DIMENSION HATROSS

I will never forget the first time I put the needle down on 'Dimension Hatross'. It was 1988, the album had just been released, I was already a fan, and there were murmurings that this was going to be a very different kind of metal album. What exploded out of the speakers was a revelation, a portal into something completely fresh and original. This is what being blasted into hyperspace might feel like...

If guitarist and main riff writer Piggy had hinted at his unusual approach on previous albums, then 'Dimension Hatross' was and remains his maturation as one of the most innovative players within and outside of metal. Dissonance tangles with odd diminished fingerings, laid over some highly unusual time signatures and complex rhythmic ideas. Bassist Blacky and drummer Away are insanely tight on this album, steering through this fascinating and sometimes frightening cosmic drama with a natural ease. The bass sound is appropriately clinical yet still sounds gargantuan, and Away remains focused and nimble, one of those drummers who carries his own unique style. Amongst everything you're asked to grapple with--from opener "Experiment" to the album's final moments--one of the most remarkable traits, especially on first listen, is Snake's voice. There's no trace of his previous snarling, insulting self.he, like the rest of his band, morphed into the new Voivodian world as necessary, sometimes cold and robotic, sometimes flailing in a monotone/monochrome half-shout, never too aggressive, always perfectly personifying the exotic air of the album. 8 songs, 8 solid trips into rhythms and metallic distortions unlike anything that came before it. "Tribal Convictions" remains the standout on the album. It's the most complete trip, from the creepy tribal thunder of the opening, to the hypnotic mid-paced pulse of the body, to the watery syncopation in the middle and the frantic thrash-rush of the ending. But that's not to overlook other highlights like "Chaosmongers" (built around one seriously tight, chugging, affective riff), "Technocratic Manipulators" (the most difficult listen, with a wide variety of alien rhythms that somehow maintains one of the most linear grooves on the album), and side two's ultra-spacey "Brain Scan" and weird tech- shocker "Psychic Vaccum". These and the other tracks possess highlight after highlight. I've heard this album probably 150 times in its entirety, and I still listen with wonder.

To their credit, all the technicality and complexity doesn't result in coldness. This is a human album with just the right balance of earthiness and alienation. Truly progressive, in every sense of the word.

(P.S. CD copies tack on "Batman", the theme from the '60s TV show. Vinyl was the dominant format in 1988, and I have never considered it a part of the album. It might've been fun live, but it lessens the effect of the album beyond words.)

Dimesion Hatross continues the loose concept of Killing Technology and manages to outdo even that opus. Piggy's avant-garde guitar creates the atmosphere for the album, while Black and Away propel the weirdest rythmn section in metal. Snake has continued his vocal evolution that began with Killing Technology, where he is abandoning the screams of the first two albums and replacing them with clean vocals.

This outing makes the weirdness of Killing Technology seem downright straight-foward by comparison. The band seems to have matched its concept about space travel; they, as Jeff Wagner (slipperman) so perfectly described, have become cold and robotic like the Voivod, the space creature the concept revolves around. Every song challenges your sense of what is music, with Blacky's counter-melodies spliiting your attention from Piggy's fretwork. Experiment has a bizarre opening like the title track from Killing Technology, Chaosmongers has an addictive chorus and is built upon Piggy's weird chords, they even rework the Batman theme for a moment of levity.

Chaosmongers, Brain Scan, and Tribal Convictions are the standout tunes, but you should really listen to every song on the album without prejudice and admire the genius of the band. It saddened me to no end when Piggy died, but albums like these ensure his legacy will live on.

