cover.
I loved Trouble when I was in high school, although I don’t really remember them that well now. This songs sounds bit more classic rock than metal (and I recall Trouble being pretty heavy), and yet Wagner’s voice works very well with the style. I just read that Trouble went through a more psychedelic period and the middle section ties in nicely with that, so maybe this is inspired by later period Trouble.
Grohl says he was excited to get King Diamond, and who wouldn’t be. Kim Thayil is back to create a suitable Mercyful riff (although it could never live up to the classic Fate). But the mid section’s doom riffs are right on. The song showcases some of the King’s vocal acrobatics, although not quite as many as I could have used (there are some excellent high-pitched notes in there though).
There’s a bonus track at the end of the disc which features Jack Black doing a suitably funny but accurate metal tribute.
This is a really solid heavy record that lets some classic metal singers back on the scene. There won’t be a second Probot record, but there may not need to be one anyhow. I also like that he picked some slightly more obscure singers rather than the obvious Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson type of singers, even if they would have also been interesting).
“Centuries of Sin” (feat. Cronos of Venom)
“Red War” (feat. Max Cavalera of Sepultura)
“Shake Your Blood” (feat. Lemmy of Motörhead)
“Access Babylon” (feat. Mike Dean of Corrosion of Conformity)
“Silent Spring” (feat. Kurt Brecht of Dirty Rotten Imbeciles)
“Ice Cold Man” (feat. Lee Dorrian of Cathedral and Napalm Death, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden)
“The Emerald Law” (feat. Wino)
“Big Sky” (feat. Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost)
“Dictatosaurus” (feat. Snake of Voivod)
“My Tortured Soul” (feat. Eric Wagner of Trouble)
“Sweet Dreams” (feat. King Diamond of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden)
“I Am the Warlock” (feat. Jack Black of Tenacious D)
[READ: February 13, 2015] The War at Ellsmere
I’ve enjoyed Hicks’ books in the past–both the ones she’s written and the one’s she’s simply illustrated. In this book she does both which means you get big eyes and the dark hair.
As the book opens we meet Juniper, a girl who has just enrolled in Ellsmere Private School. We meet the headmistress and learn the history of this beautiful school (established in 1810). And then we find out that Juniper is there on a scholarship (merit based) and that Juniper is well aware that she will likely be there to “liven things up for the blue bloods.”
When Juniper meets her new roommate Cassie (who hears her talking to herself), Jun immediately goes on the defensive–until she sees that Cassie is actually quite a nice girl. (Nice, Jun, you just insulted Bambi).
But it’s during the orientation that we meet the real antagonist of the story–Emily, a pretty blonde girl who immediately insults Cassie and calls her “orphan.” When Jun gets involved, it suggests that it will be an interesting year for all of them. (more…)
I had never heard of this band until I saw the song mentioned in the article. The song is impossibly fast with speeding guitars, super fast (inhuman) drums and an indecipherable growl as vocal. In other words, a typical cookie monster metal song. And yet, there is a lot more to it and, indeed it took me several listens before I could even figure out what was happening here, by which time I had really fallen for the song.
There’s a middle section which is just as punishing and fast but which is basically an instrumental break–not for showing off exactly but for showcasing more than the bands pummel. It has a short guitar solo followed by a faster more traditional solo (each for one measure, each in a different ear). Then the tempo picks up for an extended instrumental section. The melody is slightly more sinister, but it sounds great. There’s even a (very short) bass solo that sticks out as a totally unexpected (and fun) surprise.
Then the growls come back in, staying with the new melody. The vocals are so low and growly that they are almost another distorted instrument rather than a voice.
After that there’s a lengthy proper guitar solo. As the song comes to a close, it repeats some previous sections before suddenly halting. It’s quite a trip. And it definitely makes me want to hear more from them (whatever their name means).
[READ: April 14, 2014] “Destroy Your Safe and Happy Lives”
Robbins, who is a poet, but about whom I know little else, takes us on a sort of literary tour of heavy metal. His tone is interesting–he is clearly into metal, like in a big way (at the end of the article he talks about taking his writing students to see Converge (although he doesn’t exactly say why)), but he’s also not afraid to make fun of the preposterousness of, well, most of the bands–even the ones he likes. It’s a kind of warts and all appreciation for what metal is and isn’t. many people have written about metal from many different angles, so there’s not a lot “new” here, but it is interesting to hear the different bands discussed in such a thoughtful (and not just in a fanboy) way.
His first footnote is interesting both for metal followers and metal disdainers: “Genre classification doesn’t interest me. Listen to Poison Idea’s Feel the Darkness followed by Repulsion’s Horrified and tell me the main difference between hardcore punk and metal isn’t that one has a bullshit positive message and one has a bullshit negative message.”
But since Robbins is a poet, he is interested in metal’s connection to poetry. And in the article he cites William Blake (of course), but also Rilke and John Ashbery and (naturally) Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as Shelley, Lord Byron and Charles Baudelaire. He talks about them not because they are cool poets, but because they have also talked about because of metal’s “most familiar trope…duh, Satanism, which might be silly–okay, its’ definitely silly, but has a distinguished literary pedigree”. Besides, he notes that Satan has the best lines in Paradise Lost (and I note that just as Judas has the best songs in Jesus Christ Superstar).
But sometimes this Satanism turns into a form of paganism which then turns into nature worship. From Voivod’s “Killing Technology” to black metal’s romanticism of nature (sometimes to crazy extremes–but that’s what a band needs to do to stand out sometimes). Metal is all about the dark and primordial, a”rebuke to our soft lives.”
