Voivod: Obsolete Beings
35 years on, the prog-metal favourites remain a potent force. The opening track on an upcoming album, this features their trademark tight and heavy sound, a searing guitar solo and more of their typical sci-fi-based imagery.
By Kerry Doole
Voivod - "Obsolete Beings" (Century Media): Though slightly overlooked by the Canadian music industry establishment, this Quebec prog-rock band has amassed a large and loyal international fan base over a career now spanning 35 years.
Showing no signs of flagging, the group (comprising the colorfully-named Snake, Chewy, Rocky, and Away) recently announced that a new album, The Wake, is descending from the cosmos on Sept. 21, their first full-length since 2013’s Target Earth.
It is preceded by this opening track and a video clip (directed and edited by Eric Massicotte and Pierre Duplessis) that mixes performance and studio footage. The cut captures Voivod in full flight, their sound as tight and unrelenting as ever, while Chewy launches into a searing guitar solo (an endangered species these says) mid-song.
Lyrically, the band remains focused upon science-fiction themes, as evidenced by such new song titles as "Orb Confusion," "Iconspiracy," "Spherical Perspective, and "Sonic Mycelium." The album was recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Recording Studio.
Voivod plays the Heavy Montreal Festival on July 29, Festivent in Levis, PQ, on Aug. 4, and the Psycho Las Vegas Festival on Aug. 18. A European tour runs Sept. 7 to Oct. 20. Nothing obsolete about these seasoned metal warriors.
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Publicity: Roie Avin roie.avin@royalavenuemedia.com.
