THE OUTER LIMITS

Voivod are a band difficult to classify with regard to their many changes of direction in music. In fact their earlier works can be seen as "thrash-metal" but later they began to play a more sophisticated and softer music on 'Nothingface' which is often regarded as their masterpiece. With 'Angel rat' their music was more rock-oriented with floydian influences. On the present album : 'the outer limits' they mature both in terms of sound quality and vocals. A particular mention goes to the drumming which has never sounded as briliant as on this record. Voivod play a more accessible music than on Nothingface but still very exciting. All instruments can be heard distinctly and the mixing is very satisfying. As on 'Nothingface', Voivod's members underline their love of Pink Floyd's music (the psychedelic-era) by covering a song written by Roger Waters and that originally appeared on the soundtrack to the movie 'More' : "the nile song". The effect is as haunting as on the original song, with Snake perfectly mimicking Roger's voicing and the drummer reproducing faithfully Nick's drumming. Voivod proved once again with this record that by changing their way of playing, they can still create good music. Fans of purely progressive music won't find this record essential as it is essentially rock inflected, but the only track "Jack luminous" is worth calling this album an essential metal-prog album, as it is one of the most briliant epic written in the metal area. For me, this album remains the best Voivod album, not as ambitious as 'Nothingface' but more powerful and more mature.