Others got all the glory - Sabbath, Rush, Maiden - all canonized, credited with inventing heavy metal of a progressive nature. But Voivod were something else, a real monster of a band that saw inspiration everywhere and spit it back out with true heaviness and a large, warm tube amp sound. In addition to gloomy Sabbath-isms, they also took from punk rock's attitude and up-yours vocals, the New Wave of British (and American) Heavy Metal of the early 80s, and a touch of industrial sludge. The result is one of the most genuine progmetal groups, and one of the first to take the best from heavy metal and progressive rock and combine the two in an honest and respectful way, all while relishing a bar band sound. And on their fourth studio release from 1988, they capture that perfectly. Solid riffs and odd time signatures abound starting with the doom-heralding 'Prolog/Experiment', kicking Metallica'a ass all over the street and defending the field with honor. A wink to Motorhead on 'Tribal Convictions' and 'Chaosmongers' is this outfit at its complex and driving best, creating a sound that could rally legions. And though the technical achievements of the individual players - Michel Langevin (drums), Denis D'Amour (guitars), Jean-Yves Theriault (bass), Denis Belanger (voice) - are not terribly impressive from a prog standpoint, these guys play together like few others, and that counts. 'Macrosolutions to Megaproblems' is the band's stern attempt at social commentary and turns some odd corners. By 'Brainscan' and 'Psychic Vacuum' things get a little repetitious and they lose a few points for the monotone vocals but the Surf-ish 'Cosmic Drama' revives things and the 'Batman' TV theme brings a smile. A terrific if dated progmetal record, especially if you're looking for some classic stuff.

The most complete Voivod album is probably Dimension Hatröss as this is the album most Voivod fans can agree on listening to. The old fans seem to think that this album is the last good album as there are still som metal balls in it, and fans of newer Voivod can start here if they find Killing Technology to be a bit to noisy and primitive.

The album is a beautiful blend of technical metal and strange melodic vocals. The production is rather good if you take into consideration that it was 1988. The science fiction theme is still there, and Snake sounds better and more varied than ever.

It´s hard to pick out which songs stand out but maybe "Tribal Convictions" stand out for being more catchy than the other songs. But every song on this album are classic material. No Fillers here.

I simply love this album, and I really hope more people will open there eyes to this great band. Start with the trilogy of Killing Technology, Dimension Hatröss and Nothingface and then take it from there. Some people won´t like this as they will find it dissonant and odd, but give it time and more spins, it´s worth it.

Voivod's fourth album Dimension Hatross is an extravagantly dense and difficult album. Even though I knew Voivod for quite a while, it still took me a dozen listens to get into it. Dimension Hatross purifies the neurotic metal of Killing Technology with improved production values and impeccable song writing.

Every aspect of this album perfects the experiments of Killing Technology, the production is better and the compositions have opened up to let in more variation and that typical uncanny spacey sound. Each band member has grown a lot and performs with stunning confidence and inspiration. The tribal drumming of 'Away' is made more prominent and has become a feature that can not be missed on Tribal Convictions. The unique guitar playing of 'Piggy' has come to full blossoming and covers a wide range of dissonant riffing, challenging time signatures, spacey leads and wild solos. 'Blacky's bass playing is simply gorgeous and much better audible (take the solo sections of Chaosmongers as an example). Last but not least, 'Snake' has extended his biting gruff vocals with more melody and a very original rhythmic delivery.

References to other bands? It's hard to pinpoint. There sure are traces of early Floyd psychedellica and also an influence of the Crimsonesque riffing of their fellow countrymen Rush. Experiment for instance takes the adventurous prog outings of Rush into entirely new galaxies.Especially the opening riff has a very Hemispheres look and feel. It's like Cygnus X1, expanded with dissonance, darkness and a raging punk fury. The energy on this album is what makes me prefer it to the cooler and more detached sound of Nothingface.

Dimension Hatross is one of the most amazing, original and important metal albums. It's not the easiest ride but sure one of the most dazzling trips out there in deep alien space. 5 undisputed dimensions.

I'm a big fan of bands like Voivod that have a traceable trajectory of musical development from album to album. Dimension Hatross is the pivotal album in the Voivod catalog that marks the transition essentially from tech thrash into prog metal territory. The speed and intensity of killing technology has morphed into machine like technicality, increased melodic focus and catchier more intelligent song writing.

And wow! What song writing! So rarely does a riff or part of a song come along that is so good that it makes me wonder how the band wrote it and how I can write something like it. After about the 4th listen i realized that pretty much every song on this album has a moment like this, the solo in 'chaosmongers', the 'chorus' in 'macrosolutions to mega problems', the brooding minor harmonised guitar build up in 'pyschic vacuum' - it's all realised potential and artistic vision (except maybe the pretty awful batman themesong cover at the end haha).