And yet, as a poet, Robbins has some quibbles with metal: (more…)
Away is Michel Langevin, the drummer for metal band Voivod. But on his first solo album he eschews all conventional music. Rather, he has created an exercise in found sound and released it on the small label Utech Records.
The album is described as
Strong field recordings capture more than just the sound of an area, they capture a mood and spirit of the place and people. On Cities, local color and nature recordings clash with riots and discord, capturing the full human experience across the world. Literal and metaphorical “found music” appears: the booming stereo of a passing car or distant church bells, as does the rhythmic engine hum of a bus or the chirping of birds. This tour is a fast paced one, rapidly weaving through the geographic locations building a diverse, yet consistently engaging experience. The audio journey captured here perfectly reinforces the fact that, regardless of one’s location, the presence of music is never far, nor should it be.
What we get is a collection that sounds like a tour through the streets of the respective cities (nothing more specific than Europe is given, sadly). We hear street noise and buskers playing (interestingly just about every type of music I have heard in Boston subways as well).
I only wish more information was given about just what Away was up to. Where he was and, more importantly, how he recorded these sounds. The recording quality is amazing—the panpipes and harmonicas sound crisp and clean with no other ambient noise. Did he ask the performers if he could record? How did he get them so pristine especially since I assume they are in the streets? And for the Europe ones, was there any given order to the way they were edited? Is it the progression of their Voivod tour, or is it just random? The mixing and sequencing is quite good, especially in the shorter pieces which really take you on a journey. Not knowing what’s happening is maddening and part of the fun as you try to picture (especially if you use headphones) exactly what you are hearing.
“Montreal 2010” opens with the sound of travel until we zoom in on panpipes (for a few seconds). This switches to a lurching shanty (sung, I suspect in French—it’s a little hard to hear). Then from the shadows comes the sound of someone playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” on the harmonica.
“Europe 2012” opens with someone playing what I suspect is a hammered dulcimer (exactly the kind of thing that buskers play in subway stations), it shifts to a jazz trio (sax, bass, drums) wailing away with traffic noises in the background. After some busses and an accordion solo, there are delicate chimes. Finally a bagpipe melody leads us away from the delicate chimes until we hear announcements in what sound like Russian and then French. The track ends with fans chanting “Voivod Voivod.”
Montreal 2012 returns Away to near his home city. This time the scene is much nosier—it could be joyous, it could be angry—there are whistles and horns, and by the end it seems like a joyous parade. The noise diminishes as an operatic voice pierces through briefly until the drums return. More street noises, including police sirens, French chanting and a train passing by as we return to yet more street drumming. If this track had more context for the title it would probably be more enjoyable. And yet as the parade (for surely that is what it is ) marches past you feel like you’re there.
“Mexico City 2012” opens with a truck honking and street noise until we hear what sounds like an indigenous band playing, then some more flute music and church bells pealing. Then there are announcements in Spanish (by both a man and woman presumably in the church) and church organ music. Pan pipes and drums bring us back into the street and what sounds like a market scene which ends with some Mexican music playing.
“Europe 2011” opens with some beautiful guitar or perhaps an Indian stringed instrument playing and some traditional Indian singing. There’s some more music playing and cheering and then some peace as birds take us out of this short track.
“Montreal 2011” opens with banjo music (!). And then the more typically French sounding violin moves us along. More pan pipes and traffic noise progress us through the city. Then two very different examples of accordion music meld until the noise of the train wipes them out. The track fades out with a band playing a jaunty accordion inspired track.
“Chicago 2012” ends the disc with a symphony orchestra tuning up (I presume) for a few minutes. It’s a shocking cacophony. Until someone shushes the noises and the birds return, playing us out of this aural tour.
You can stream, download or buy the CD here. Buying the CD gets you some of Away’s cool art (although I wish there was more).
[READ: October 8, 2013] “War Wounds”
Since I’ve been enjoying Tom Bissell’s book reviews, I thought I’d see what else he had written in Harper’s. He seems to have a storied career with the magazine as a traveling journalist. And this article dates back to 2004.
It is a personal article about himself and his father. What I found fascinating about this is that his father was a Vietnam veteran, and I don’t know too much in the way of writing that concerns being the child of a Vietnam veteran. There are a lot of books and films about the Vietnam experience for the soldiers, but not so much about the families that they returned to (as far as I know). So it was interesting to read Bissell’s account of growing up with his father–who was a hard man and who wasn’t afraid to fight with his children (especially when drunk).
The man that Tom grew up with had a temper and didn’t much approve of Tom’s chosen profession. But unlike many people of his generation, Tom didn’t feel that he had a particularly estranged relationship with his father. What on earth possessed him to invite his father on a trip to Vietnam–to visit the sites where he lost friends and was himself wounded, is the stuff of journalism. (more…)
Voivod in the E-Force era released two proper albums. But they also released their first live album and this hybrid collection. So at this point, there were almost more albums with this in retrospect least popular lineup of the band.
