Voivod — Rrröööaaarrr( CD/DVD)
Ok disc one, the original album, Rrröööaaarrr is brutal record. Much like all of Voivod’s early material it’s raw and aggressive, consider what Venom would have been like if they were all excellent musicians. The album opens with Korgull the Exterminator, one of my favourite Voivod tracks. Immediately one notices the significant improvement in sound quality, the album retains its raw edge, but the sound is clearer and has a little extra colour to it.
Fuck off and Die keeps the album moving along nicely, more brutal post-Venom thrash prog. Listening to this now, just reminds me why I love this band, and it’s never sounded better than it does now. Slaughter in A Grave is up next, and the songs just keep coming, Ripping Headaches is a personal favourite, and one of their thrashier numbers. Horror, Thrashing Rage Helldriver, Build Your Weapons and finally To the Death every one of them a classic. Those of you who know Voivod won’t be disappointed with this new remastering job, those who don’t should really buy these remasters, they are one of the most incredible and yet underappreciate heavy metal bands. Rrröööaaarrr represents the link between the early punky thrash of war and Pain and the later progressive metal of Killing Technology.
Disc two is a live recording of the band from the Spectrum in Montreal in 1986. The sound quality is pretty good, but what really comes across from this recording is the brutality of the band playing live. This is Voivod at their peak ripping through a set made up of tracks from their first two albums. It’s great to hear songs like War and Pain performed live, and with such unadulterated aggression.
Finally disc three is the most interesting for me, and not just for the live videos. It’s great to be able to listen to the demo tracks, they have a very different sound to the actual record, less chaotic sounding and less brutal, but still really good. The bootleg recording of their first live show is a real bonus for me, it’s great to hear the band rip through some of their favourite songs by the likes of Motorhead, Venom and Judas Priest as well as hearing early live recordings of some early Voivod Classics like Blower and Voivod.
Overall this is a wonderful package from one of the true underappreciated greats of heavy metal. You might think oh hang on Voivod were reasonably successful and you’d be right, but they were deserving of so much more than the moderate success they received. If you can, track down all of these new reissues, you won’t be disappointed, they represent a band at the peak of their powers changing the face of music, and doing it with style.