Artist: Voivod
Title: Target Earth
Genre: Thrash/Progressive Metal
Release Date: 18th January 2013
Label: Century Media Records
Album Review
VOIVOD is a well-known Canadian Metal band, founded in 1982. Their musical style incorporates elements from Thrash, Speed and Progressive Metal. Ever since their debut ‘War And Pain’, they released twelve studio records. The successor of 2009’s work, ‘Infini’ will be put out in the beginning of 2013 and is called ‘Target Earth’. With ‘Target Earth’, VOIVOD deliver a very complex and brutal piece of art. In contrast to their previous work, the album lacks any contribution from Denis “Piggy” D’amour (guitarist, passed away in 2005). Yet, the music sounds closer to the “classic” albums from VOIVOD than ‘Infini’, although progressive and technical demanding songwriting is more present than ever. The title track ‘Target Earth’ opens up with a distinct bass passage, which then develops to an inharmonic but forceful riff.
The overall tempo varies from fast to slow, almost jazz-like; delays and overlapping can be heard as well. To say the least - the songwriting is very diversified, demanding and progressive; the song structures are only to be understood after several repetitions and even then, the listener is likely to discover even more shades and nuances. ‘Kluskap O’ Kom’ is the shortest song on “Target Earth” and very straight forward, yet with a very cold atmosphere. The vocals cover a broad spectrum, ranging from whispers, clean phases and angry shouts. ‘Kluskap O’ Kom’ is highly Thrash-influenced and directly veers towards ‘Empathy For The Enemy’. This song begins with acoustic-sounding guitars and is somehow slower with an industrial, space-like mood. ‘Mechanical Mind’ is the longest track of the album and has been pre-released. The use of melodies and harmonies is rather unconventional and again, this track offers a lot of variation as well as fierce guitar work.
‘Warchaic’ is only slightly shorter, but easier to access due to the remarkable vocals and the staccato-like rhythm. ‘Resistance’ starts off in a crossover-style and includes a lot of grove and power. The break in between slows down the tempo and serves as a good transition to the progressive ‘Kaleidos’. ‘Corps Étranger’ is introduced by a space-like, diffuse mood which gets disrupted by fast Thrash Metal riffing - a surprising an interesting effect. The listener may get ultimately reminded of early VOIVOD material, and a heavier, uncompromising track definitely deserves its place in the tracklist. ‘Artefact’ appears to be the logical summary of “Target Earth”, whereas ‘Defiance’ hints at upcoming possibilities for releases. In general, VOIVOD put out a unique album that needs some time to grow but offers a lot of room for interpretations.
Tracklist
01. Target Earth
02. Kluskap O’Kom
03. Empathy For The Enemy
04. Mechanical Mind
05. Warchaic
06. Resistance
07. Kaleidos
08. Corps Étranger
09. Artefact
10. Defiance
Line-up
Denis “Snake” Belanger - Vocals
Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain - Guitar
Jean-Yve “Blacky” Theriault - Bass
Michel “Away” Langevin - Drums
Website
www.voivod.com / www.voivod.net / www.facebook.com/Voivod
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Extras: -
Total: 8 / 10
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