Kronik, with the least inspiring album cover of all (the fact that Away doesn’t seem to have anything to do with it even calls into question the “realness” of the release) has eleven songs on it The first three tracks are remixes. It’s fascinating to hear these really really heavy songs remixed in a techno way. I know by this time there was a lot of really heavy techno bands, so this isn’t totally unusual, and Voivod has been experimenting with industrial beats on the last two albums as well. It’s just fun to imagine these as dance remixes and to speculate who these remixes were made for. “Forlorn” sounds a bit like Helmet here. E-Force’s voice is so manipulated as to be almost unrecognizable. The solo section is also manipulated in a weird way, making this song sound, if not very different from at least somewhat different. There also appears to be some throat singing thrown on to the end of the mix. “Nanoman” gets the royal treatment—skittery beats, sounds dropping out and a major techno drum beat placed on top of it. “Mercury” is given a very fast electronic drumbeat but not much else. But in this version it sounds very classic industrial.
The next three songs are outtakes from the E-Force era. “Vortex” has a pummeling guitar riff and some massively screamed vocals. “Drift” opens slowly with some spacey guitars and distant rumbles of drums. After 90 second the screaming noise kicks into high gear. “Erosion” has a some steady heavy sections in between the bludgeoning. They basically all sound like the could have come from Phobos.
The next song “Ion” appeared on the soundtrack to Heavy Metal 2000 the movie and was unreleased until this album. It has some very cool moments in it and is a little less brutal than a lot of their music from this era. I rather like it.
The final four songs are live. “Project X” and “Cosmic Conspiracy” are tracks from the E-Force era, and they sound very close to the studio versions. I actually prefer E-Force’s voice here, as it is more natural sounding. “Nuclear War” comes from the very first album. E-Force’s screams are not too dissimilar to Snake’s, although I miss Snake’s pronunciations. But the music sounds better than on the album. And then there’s “Astonomy Domine.” This is the first live recording of the band (and the only song form the pre-E-Force era that’s on a live record. So it’s exciting to hear them playing this more complex song. The recording quality is not great, sadly. But the problem (once again) is E-Force’s voice. The first verse sounds fine, but as the song moves along he starts screaming a lot more. And this song just doesn’t lend itself to screaming. It’s shame.
So this collection is for die-hards and for people who love the heavier period of Voivod (which is not a majority I would guess).
[READ: September 30, 2013] Room 237
This article looks at The Shining, the film by Stanley Kubrick. It briefly mentions the book by Stephen King, but only briefly. And actually this article doesn’t so much look at the film as it looks at a film about The Shining called Room 237. And, actually, Room 237 is more about the people who have obsessed over The Shining for years and who have come up with very detailed theories about the movie.
Some of the theories that these fans have (and which appear in the movie) include: (more…)
I wasn’t aware of this tribute to Venom, the much reviled/much beloved black metal band. It is titled In the name of Satan. Voivod has done some covers of Venom songs throughout their career, so it seems natural that they would do one for an official tribute album.
The music is fine. As anyone who knows Venom knows their music isn’t terribly complicated. So it’s nothing for Voivod to do. I’m actually wondering if Piggy wanted to spruce it up a bit. But no, he plays it straight, as does everyone else.
But man are the vocals awful. They are a kind of high-pitched growl–very strangely affected and sounding really weird both for Venom and for Voivod. I’m not sure who is singing on this track (I assume E-Force given the date). It doesn’t really sound like either E-Force or Snake, but I’m siding with E-Force because there’s none of the odd pronunciations that Snake is prone to do.
I didn’t listen to anything else on the album, but even for a Voivod diehard, this one is not worth owning.
[READ: September 19, 2013] “The Challenges and Rewards of Re-entering the Workforce”
Lisa Moore doesn’t deserve to be associated with Satan or a less than stellar cover song. So apologies to her for pairing this together, but it worked nicely in my Voivod timeline.
I was really intrigued by the title of this short story and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. What I got was a very interesting and very interestingly structured story. The first thing of note is the pronoun choice: “Everybody had a target on his back. His or her back.” This specification continues throughout the story. But before we learn why exactly, we learn about the devastation at this job (which is never specified). People are let go in waves, then in clumps, and just when it seems safe, one at a time. Some people are moved around to fill those empty spots. In other words, resentment is breeding wildly. Rumors spread—they wouldn’t fire people if you stand up for yourselves—but no one wanted to stand up. And just when we think Moore can’t give any more examples of the anonymous firing, we get into specifics.
The Downeys (who both worked there) were fired on the same day. The had just purchased a new house as well. Of course, that was before the summer when the dump started to stink. So we can anticipate how much they will get when they try to sell. (more…)
Most Best of records promise you a selection of popular songs from a band. Voivod never really had any popular songs, so this is an interesting choice to start with. This may also be the only Best of compilation of a band where people who like some of the songs almost assuredly will not like other songs.
As my posts about the band have indicated, Voivod changed drastically over their first six records (which is the period this collection covers). And so in twelve tracks and 50 some minutes you get the very diverse history of this very unusual band. I’m not going to talk about each track (already done that), but I will list the songs
Voivod [War and Pain] classic screaming metal.
Ripping Headaches [Rrröööaaarrr] brutal, but I must say sounds a ton better than the original CD. I wonder if this was remastered for the compilation).
Korgull the Exterminator [Rrröööaaarrr] hard to believe they used two songs from this album.
Tornado [Killing Technology] heavy but quite catchy.
Ravenous Medicine [Killing Technology] signs of complexity enter the heaviness.
Cockroaches [EP] a strange inclusion, almost a rarity.
Tribal Convictions [Dimension Hätross] very complex with some heaviness.
Psychic Vacuum [Dimension Hätross] I’m surprised they didn’t pick other songs though from this album.
Astronomy Domine [Nothingface] their hit.
