Voivod - Killing Technology


When it comes to the proverbial leap of faith, this is the album that I can most easily relate to. I had never heard a lick from the disc, let alone from the band. Hell, I didn't even know if I was pronouncing the name of the band right! And it's all due to Chuck Billy's fashion sense!

It was while I was watching Testament's Over the Wall video that I noticed singer Chuck Billy wearing a Voivod t-shirt and thought, 'Hey, if it's cool enough for Chuck . . . ‘. So, I raced out to the local record store, picked up a copy of the album ( ah yes, days of vinyl) and proceeded to change the way I look at music.

Killing Technology is raw. The production has a scraping, discordant sound to it, which definitely lends to the discs overall anarchic feel. Inspired by the extreme music of the early to mid '80's, this is the disc that opened the doors to a fabulous time for Voivod and their fans. This is the last album connecting the band with their more thrashed out metal beginnings, and the first vision we get of their soon to be spaced out future. It's an experimental journey through the last realms of "civilization" before the band take off on a psychedelic trip to outer space and the inner psyche.

The title track, Tornado, Forgotten in Space, and This is not an Exercise have got it all. Mind bending guitar riffs that make the transition from earthbound to airborne. Grinding bass that pushes the under current of the songs. Drums that flow from manic tension to progressive jazz in a matter of beats. And it’s all wrapped around Snake's schizophrenic vocal tirades of social and political injustice.

The lone complaint I have towards the CD version of this album is that some jack-ass decided to tack the B-side song Too Scared To Scream in the fourth position where the original vinyl version's side one would have been complete. It's a minor complaint that keeps me cringing when I listen to the album straight through , but it’s one of those things that’s a pet peeve for me. Don’t fuck with the original running order of the album! It was put together that way for a reason!

The second B-side addition to the disc, Cockroaches is a bit of a throw away as well though still cool to have. Let's put it this way, the addition of the B-side tracks doesn't necessarily make this album any better. They’re nice to have, but it would have still been an epic album without them.

Pick it up, enjoy your last days on earth, and prepare for take off when you pick up Dimension Hatross and Nothingface. --Pope JTE

Buy here: Killing Technology




Comments

Dimaension X said…
A ground-breaking album. A leap forward from "RRooooaaaarrrr!" in both production and songwriting, but the real development would happen with "Nothingface". Even better production and more progressive song structures. Piggy at his best.

Then they started the downward spiral with "Angel Rat".