The one thing I love above all else about this band is that they're just so unique and identifiable. However this is also one of the things that makes them a bit difficult to listen to, you don't really get many reference points for comparison to aid in digestion. It took me quite a few listens to get this album and I'm already a big fan of killing technology and nothingface so a decent investment of time is needed to fully appreciate - but it's well worth it if you know what you're getting into.

These metalheads from Quebec got better with each album in the 1980s. The music here sounds like both the previous Killing Technology and the next album Nothingface. Voivod, who named themselves after a local tribe I believe, are now abandoning their punk and thrash roots and are now going into more 'progressive ' territory. I remember seeing the videos for "Tribal Convictions" and "Psychic Vacuum" on Canada's answer to MTV when I was a kid. The songs and videos were way over my head, but I was intrigued. I later got Nothingface and loved it.

Even more so than on the last album, the group is making good use of tritones, odd meters, dissonance and tempo/time changes. For 1988, there wasn't a lot of metal around as sophisticated and complex as this. I love the song titles and lyrics even if I'm not exactly sure what they are about. I just like the weird sci-fi vibe to it all. The first half of the album is called Prolog, while the second half is the Epilog. "Experiment" opens with spacey sounds going back and forth between the channels. Gets faster and faster, the sound resembles something spinning real fast. Then the band comes in full throttle. Awesome guitar parts at first. Music stops then comes back with vocals now. Good fast drumming here. Great guitar playing at the end.

"Tribal Convictions" starts with pounding tribal drums and what sounds like a door or bridge opening getting faded in as the bass and guitar come in. Alternates between a riff and the tribal pounding drum part with sound effects. It changes and vocals appear. Later cool sounding slowed down vocals. Love the fast part starting over halfway. Great guitar solo here, like 1950s rock'n'roll mixed with 1980s shredding. Awesome. After some great tremoloed guitar. The song gets real intense at the end with singer 'Snake' repeating "who's God?" All four members had nicknames they went by.

"Macrosolutions To Megaproblems" fades the band in with some great bass. Then quickly changes to a faster section with vocals. I like the parts where it's just guitar, the rhythm section coming and going. Love the sound effects and clean guitar at the very end. "Psychic Vacuum" starts with fast guitar and fast pounding drumming. Vocals come in and it switches to a different section with great riffs. Good guitar solo before the tempo slows down with tom-toms pounding with guitar and bass doubling. Changes to the great last section with false ending. A bonus song was added to later versions of Dimension Hatross, a cover of the theme song to the 1960s show Batman. POW! KAZAAM!

While this is a step up from Killing Technology, both in songwriting and production, Nothingface will be just as much a step up from this. This could possibly be a good introduction to this group. There wasn't much metal to compare this to at the time. Those familiar with more modern tech metal bands may enjoy this. But being from the 1980s don't expect this to be as 'extreme' or super-ultra-heavy as the more recent bands are. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

'Dimension Hatross' - Voivod (8/10)

Before even touching upon the music of this Canadian band's classic fourth album, I should say that over time, Voivod have become one of my favourite metal bands of all time. With one of the most inventive and unique approaches in thrash metal, the work of the band's classic lineup (being everything up to 'The Outer Limits') has not disappointed me, and 'Dimension Hatross' is no exception. Widely considered to be the band's greatest album by their more thrash-leaning fans, there is not yet the sort of perfection that would be heard on the fifth record 'Nothingface', but the charm and quirky excellence here still ranks this among the band's greatest achievements.

One of the greatest things about Voivod is that they have never been content to stick with the same sound throughout their career. Falling in between the raw speed metal of the band's earlier material (via 'War And Pain') and the proggier, Floydian leanings of albums like 'Angel Rat' and 'The Outer Limits', 'Dimension Hatross' is a very strong transition record for this band. Voivod remains an overtly thrashy act here, but by this point, progression was seeping through the cracks of their style. Even from the irregular time of the album's opening riff on 'Prolog/Experiment', Voivod places themselves within the realm of the 'thinking man's metal'. As with much of Voivod's material, their biggest distinction here is the dissonant and left-of-center style of their guitarist, Denis 'Piggy' L'Amour. While the typical formula for thrash guitarists to prove themselves is through rapidfire soling and speed, Piggy puts his very original spin on playing the guitar into each song, often using chords that don't at first sound right to the human ear, but don't take long to become equally as catchy and fun as anything more conventional.