The Unknown Knows [Nothingface] very hard to choose just two songs from this masterpiece.
Panorama [Angel Rat] Their newest single and quite a departure from everything that has come before.
The Prow [Angel Rat] their prettiest number ever. If you buy this CD for this song you’ll hate the early stuff.
Although Voivod fans (like Dave Grohl)
are diehard, anyone who would buy only a Best of record from the band is sure to be disappointed. There are so many phases of the band and they are so radically different from “Voivod” to “The Prow” that it’s almost not even the same band. I’m very curious as to what sales for this album were like. (Even the cover isn’t that inspired)
[READ: September 2013] The Walrus: Tenth Anniversary Issue
It’s hard for me to believe that The Walrus has been around for ten years (even they seem a bit surprised). I still remember hearing about the magazine on Book TV from some Canadian channel that I just happened upon.
When I heard about it The Walrus seemed interesting–kind of like Harper’s and elements of the New Yorker but all about Canada. I’ve been a Canuckophile for decades now, so it seemed like an interesting prospect. And over the ten years of the magazine, while I haven’t written about every issue, I have read every article. I have written about all of the short stories that they’ve published.
This issue eschews some of my favorite elements (the short articles in the front and the arts section in the back), but they make up for it with an oversized issue (twice as long as usual and the articles are all packed with content) and some fascinating articles.
And while there are none of the short articles from the front, there are “Time Capsules,” one page articles about things that have happened in the last ten years: The iPhone, Sports Concussions, Armed Drones, The Residential School Apology, Justin Bieber, Foodies, Hand Sanitizer and Cyberbullying. It’s interesting to read about these phenomena from a slightly different perspective. We know that Canada and the U.S. share many similarities but there are, at heart some core differences. And it’s these differences that make you rethink a subject. (more…)
It’s tempting to say that Phobos is a carbon copy of Negatron, but that’s not true. While the line up is the same, and the overall tone is very similar—very heavy, aggressive music—there are subtle differences. The first is that the album sounds vaguely more electronic, as if they were really flirting with industrial after the experiment with Jim Thirwell on the last album. E-Force’s vocals, while still abrasive and screamed have a lot of processing on them which makes them far more interesting and actually quite a bit more understandable. There’s also a lot of weird electronic effects that link the album and make it feel more “spacey.”
And while there are different sections of songs and parts that are actually quiet, this i still a difficult album–the vocals especially are exceedingly harsh and will turn off people who like the instrumental sections. I hate to sound like the band’s declining popular are all down to E-Force, but he is the weakest link in the band at this point. Whats weird about thee two E-Force era albums is that although they are very very heavy with several weird parts per song, the basic structure of them is very conventional. So instead of sounding proggy and weird, they sound more like a bludgeoning metal band. Which didn’t really work for them. Indeed, the band intended to if not call it quits at least take a hiatus after this album.
Phobos opens with “Catalepsy I” an introductory song—noises and whatnot. And indeed, these electronic noises link all of the songs of the record, with different sounds in between the tracks (like the way “Bacteria” opens with spacey effects and electronic drum noises for 35 seconds). But the first proper song “Rise,” has an opening guitar riff that is quite normal—dark, but normal. It’s true that the heaviness of the chugging section is heavier than most (like earlier Voivod), but it’s still not that strange. Until the verses come in. And here’s where E-Force’s vocals are a little different—more processed and robotic sounding. It actually works a lot better. And in the middle of the song while the heaviness is ongoing, that opening normal guitar riff comes back. Rather conventionally.
“Mercury” has a more typical Voivod guitar riff although the pounding heavy chords are still quite heavy. There’s more of the distorted vocals and weird chords for the bridge. It also begins a series of increasingly longer songs. This one is nearly 6 minutes. While “Phobos” is nearly 7. It also has an interesting echoing staccato guitar riff with E-Force’s vocals very distorted (like Nine Inch Nails or Skinny Puppy). The bridge is a crazy noisy monstrosity and yet the middle section is very simple: loud chords delivered at a slow pace with interesting effects and fiddly guitar solo noises. “Bacteria” reaches over 8 minutes long. But it is unlike any of their earlier prog songs. It has an interesting echoing guitar opening and a bunch of staggered parts. But once the song’s major chords start up it sounds probably most like the previous album except for the lengthy instrumental/psychedelic section starting at around 5 minutes.
The album slows down somewhat with the 1:48 “Temps Mort” a short instrumental with what sounds alike an accordion. It’s a weird little time out (which is what the title means), and I like it a lot.
“The Tower” has an underwater kind of feel to it amidst the bludgeoning guitars. The middle and the end have some very cool heavy trippy/spacey metal which is so radically different from the heavy Voivod chords that make up the proper song. Indeed the very end is a minute of mellow spacey guitars. “Quantum” is a pretty straight ahead (for Voivod) metal song with echoed vocals that take some of th edge off (until he screams the chorus). There’s another cool instrumental section. In fact, the whole album has great instrumental sections, it’s kind of a shame the vocals are so offputting (although at the end of this song they are so distorted and computerized that they sound very cool)
“Neutrino” opens with those big loud slow ringing chords of noise before the simple but creepy solo riff comes in. It’s 6 minutes long and has another interesting guitar line amid the noise. It takes 3 minutes (of 7) before the vocals come in and the song gets much darker. “Forlorn” is the closest thing to a hit on the album. The chorus is really easy to sing along to. And the verses are actually pretty straightforward. It’s very very heavy and isn’t going to make the radio anywhere, but it’s still catchy. The album proper ends with “Catalepsy II,” more swirling noises that sound like the beginning.
