Some artist die and are remember by their earlier works, some fade into obscurity after their dead just to reemerge years later, but Denis D'Amour past away on the flair of glory, like a warrior whose honor lies in dying on the heat of battle; Voivod’s latest album Katorz is a celebration of all the talent "Piggy" had within himself and it’s also the final battle ground for one of metal’s favorite sons…and what a great battle it was!
Progressive yet energetic, Voivod has never been a traditional metal band, they have always play a style that can only be called “Voivod” with strange tunes, frantic rhythms and complex tempos, the Canadian band has always write inventive songs that are almost impossible to compare and imitate and that’s exactly what they did on Katorz, their 14th studio release and the last one for "Piggy"; maybe the only difference in Katorz is the great way they actually manage to compact every single frenetic and unconventional beat, some previous Voivod albums were off course “unique” but they sometimes lack consistency and clarity, but is with this album that they placed everything they had into one dense ball of energy that delivers amazing riffs and rock n’ roll hysteria.
Right from the start, you can tell this album will be unforgettable, the amazingly heavy and catchy “The Gateway” crashes through the speakers with anger and rhythm, with power and melody, this track is a very strong statement of what Voivod was, is and hopefully will be. Piggy’s guitar sounds at his best with those peculiar effects and ranges that only he could deliver, creating the unique Voivod sound many fans will remember him for.
“Dognation” slows the album a bit, a very old school Voivod track, heavy crunchy riffs, and a powerful vocal work from "Snake", he really enhances the album “heaviness” providing just a little extra anger to every song, meanwhile “Mr. Clean” brings a very hard rock groove to the album, and an excellent chorus that will make you chant to it for a long time, a very sarcastic chorus by the way.
Katorz has a very nice flow, starting with very fast songs, slowing the beat a little in the middle and exploding one more time near the end; but the middle part of the record is not boring at all, is just more “traditional” Voivod with those weird catchy tempos; Piggy’s guitar is on top of pretty much everything, but it was well done, it sounds so heavy, so rock, so metal that there was no other place to place it but front and center, and loud as hell.
“Odds & Frauds” is the song that gives Mr ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA (Jason Newsted) a chance to show his abilities on the bass, and he does a great job, almost redeeming himself from appearing in that joke of a band, one of the many amazing songs on Katorz.
Maybe “Red My Mind” is the most “traditional” Voivod track on the album, with those mid tempo attacks and rock angry vocals, but is near the end that Katorz picks up even more energy “The X-Stream” is similar to the intro track, fast and a very catchy.
I know that many Voivod fans have a favorite album from the band’s discography but this record is definitely the best one they have put together so far, everything fits, and the record never falls into a loop of mid tempo riffs that may bore some of you, HAIL TO PIGGY YOU WILL BE REMEMBER!!!
