Search - Voivod :: War & Pain

Voivooooood!!!!

Patrick Stott | Rolleston, Canterbury, New Zealand | 07/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Canada has a fine Rock and Metal tradition, but there seems to be something about the frozen North which seems to warp the minds of musicians a little. Canada's greatest export, Rush, forged a reputation for producing highly imaginative Progressive Rock with a hint of the unusual, even for the experimental world of Prog Rock.Voivod did the same with Thrash Metal. These four twisted musicians produced one of the oddest albums of Thrash's early days. While Metallica and Slayer were content to play it straight and fast, Voivod seemed to make things deliberately difficult for themselves on `War And Pain', opting for a complex and choppy songwriting style. Playing at a speed where it would be easy to trip and stumble, the band doesn't miss a note. Think it sounds easy? Check Possessed or early Celtic Frost for examples of bands playing too fast for their own good then. Title track "War And Pain" for example mixes up several riffs, which seem to tumble past like a rockslide, and are bridged together by guitar solos or rumbling drum fills, all the while Snake shouts blank verse lyrics of the horrors of war over it all. Sounds complex? It's the most straightforward song on the album.Piggy was an incredibly underrated guitarist. Most bands of the time went for a twin guitar line, either to cover for lack of ability or to fill in holes when playing fast. Piggy carried all the guitar duties on his own. He possessed a killer chainsaw tone which cut red raw to the bone, and was able to slip effortlessly from rhythms to solos and back again. This album avoids double tracking the guitars, so during solos the rhythm drops out and is picked up by Blacky on bass. The galloping rhythmic pattern of the final track "Nuclear War" features countless guitar/bass interchanges, and it is difficult to keep up with who is playing what.It's not just the music which is unusual. Vocalist Snake invented the Voivod, a creature that lives in a violent, dark cyber world, and is fond of torture and killing. The Voivod continued to pop up on subsequent albums. Snake's lyrics use simplistic words to express complex themes, probably because of the band's French Canadian heritage, where English is only a secondary language.At a time when Speed Metal bands were stealing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest riffs to impress their fans, Voivod blew them all away with a raw and truly original Thrash creation. Unfortunately, most Metal fans in 1984 weren't prepared for such experimentation, and `War And Pain' remains a forgotten pearl cast before undeserving swine."

Best voivod album

Louis | NJ United States | 03/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this was by far their best and what true voivod was about, the best songs are voivod,blower (from a metal massecre comp),suck your bone and nuclear war they all are good,get killing technology next then roooaarrr i met these guys they are all great the new album with jason newsted is good too but get the first three first in the order i said then get the others my first experiene of voivod was when i was nine and saw their video clouds in my hosue on the show liquid television back in 92 remember that plus voivod headed one of the best concerts of all time world war 3 with the likes of possessed,celtic frost(who are coming back),destruction(who are still good live) and nasty savage(who are still great live) in 1985 wish i was there well get this album along with ones by the bands i mentioned earlier ones only now they have jason newsted of flotsam and jetsam and metallica in there note he was not on this album it was blacky and yes i knew about them before he was in check the first three out and then get the new one then get the rest with snake also check them out live they are still great suck your bone!!!!!!!!!!!"

Total 80's brutality that grows on you...

Richard H Gazley | Fullerton, CA United States | 03/19/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It took me quite a while before I realized that I liked this album. What at first seemed like a completely haphazard blur of thrashing guitars, drums and screams, grew over several listenings into a coherent whole. I think the reason that they sounded so raw and unfocused at the time was that they were helping to pave the way, and there were few other bands to compare the sound to. The best cuts are probably the title track, Voivod, Blower and Warriors of Ice. If you enjoy any sorts of thrash or death metal, give this album a couple of listenings, I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you enjoyed later Voivod albums this may not be your cup of tea. There are few similarities between their early stuff (War & Pain, RRROOOAAARRR, Killing Technology) and their later stuff (Nothingface, Angel Rat, etc.) several of which I have not even listened to."