Although the sound and songwriting isn't quite as outstanding here as it is on my personal favourite 'Nothingface', the album has a surprising longevity for a thrash metal album, with appreciation only growing from listen to listen. The only song here that feels unnecessary or out-of-place is- as anyone who has heard the album may tend to agree- the final track, which is a cover of the Batman theme song. Although undeniably fun and indicative of Voivod's tongue-in-cheek nature, it does feel as if it takes away from the otherwise highly intelligent nature of 'Dimension Hatross'. Personal highlights from the album would include the spacey 'Brain Scan' and 'Chaosmongers', but perhaps most of all, the incredible song 'Tribal Convictions', which has one of the most exciting introductions to a metal track I have ever heard. As one may guess from the song titles alone, the lyrical themes here generally revolve around spacey, science-fiction themes. Although he may be light on technical skill as a vocalist, Denis 'Snake' Belanger manages to take these abstract topics and make them incredibly fun and enjoyable, although they can tend to amount to technobabble at times.

'Dimension Hatross' comes very close to being a masterpiece for me, although it is evident that there would still be room for improvement, most notably in the way the band's sound is mixed and produced. Although it would be improved upon and perfected with the follow-up 'Nothingface', 'Dimension Hatross' is a classic, and rightfully so.

Dimension Hatross is a jaw-dropping classic of technical thrash metal which opened the eyes of many to the levels of complexity that the metal scene could aspire to. Certainly, it adds to Voivod's thrash-derived sound a level of influence from complex jazz-fusion which preceded similar experiments by the likes of Atheist and Cynic in the death metal field. But on top of that, it also proved that you could have complex time signatures and song structures and high levels of instrumental virtuosity without sacrificing a single slice of the aggression or ferocity that extreme metal is best at. A true milestone.

Complex time sigs, science fiction concept and crunching metal riffs - Voi Vod!.

Voi Vod have a style, a sound, a concept all of their own and albums such as this cemented their reputation as progenitors of technical metal. From the outset this album signifies a new approach in metal. The metal distortion of Piggy's raw crunching guitar is still as prevalent as their War and Pain years, that I used to thrash in the 80s, but this is a more mature sound with plenty for the non metal fan. The complexity of time sig changes is astonishing, and Piggy is a revelation on the vocals. Snake sounds great on vocals without all that roaring that he used to do. Experiment begins this and demonstrates Voi Vod are turning a corner as one of the more innovative metal bands of the late 80s.

Tribal Convictions has to be one of the best Voi Vod tracks with menacing intro, syncopated rhythms in the vein of Sepultura, and back breaking blasts of metal distortion. The slow sustained chords are typical of early Voi Vod but the dissonant guitar riffs are certainly out of the box. There are science fiction nuances in the effects and overall structure. It becomes a maelstrom of speed metal at one point and ends with an ominous performance from Snake.

Technocratic Manipulators begins with machinated guitar riffs, and a fast tempo that threatens to remain consistent until it breaks into shattered fragments with a time shift on the line "Is it the same message, For the preconceived children? Let me know, before I go", followed by awesome riffing and lead breaks. Snake sings, "Death of their liberty, Feeds the supremacy." Then we return back to the fast riff and it ends suddenly after a flurry of sporadic riffing.

Macrosolutions to Megaproblems has a jazzy little intro and then a driving riff. It completely changes after a minute and a half into one of Piggy's best riffs. The choppy defragmented time sig is difficult to pin down and it keeps the interest. The lead break is killer on this track and there is even a punk inspired vocal section. Finally the sig shifts again at the end, "you'd better shake up your mind," Snake warns, and then an elongated factory sound rumbles to the next track.

Brain Scan is one of the highlights of the album that features another dynamic riff, low chanting monotone vocals, and some excellent effects. At 1:30 it launches into a quirky riff that chops and changes in complex patterns. The time sig changes constantly and it ends with high speed double kick drumming and finally returns to the main riff.

Psychic Vacuum crunches out very dark riffs and Piggy sounds great on this. The metal is loud and brutal, and is perhaps more straightforward in structure.

Cosmic Drama chugs along with a galloping riff that keeps breaking time sig making the ear strain to latch onto a beat. This features robotic vocals in places and some activist lyrics; "too many reasons, too much oppression, there is no freedom, no satisfaction, I want some action."