There are two bonus tracks on the CD. “M-Body” was written by Jason Newsted and is the most industrial mechanized/voiced songs on the album. It’s certainly out of place, although it does hint at what is to come on their next album. “21st Century Schizoid Man” is a cover of the King Crimson song. They’d done Pink Floyd and King Crimson fits pretty nicely. As with the Floyd covers this one is very heavy. Piggy gets the guitars right. But as with the rest of the album, E-Force’s vocals just don’t work. Whereas Snake’s weird pronunciations accented the covers in a cool way, E-Force just seems to be forcing his way through the track (the fact that he puts 3 syllables in “century” is pretty unforgivable. Overall the song is pretty great, although I’m not so sure about the guitar solo which sounds like Piggy doesn’t really know what to do.
And that’s the end of this Voivod lineup. Two albums and a lot of lost fans.
[READ: September 20, 2013] Terry
I have known about this book for a pretty long time. I was never really that interested in reading it because, while I don’t know all that much about Terry Fox, I felt like I knew enough about him to not bother with a full bio.
For those who don’t know (basically anyone from the U.S.), Terry Fox was a young man who developed cancer at the age of 19 in 1977. and had his leg amputated. To draw attention to cancer research he decided to run (yes run) across Canada on the Trans Canada Highway. He had a prosthetic leg, he practiced running every day (he was already a natural athlete) and he decided that in 1980 he would run from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific (he even had a bottle of water from the Atlantic that he wanted to pour into the Pacific). His plan was to run between 26 miles a day. Yes, run a marathon every day. He called it the Marathon of Hope.
When he started out, the media coverage was nothing but as he progressed and his friend (who drove the van alongside him) started making media attention, Terry’s cause became more well known. And by the time he made it to Ontario, he was a huge personality—making TV appearances, talking to anyone and, most importantly, making a ton of money for cancer research. (more…)
After Angel Rat, original bassist Blacky left the band. That’s never a good sign. After the tour for this album, original singer Snake left the band. That’s an even worse sign. I still can’t quite figure out exactly why Snake left (personal problems) but he went on to form the band Union Made. For a very detailed history of the band, check out this very cool timeline at Voivod dot net.
The Outer Limits got a pretty big release. I have an original copy that came with 3D glasses and all of the illustrations in 3D. But I was a little disappointed in Angel Rat and I don’t think I gave The Outer Limits much of a chance. It was no Nothingface. But the band was always morphing. Since Angel Rat went very commercial, this album brought things back into the prog realm (with a 17(!) minute song) but also had a lot of commercial songs.
The album opens with “Fix My Heart” which starts out much heavier than anything on Angel Rat. It’s also got some metal guitar pyrotechnics (squeaks and harmonics). Snake’s voice isn’t quite as pretty as on Angel Rat either—he growls a bit, but maintains his nicer voice overall. Nevertheless, “Fix My Heart” is a pretty commercial enterprise (as the title might even suggest). There’s some good “spacey” guitars sounds which bode will for the sci-fi angle of the album (and there’s some cool effects that reward headphone use). “Moonbeam Rider” starts with a very classic rock sounding riff and then morphs into a kind of pretty, mellow verse. But the interstitial guitar is all speed. It’s a nice mix of fast and slow. This song features some interesting bass work—nothing fancy but for the slow parts it is actually keeping the beat instead of the drums. The bassist was a studio musician for this album. There’s also what sounds like a bong during the pre-guitar solo section (the solo is fairly traditional).
“Le Pont Noir” is a mellow, slow guitar song with a very cool delay effect and Snake’s whispered vocals. The bridge gets heavy with a wonderfully weird Piggy guitar riff. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.
Then the band’s second Pink Floyd cover appears. This time it’s the even more obscure “The Nile Song.” They have rather heavied this one up with crunching guitars and Snake’s distance screaming filling in the void (although in fairness the original vocals are also screamed). It’s not as dynamic or exciting as “Astronomy Domine,” but it’s still a cool cover. “The Lost Machine” starts off heavy with Away’s double cymbal work (a noisy splash and a fast ride cymbal). Then Piggy’s guitars have a slight delay on them which makes the opening chords sound especially odd. The bridge is a place for Piggy to show off some more weird spacey chords and some very cool guitar riffs. There’s even a spoken word narrator in the middle of the song that explains the “mission” “Time Warp” opens with a very bright and up beat sounding verse. But it quickly disintegrates into (intentional) musical chaos as the narrator gets lost in space.
This all leads up to the 17 minute “Jack Luminous.” If anyone doubted their prog rock leanings, this should dispel that immediate. 17 minutes, multiple parts, a sci-fi epic, it is prog (but heavy prog) at its finest. There are some incredibly catchy parts as well as some less catchy parts, and sections seem to change every two minutes or so. The slow down at 10 minutes is very cool—different guitar effects and the suspenseful bass line. There’s repeated sections as well, which means if you like some guitar line (the spacey part near the end) it comes back! It’s not quite as dynamic as say 2112, but it’s a very successful sci-fi epic.
“Wrong Way Street” returns to the normal and more conventional. The bass that opens the song sounds great and the chords are fairly conventional–the chorus is even really catchy. “We Are Not Alone” is a break-neck metal song, The drums are super fast, the guitars are relentless and the chorus even has an echoed “Hey!” that gets you to sing along. The song also features a cool slow, almost jazzy bass and drum section that lets Piggy throw some soloing in before returning to the fast paced verses.
