Review Summary: A great entry point for newcomers, and a killer playlist of classics for the established fanbase.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard a new studio album from Voivod, as
Target Earth was released over 4 years ago. It’s been a pretty tough wait, too, as that album served as a comeback of sorts for the Canadian prog/thrash band. While I personally don’t believe the band have ever released a dud, it seems as though they were on autopilot stylistically for most of the 2000s. But
Target Earth showed us that they can go back to their roots and dish up that amazing balance of intensity and complexity like they did in their heyday. So, let me bring you all the bad news first: no, this is not a new Voivod album.
Build Your Weapons… serves as a “best of” compilation from the band’s time on the Noise label. This means we’re getting tracks from
Rrroooaaarrr,
Killing Technology, and
Dimension Hatross. The
good news, of course, this that these albums had some of the group’s finest material from that era. So if you’re a new Voivod fan and want a killer playlist of their highlights, this is where you should look.
Listening to a compilation like
Build Your Weapons... is pretty interesting, as it shows us just how much Voivod evolved within the span of just a few albums. The first album on offer,
Rrroooaaarrr is an incredibly gritty affair that’s comparable to extreme NWOBHM bands like Venom or teutonic thrash groups like Kreator. But, as I’m sure many of you are aware,
Killing Technology and
Dimension Hatross were huge stylistic leaps and bounds because of the band’s new progressive metal direction (one that would reach its peak with
Nothingface). So what’s nice is that you’re getting both sides of the band’s early years. Everything in the collection is presented in fantastic remastered editions, which give the albums more clarity without removing the buzzsaw distortion and gnarly tone each original album had. Granted, not every song from each album is included here;
Build Your Weapons... is more of a greatest-hits reel that highlights some of Voivod’s finest material from that particular era. And, to be honest, the playlist we have here is fantastic. Fan favorites like the brutal thrasher “Fuck Off and Die” and the cosmic mini-epic “Killing Technology” are featured here, alongside slightly lesser known cuts such as the vastly underrated prog metal classic “Forgotten in Space” and the dark, sprawling
Dimension Hatross cut “Tribal Convictions.”
As such, the band’s respective talents are on full display here. The unusual melodic hooks and harsh yells uttered by Snake, the bizarre dissonance and jazz chords of Piggy, the technical-yet-melodious basslines of Blacky, and highly dynamic drumwork of Away manage to represent Voivod at their best lineup and best chemistry. Admittedly,
Rrroooaaarrr is definitely the weakest album on offer here, if mostly because the band’s signature style and - again - chemistry, didn’t quite gel yet. The band’s performances were a bit sloppier and the songwriting wasn’t distinct enough compared to what they would eventually become. Still, it’s quite unbelievable what they
did become. Just listen to how the relationship between the manic guitar leads and the rolling drums that kick off “Psychic Vacuum,” or the wild jumps between accessible hooks and experimental chords in “Chaosmongers,” or how the opening to “Cockroaches” just features a rapid-fire mini tapping solo for no fucking reason. The reason Voivod were such a great band is that they threw away the thrash rulebook before most bands ever had the balls to do so. The combination of progressive songwriting and sci-fi themes led to the end result of a band who was redefining the way people thought about metal’s core properties. And that, I believe, is the mark of a legendary group.
As I stated above, this is a great collection for anyone who’s new to Voivod and wants to hear what all the acclaim is about. Granted, this probably would have been a better collection if they replaced
Rrroooaaarrr with the band’s 1989 masterpiece
Nothingface, but seeing as it wasn’t released on the Noise label, I suppose there’s nothing that can be done about that. Regardless, this is a solid collection of progressive thrash music that benefits from a newly beefed-up production and well-chosen songs. Viva la Voivod!