Batman is a cool variation on the original with heavy loud guitars and Snake screaming "Batman!" and seems an odd but fitting way to close the album, one of Voi Vod's best without a doubt.

This isn't your dad's thrash metal, or maybe it is but it's nowhere near the norm of what thrash sounded like back in the days when men were men and used dinosaurs as vacuum cleaners and flew by pterodactyl. The influences of space-rock were more than creeping into the band's thrash roots at this point, resulting in one of the most significant metal and progressive releases of 1988. Gone is the throaty hoarse delivery by Denis Belanger (not using his "Snake" nickname at this point), replaced by a somewhat alternative rock vocal that bounces between detached and sneering. Guitar rhythms and melodies are at this point all about tritones, utilizing all six strings in chord progressions as opposed to muted power chords, and there's a fair amount of dissonance that interestingly enough doesn't sound ugly whatsoever. The riffs in abundance here have a sweeping, vast and arching tone, combining a wall of sound approach with strong lush melodies that fit well with the sci-fi themes running rampant in this release. These themes convey futuristic dystopian societies with a little cyberpunk thrown in. Drums and bass provide a strong and absolutely necessary backbone to the music, keeping things aggressive and even furious at times.

The first three tracks are just about flawless in execution with a wide variety of everything that's unique and exceptional about the band. There's a plethora of time signature changes and bizarre chord sequences, but there's also some cool bluesy little solos that pop in here and there to add a bit of coolness to the proceedings. Track 5 is another sheer winner, powerful, monstrous yet inventive, melodic and damn catchy while being very much progressive. Brain Scan starts of brilliantly, but does get a bit goofy at times, although the jazziness of it all is rather appealing in retrospect.

I'll never be able to give this album a perfect score due to a few flaws concerning Denis' vocals on certain tracks. The "WE'RE GOIN' NOWHEEAAAAARRRE" sections of "Technocratic Manipulators" are sung with an incredible whine that rivals Billy Corgan at his most ridiculous. I always found that "Psychic Vacuum" had some intersting ideas but as a whole seemed rather sloppy, and the final 'real' track has that hilarious robot voice blabbing about psychic power that throws me right out of the music's atmosphere. The Batman theme song was tacked on much later by distributors or whatnot, and really has no place in this album, although it's kind of fun in an ipod shuffle or something.

What I like about this album most, and what sets it apart to me, is how successfully the band utilized the studio, limited keyboard effects and enthusiastically odd songwriting to capture such a science fiction resonance while not sacrificing their speed and heaviness. To this day it remains one of those metal albums that's strange enough to appreciate but few have tried to emulate.

The flower that is Progressive metal was in its first full bloom in 1988. Its petals many different colors and textures. One of the more unique petals reached out from Quebec in the form of Sci-fi/comic book-esque thrash metallers Voivod. After a decided shift in their approach to thrash metal to a more unorthodox thematic and stylistic production with Killing Technology, the predecessor to Dimension Hatross, the latter takes the change to the next level with a full-fledged sci-fi concept album.

Thrash metal had already reached its crest by this time. The predominant style was obviously fast, heavy and with the standard of root/5th power chords. Guitarist Dennis "Piggy" D'amour made a name for himself by leaving the power chords behind for a lowered 5th that created a dissonant, almost RIO texture to his guitar work. This helped enforce the spacey sci-fi themes that were incorporated into Killing Technology and would define the sound of Dimension Hatross. Coupled with the unmistakably punky thrash grinding rhythms and the grouchy overdriven bass of Jean- Yves "Blacky" Thériault, the sound was rolling thunder. This was a perfect fit for the conceptual theme of a microspopic universe created in a particle accelerator, a profoundly deep concept for a band born of a genre that was better known at the time for its pentagrams and painted witch faces. The story itself is formatted in a classic screenplay style with quality scene setting, character development, protagonist/antagonist, conflict and resolution. Each movement of the concept calculated with music that uniquely conveyed the scene.

Voivod is a band that has had its ups and downs. But it is undeniable that they took thrash metal in a direction it had not gone and created yet another path for prog metal with Dimension Hatross. And they did it without an opulent budget. This is one of the true originals of the sub-genre and a genuine masterpiece. 5 stars.