There’s lots of theories about what happened to Voivod after this album. The success they had achieved earlier was now gone and the band seemed like they couldn’t decide to be metal or prog or is they should go for more pop music. The problem of course is that they were too weird to get mainstream acceptance anyway.
So Snake left and then there were only two original members. The next step would be a drastic one.
[READ: July 9, 2013] Grantland #7
This issue seemed to come hot on the heels of #6. But I enjoyed it just as much. A few notes: no Jeremy Lin in this issue. Lots of LeBron James, three articles about soccer! And a few pop culture moments that I had forgotten about.
REMBERT BROWNE AND DUSTIN PARKER-“The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament JUST. GOT. REAL.
Leonard Cooper didn’t know the final Jeopardy answer but he still won and he made a hilarious joke at the end (in cartoon format);
BILL SIMMONS-“Daring to Ask the PED Question”
Simmons talks a lot about PED’s in this forum. Of course, to me PED is my initials. For him (and sports fans) it is performance enhancing drugs. He asks why sports doesn’t do more about it. There are so many people who do it that every time we see someone who might be doing it or who suddenly has a good season, we assume they are doing them too. It would be a service to the players and the fans to have rigorous testing or none at all.
CHRIS RYAN AND ROBERT MAYS-“The NFL Coaches Family Portrait By the Numbers”
A silly analysis of a photo of NFL coaches.
WESLEY MORRIS-“Jodie Foster’s Big Night”
What exactly did Jodie Foster say at the Golden Globes? (This was in January and everybody talked about it and now it’s September and I’ve completely forgotten about it—funny ephemera of pop culture).
JONATHAN ABRAMS-“Out of Africa”
A serious look at trying to bring basketball to Africa. How the culture and language problems make it very difficult to establish any real cohesion in the diverse country. But there are a few examples of boys coming from Africa and benefiting from host families and then heading back to help those who love basketball back home. The main focus is on a 15-year-old Alexis Wangmene who came to the States (and left his family!) to try to gain an education and basketball skills. It’s a heartfelt story.
MOLLY LAMBERT-“Modern Love”
About the show Catfish which just goes to show we can sink even lower as a culture.
CHUCK KLOSTERMAN-“Mental Health Protocol”
About Royce White again. Last time there was a lengthy look at him. Now we get to hear that he thinks that everyone has some kind of mental health issue.
ANDY GREENWALD-“Eat Bray Love”
How cooking shows have gone from educational to crazy and annoying. He dislikes Top Chef and the new Anthony Bourdain show The Taste (which he says is awful) but he likes a decent show called Chopped.
ZACH LOWE-“The Fragile Science of Basketball Chemistry”
Sure the Heat were great this year, but it’s the way they evolved as a team, creating chemistry, that is so impressive.
RAFE BARTHOLOMEW-“The Pariah”
Timothy Bradley beat Manny Pacquiao in a disputed judges call. Instead of rising to fame, he has been avoided like the plague.
BILL SIMMONS-“The All-Manti Te’o Mailbag
Remember that crazy story about the football guy with the dead girlfriend who turned out to be fake? I never really understood the story and while they spend a lot of time talking and theorizing about it I still don’t get it. Did they ever find out the truth about it?
CHRIS BROWN-“Speak My Language”
When you play for the Patriots, you learn their way of doing things—it is simple and efficient, a streamlined version of what other coaches try to do.
KIRK GOLDSBERRY-“The Evolution of LeBron James”
Using diagrams, we see how much of a different player James is in just the last few years with The Heat. This article has made me want to watch James in a game while he is at his peak. So, Heat vs Bulls at the end of October, you’re on my schedule.
SEAN McINDOE-“The Non-Hater’s Guide to the NHL”
Even people who hate everyone in the NHL (which is everyone) can agree that there are some players who are universally admired: Martin Brodeur, Pavel Satsyuk. Teemu Selanne, Jarome Iginla, Jonathan Toews, Martin St. Louis, Gabriel Landeskog, Patrick Elias (Devils get two!), Ryan Smyth, Steve Sullivan, Saku Koivu, Henrik Lundqvist.
ALEX PAPPADEMAS-“God Needs a Hobby”
A look at Dan Harmon and his podcast Harmontown. Harmon seems like he might be a crazy alcoholic, but he’s also pretty darn funny.
MARK TITUS-“Duke’s Ignominious Son”
Everybody hates Christian Laettner, but that’s only because he’s pretty and he made The Shot
MARK LISANTI-“Three Days in Austin”
Dealing with the craziness of the South by Southwest film festival. Sounds awful.
HUA HSU-“The Alien Has Landed”
Soccer legend Ronaldo returns to Old Trafford
BILL SIMMONS-“The Greatest Action Franchise That Ever Was”
Live blogging the Fast and Furious 6 trailer. I admit I may have to see these films after reading this.
ZACH LOWE-“Lights, Camera, Revolution”
There’s some kind of new technology that will change the NBA forever. I pretty much don’t care.
TESS LYNCH-“Nostalgia Bites”
Watching old Real World episodes shows how much things have changed in reality TV, but also how much certain behaviors are not new.
BRIAN PHILLIPS-“Maradona, Then and Now”
Maradona was an amazing kid—at 15 he was remarkable at his ball control. Now at 52 he’s a crazy loon. What exactly happened in between?
