WAR AND PAIN

"War and Pain" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian thrash/progressive metal act Voivod. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in August 1984. Voivod originally formed in 1981 as the trio of Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (guitars), Michel "Away" Langevin (drums), and Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault (bass), but as a consequence of lack of playing skills, they disbanded for a full year before reforming in late 1982. Lead vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger was added to the lineup in January 1983 and Voivod was born. The band released the "Anachronism" demo in 1983 (essentially a live recording of the band playing covers by artists like Motörhead, Judas Priest, and Venom mixed with a few original compositions) and the "To the Death!..." demo in 1984. All tracks on "War And Pain" appear in demo versions on "To the Death!... (1984)".

Stylistically the music on "War And Pain" is a raw and filthy, anarchistic type of heavy/speed metal featuring raw, shouting, and punked vocals in front. The sound production is noisy, messy, and organic. Sometimes sounding like it´s a lo-fi demo release, recorded live in the studio. The material on the 9 track, 42:42 minutes long album is rather one-dimensional but not without memorable hooks and loads of raw charm. Bélanger´s punky vocals are probably an aquired taste, but he arguably provides the music with something original. D'Amour´s guitar playing is also quite inventive for the time, and while he hasn´t yet fully developed his trademark dissonant guitar playing style, there are nods toward it here and there. Thériault´s highly distorted bass sound is also introduced here. The same with Langevin´s anarchistic organic drumming style.

So this is an album which wins as a result of it´s raw charm and great energetic performances rather than for it´s sophisticated and clever compositions. And that´s not to say the material aren´t intriguing in any way, the tracks are just generally pretty simple and a bit more variation between tracks could probably have made the overall listening experience a bit more interesting. As it is "War And Pain" is still a nice little filthy heavy/speed metal release, and Voivod was clearly on to something special already this early on in their career. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)