Québec's leaders in the progression (and creation) of the new metal sub-genres return a year after the stunning breakout album, Killing Technology, to take another step toward the creation of the post-punk Tech/Extreme metal scene.

- Prolog : 1. "Experiment" (6:10) surprisingly slow and clean as the bass and drums chug away beneath Piggy's technically-inventive guitar. (In all honesty, it sounds a bit like the hard rock metal music beneath Cheech and Chong's Alice Bowie performance in "Earache My Eye".) But then the music shifts as Snake gets ready to sing: drums and bass doubling (or tripling) up the bottom end. Snake's vocal performance is more like an all-night punk rocker becoming introspective in his late-night fatigue. The guitarist here is the most impressive; the rest is far more tame than I was expecting (after the previous year's breakout album, Killing Technology). (8.667/10)

2. "Tribal Convictions" (4:52) sounds like a combination of Black Sabbath and King Crimson. Far tamer than I was expecting--and almost melodic. A little Clashiness in the vocal but far less than their previous album. The band certainly feel as if they're all very much on the same page: Impressive cohesion. (8.875/10)

3. "Chaosmongers" (4:39) after a brief and interesting little introduction, the band shifts into Drive and takes us through a very-punk-reminiscent song--until, that is, the 1:35 mark when it sounds like The early Who pumped on amphetamines. The guitarist is again very impressive--even when he's double tracked in the instrumental solo section. And, again: the band's unity is quite astonishing. (8.875/10)

4. "Technocratic Manipulators" (4:35) more subdued Helno-like vocals from Denis Bélanger over some technically impressive music. Again, the guitarist (Denis d'Amour) is quite impressive (not that bassist Jean-Yves Thériault and drummer Michel Langevin are not). (8.875/10)

- Epilog : 5. "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems" (5:33) another surprisingly accessible musical foundation over which some interesting CLASH- and LES NEGRESSE VERTES-like group choral shouts pepper Snake's almost-as-calm-as-David Bowie vocal. The punk style and ethic is still so very much alive in Snake's vocal styling. Cool and even inventive. (9/10)

6. "Brain Scan" (5:08) a fairly simple yet hard-driving background over which Snake calmly talk-sings in a lower register. Then he ramps up to his usual punk half-shout, but then the band turns down a fairly demanding terrain--one that has many little bumps and obstacles that demand full concentration and coordination. With all these shifts and changes one almost loses touch with Snake's performance. Fascinating! Denis "Piggy" d'Amour is definitely one creative guitarist! (8.875/10)

7. "Psychic Vacuum" (3:49) opening with Piggy's guitar already screaming chords from its high registers over the fast-driving rhythm section, the music shifts and morphs through several cycles of several motifs while Snake performs in his most Helno voice style. (8.75/10)

8. "Cosmic Drama" (4:54) back to a simpler, more Sabbath-like aural field while Snake punk-rocks his vocal performance; there's even quite a little theatric "devil"ishness in his performance. The music morphs in and out of several time signatures and some interesting stylistic motifs with a weird "bass" sound expressing a bit of low end drama in the fifth minute. (9.25/10)

9. "Batman" (1:45) using a metal treatment of a Dick Dale version of the famous theme, Snake stays pretty true to the original vocal melody--until the very end when he screams our hero's name. (4.75/5)

Total Time: 41:25

The two things I find most remarkable with this album (after their previous album, Killing Technology) are the fairly accessible musical foundations and the change in Denis "Snake" Bélanger's vocal style (less Joe Strummer than before). While the rhythm section shows remarkable cohesion, it is in Denis "Piggy" d'Amour's guitar phrasing and song-travel routes that I see the most progress. He is definitely exploring terrains and textural flows that no man (that I know of) has explored before. Otherwise, I find myself surprised that the "walls of sound" created by the band are still very much founded in sounds and works of past musics (Sabbath, The Clash, punk rock) and that the ear- and bone-crushing tech metal soundscapes have not yet fully taken over. Right now, it's more the adventurous creativity of lead guitarist Denis "Piggy" d'Amour that continues to propel the band into new dimensions. Tech/Extreme Metal is still not here.

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you're interested in the historical progression of the metal scene toward/into Tech/Extreme Metal.