ANDY GREENWALD-“From Big to Small, From Movie to TV”
Why not make Men in Black into a TV show—with some other film recommendations.
AMOS BARSHAD-“How Soccer Explains Israel”
I didn’t expect to enjoy this but I found it very interesting. An Israeli soccer team has signed two Muslim players and it has caused incredible animosity and even arson. How this look at a team is like a microcosm of the whole Israeli situation.
LOUISA THOMS-“Back to School”
Missy Franklin won a ton of medals in the Olympics. And then she went back to high school. What’s it like to be on her team at Regis Jesuit?
WESLEY MORRIS-“Run, Frank, Run”
Frank Ocean apparently wasn’t as huge as I thought he was.
MALCOLM GLADWELL AND CHUCK KLOSTERMAN–“The Lies He Told”
More about Manti Te’o. This discussion was a bit more helpful about what happened and how crazy it is.
CHRIS RYAN AND REMBERT BROWNE-“A List of Possible Reasons for Rob Gronkowski’s Arm Infection”
Hypothetical humor.
JORDAN CONN-“The Invisible Man”
Marc Gasol is extremely respected by scouts and agents, but the fans all think of him as Pau Gasol’s chubby little brother.
REMBERT BROWNE-“French Quarter Lessons”
While in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, Browne decided to go to a bunch of used bookstores. This is very funny and enjoyable.
JAY CASPIAN KANG-“Fiercely Disputed”
Mike Tyson’s one man show is weird and strangely affecting.
KATIE BAKER-“Do Svidanya to All That”
Several NHL players went to Russia’s KHL during the lockout. And some don’t want to come back.
CHRIS RYAN-“The All-Star Circus”
NBA All-Star weekend is a crazy circus (and sounds worse than the above SXSW festival).
CHUCK KLOSETRMAN AND ALEX PAPPADEMAS-“The Nobituary”
There was a serious rumor that David Bowie was on death’s door. Klosterman and Pappademas imagine writing his obituary.
DAVID SHOEMAKER-“Glenn Beck vs. WWE”
The WWE has always had racists as part of the act. What happens when some goons start acting like the Tea Party?
DAVID JACOBY-“The Pure Heart Meets The Bachelor”
Jacoby’s grandmother watches The Bachelor and he feels badly for her.
STEVEN HYDEN-“Is This It?”
The Strokes’ fifth album had just come out [really?]. It could be their last, but Hyden thinks their last two have been quite good.
BILL SIMMONS-“The Heat in Hindsight”
The Miami Heat came close to breaking the longest winning streak in the NBA. Simmons looks at the fallout and who “wins” and “loses” in the effort.
CHARLES P. PIERCE-“Bleu, Blanc et Rouge”
I had no idea that Charlie Pierce was a Canadiens fan!
KATIE BAKER-“The Ethics of a Family Plan”
Is it ethical to pretend that you are married to your roommate to get a family discount a ta gym? Hell yes.
EMILY YOSHIDA-“A Dark Force”
J.J. Abrams is going to direct the next Star Wars films. Why, when sci-fi is so multifaceted and so different is everything coming down to J.J. Abrams?
SEAN FENNESSEY-“The Case Against Justin Timberlake”
Timberlakes’s previous album was amazing. Then he took years off to make (bad) film and (good) TV. His star would only continue to rise if he stopped making music and only hinted that he would make another album. But the release of his new album (which isn’t that good) can only hurt him.
BRYAN CURTIS-“Waiting for Bettman”
While many New Yorker’s didn’t care about the NHL strike, Canadian writers camped out waiting for Bettman to announce the strike was over.
WESLEY MORRIS-“30 Rock Landed on Us” 30 Rock was many things, but it dealt with racial issues (at least between blacks and whites) better than any show.
RANY JAZAYERLI-“Fall of the Evil Empire”
The New York Yankees look like they won’t make the playoff this year (this was written in March and as of my writing this they have a slim chance at getting the wild card slot). It will be the firs time in a while, perhaps, just perhaps, it’s the start of a new drought for the Evil Empire.
BILL BARNWELL-“The Master Raven”
Ozzie Davis knows how to pick players for the Baltimore Ravens.
REMBERT BROWNE AND DUSTIN PARKER-The Best Chappelle’s Show Sketches of All Time”
Done as a series of cartoons (by Parker); Browne picks his eight favorites:
Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories: Prince
Wayne Brady’s Show
Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories: Rick James
Black Bush (especially now that Obama is president)
Clayton Bigsby: Black White Supremacist
Making the Band (P. Diddy)
The Racial Draft (Tiger Woods Now 100% Black)
The Niggar Family (uncomfortable and hilarious no matter how many times you watch it).
Once again, there’s another great issue of Grantland. Once again, I wish they would follow up on some of their speculative stories. But it’s fun to have a time capsule of events that occurred just a few months ago and yet which I have totally forgotten about.
And here’s the cover of The Outer Limits in non 3D style (which I haven’t see before)
So if you’re Voivod and you have just released a prog rock metal masterpiece, what’s your next step? Hire Terry Brown, famed producer of the early Rush catalog! And then try to go somewhat more commercial. And name your new, commercial album… Angel Rat?
Oh but then—never a good sign—after recording the album, original bassist Blacky left the band. It’s hard to find out exactly why (personal reasons) but he then went on to form The Holy Body Tattoo Dance Society and to create electroacoustic music.
