Voivod - Katorz
- Released: 2006
- Label: The End Records
- Rating:
This album is a very bittersweet album to review. Voivod has long been one of my favorite bands and are true innovators to the genre of heavy metal. Their first five albums are absolute essentials for anyone who dares to call themselves an educated metalhead and all feature some of the best material ever written in this genre. Things looked very bright for Voivod after the reunion of 3/4 of the classic lineup brought us the self-titled triumphant return everyone had anticipated. With their next album entitled Katorz, Voivod had fully intended to prove that they were still the masters of sci-fi metal…until tragedy struck.
Dennis “Piggy” D’Amour passed on after a lengthy battle with colon cancer, leaving legions of metal fans heartbroken and taking with him the insane chords, unique songwriting, and otherworldy sound that Voivod was known for. Out of tribute to Piggy, Voivod carried on with the songs he had left them and decided to release them as he would have wanted.
The question, however, is “Does Katorz do Voivod’s legacy justice?”
The answer here as a resounding “YES” as Katorz easily proves itself to be the best album Voivod has released since their epic Nothingface in 1989. This album is the embodiment of everything Voivod stood for and brings back the memories of why people like myself came to enjoy their music so much. Filled with the memorable riffs, futuristic atmosphere, and traditional Voivod sound, Katorz is the realization of Piggy’s legacy in the metal world and the realization of everything Voivod has stood for since their inception.
Once Dennis “Snake” Belanger roars “Bring the boys home!” on the album’s first track, “The Getaway”, it’s quite obvious that this man hasn’t lost a single bit of his original, unique vocal sound. Snake’s vocals could never really be described or copied, but the moment you hear them, it’s evident who’s on the mic. The one thing I gather right off the bat is that this album flows along at a very “rock and roll” pace. It’s still Voivod and it’s still metal, but the songs are catchy like rock numbers. Part of this comes from Voivod’s legendary rhythm section of Michael “Away” Langevin and the band’s only non-original member, bassist Jason “Jasonic” Newsted. Newsted and Langevin deliver a quality performance and the fact that Jason’s bass is actually heard in the mix is a phenomenal thing. Remember, metal isn’t exactly known for it’s clear bass sound.
Riff-wise…it’s Piggy. To expect anything less than stellar would be a giant mistake on your part. Piggy left the band with some of his best work for this record, and on tracks like “Mr. Clean”, “Odds and Frauds” and “No Angel”, it’s evident that at the time of the writing of this record, he’d lost none of his original riff power. The futuristic, otherworldy song structures and guitar riffs are still very much in place and still sound like vintage Voivod…however, as stated before, this is very bittersweet.
Not including the rest of Piggy’s final songs (which will be on Voivod’s next release), we will never get to hear the new material he would have likely continued to compose for years to come. This is very sad for any fan of Voivod and metal in general…but take comfort in the fact that Katorz is something that every member of the band is very proud of and something Piggy would have been proud of as well. For anyone who’s ever liked this band or who is just looking to get into them, pick this up and support the memory of Dennis “Piggy” D’Amour and the legacy of Voivod. Katorz is a phenomenal achievement and an album worthy of making every year-end list in 2006. Count on it.
Josh | 07/24/2006