When this album came out I was very disappointed in it—it is so far from the angular prog rock of Nothingface that I assumed the band had utterly sold out. I mean, there’s ballad moments on it, there’s hardly any dissonant chords, and most of the songs are simply verse bridge chorus. The band sounds a lot more commercial (sadly for them, the album tanked). Listening to it now with fresh ears it actually reminds me a lot of Blue Öyster Cult, especially with Snake’s vocals and the chord structures that Piggy presents. And since they used Terry Brown there’s a Rush element as well. Once I divorce the album from what came before I actually like the album quite a bit. The songs are remarkably simple (I feel like Piggy could have been playing all the parts himself at the same time), but there’s still enough interesting weirdness that the songs don’t sound boring. And once you get used to the overproduction and the fact that Snake can sing, there’s some really good stuff here. Conventional but good.
It starts out pretty heavy with a chugging guitar but soon you notice that Snake is actually singing…nicely. His voice sounds polished and good. And then you notice that the guitars are fairly conventional—there’s almost no dissonance. True it is still heavy metal and there’s some slightly obscure chords, but for the most part it’s not all that weird. Even the guitar solo is a fairly conventional speedy solo. And when the chorus comes in it’s actually quite pretty. Speaking of pretty, the band photo is one of the more glammed up moments in Voivod’s career and, without being unfair, they are not a terribly pretty band, so this is kind of a funny picture.
“Clouds in My House” is also quite a pretty song, although admittedly the verses are a little dark (with that squeaking guitar solo sound that was popular around that time in heavy metal). But the chorus is downright upbeat. There’s a cool section in the middle with a noisy (but very simple) bass popping and a guitar solo over the top of it—it reminds me a lot of Rush in sound). “The Prow” is the catchiest thing that Voivod has ever done—great sing-along verses and a big chorus. “Best Regards” has more BÖC simiarlies—the chorus in particular has a very BÖC structure. There’s also a some great bass on it. Again, not the complicated bass of previous album, but a great rumbling sound that works very well as a riff while Piggy solos. “Twin Dummy” is another fast song. This one features some of the stranger lyrics on the album. Away says that he backed off on some of the concepts for this album and let Snake so his own thing. So this song seems to be about ventriloquist dummies with the strange opening lyric “Dummy says…” But the music is fast and furious here—some weird chords and really fast bass. There’s also some keyboards on this track (pipe organ type sounds) that reminds me of Rush from around this period.
Title track “Angel Rat” sees Snake crooning over a very simple guitar ballad intro. It’s almost unthinkable. And yet the band keeps it interesting—especially Blacky’s bass. Again, I don’t know why he left, but his bass is featured nicely on this album anyhow. Blacky opens “Golem” with a powerful (but again simple) bass. There’s an occasional funky note, but it’s a very staccato song. The drums have a strangely pop quality (the way he fills in the gaps). It’s a little unsettling how obvious and catchy it is. And even more unsettling is the solo—which has a very jazz feel. I can’t even really tell what’s going on—is that Piggy or a keyboard? “The Outcast” has probably the most conventional early 90s metal sound (except…is that a harmonica?) Snake even does a falsetto at the end of a verse! Probably the biggest surprise is that the final lines are “everything’s gonna work out.”
“Nuage Fractal” at least has a very Voivod title. And the chorus sounds a lot like recent Voivod (except for the solo section). The biggest surprise has to be “Freedoom” which opens with a very pretty guitar ballad sequence. Something that early Voivod would have stomped all over. Snake is whisper-singing and Piggy is playing gently for two whole minutes. Interestingly, once the full band kicks in for the last two minutes, it is one of the heaviest sections on the album. So even when they’re being conventional, they can’t do it for too long. The bass in particular sounds very Geddy Lee to me on this track. The final song “None of the Above” Is another political song—this one about global destruction. The music is surprisingly upbeat for such a topic, but Blacky’s bass is wonderfully deep and rumbling here.
So yes, ever the chameleons, Voivod have made an album that could have sold a lot of copies–except that they’re a little too weird to do so. But it was a good experiment and resulted in some great songs.
[READ: August 15, 2013] Sailor Twain
Sarah got me this book for Christmas. I didn’t read it until right now because it’s fun to stretch out Christmas gifts as long as possible.
This book is a lengthy graphic novel from our friends at First Second. It is complicated and a little confusing (the whole story is a flashback that is sort of explained in the very beginning). It’s also very beautiful.
Except, I might say, for the main character. The background images and the interstitial pages are really beautiful and detailed. But the main character is very cartoony–very two-dimensional with a triangle nose and big circular cartoon eyes. I found this very disconcerting for about a third of the book. Siegel does manage to make him very expressive and uses the big circle eyes to a good drawing benefit through, but the character just looks so–surprised?–all the time that it was hard to not notice him. Of course later on his big eyes come in handy during the darker sequences, but I still found it an odd choice. So too were the really cartoony choices of some of the other main characters–very big, comical noses or fat round faces. It certainly made the characters distinctive, but as I said, I was unsettled by it.
As the story opens, Captain Twain sits in a bar and is approached by Miss Camomille. She asks to speak to him but he says he wants nothing to do with her or his past. She holds out a necklace and says he can have it if he tells her the story. He is shocked to see it and reluctantly agrees. (more…)
I’ve been a fan of Voivod for decades. But I never saw them live when I was most into them (late 80’s). Then after Denis “Piggy” D’Amour’s death in 2005 I assumed I never would.
I Just Read About That... 