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RRROOOAAARRR!!!

Voivod

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal


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Voivod RRROOOAAARRR!!! album cover
2.61 | 104 ratings | 12 reviews | 9% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 1986

Songs / Tracks Listing

- Ripping Side :
1. Korgüll the Exterminator (4:57)
2. Fuck Off and Die (3:37)
3. Slaughter in a Grave (4:05)
4. Ripping Headaches (3:12)
5. Horror (4:12)
- Thrashing Side :
6. Thrashing Rage (4:33)
7. The Helldriver (3:43)
8. Build Your Weapons (4:45)
9. To the Death (5:08)

Total Time 38:12

Line-up / Musicians

- Denis Bélanger "Snake" / vocals
- Denis d'Amour "Piggy" / guitar
- Jean-Yves Thériault "Blacky" / bass
- Michel Langevin "Away" / drums

Releases information

Artwork: Michel Langevin

LP Noise International ‎- N 0040 (1986, Germany)

CD Combat ‎- 88561-8103-2 (1986, US)

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VOIVOD RRROOOAAARRR!!! ratings distribution


2.61
(104 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(9%)
9%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(17%)
17%
Good, but non-essential (38%)
38%
Collectors/fans only (26%)
26%
Poor. Only for completionists (10%)
10%

VOIVOD RRROOOAAARRR!!! reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by slipperman
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars If this were a different forum, I'd give this a 4. But I can't do it here, cuz this is anything but progressive.

In my mind, there's only one disappointing Voivod album, and that's 'Negatron'. But before 'Negatron' was hatched, it was always 'Rrroooaaarrr' that was my least-listened-to Voivod album (despite having liked it all along). The album has gained a certain charm over time. I've found a new appreciation for it as I've gotten older, and now I actually enjoy it immensely, still finding new things about it when I decide to brave it and slap this sucker on the turntable. But beware: this album is the noisiest incarnation of Voivod, and it is only for thrash fans that can appreciate ugly sounds along the lines of early Sodom and Nuclear Death's brainwarping clutter. Amazing that this is the exact band that would offer the cosmic tech-metal of 'Dimension Hatross' a mere two years later.

The churning dissonance that was hinted at on 'War And Pain' is taken way over the top on 'Rrroooaaarrr', losing any hints of the classic rock and traditional metal that peeked out of 'W & P' from time to time. There are certain songs where they almost lock into a groove amidst the rumbling chaos ("Helldriver", "Slaughter In A Grave") and there are other times when everything teeters on the brink of total rhythmic collapse ("Horror", "To The Death"). Several Voivod classics rear their head on this album, like opener "Korgull The Exterminator", jackhammer pounder "Ripping Headaches", the almost 'War And Pain'- ish "Helldriver" and call-to-arms "Build Your Weapons". With drummer Away recklessly pounding too fast for his skill level at the time, the band struggled to comprehend and keep up. Piggy's signature dissonance is cancelled out by Blacky's rumbling bass noise, the whole thing a beautiful mess of war, pain, hell, noise and adrenalin. So much for Voivod being progressive. But come the next album, 'Killing Technology', there would be stunning growth on all levels.

Review by Marc Baum
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars I’ve heard far better speed metal albums out there. This one just doesn’t have the intensity of Exciter’s first two albums or the catchiness of Grave Digger’s “War Games” or the riff overload of Running Wild’s “Gates To Purgatory” or the occasional wicked riffery of Agent Steel’s “Unstoppable Force”, not to mention the magnificence of Razor’s “Executioner’s Song”. This album is just a sloppy and plodding speed metal release full of rejected, recycled riffs and a Cronos´ impostor as vocalist.

This one has few good riffs, lots of half-assed to boring and eminent forgettable riffs and not even one awesomely riff.

On this first few albums, we can deduce easily that Voivod played a sloppy Punkish speed metal with clear Venom bits. We have the occasional Motorhead-type of riff, lots of punk moments and the vocalist ripping off Cronos of Venom once in a while: Bah, almost all the time. If you care to listen attentively, then you will find that al the vocal melodies were borrowed (not to say, stolen) from the first three Venom releases.

“Korgull The Exterminator” is quite a good song. It starts mid-paced and then it speeds up halfway featuring a nice Venom worship riff and then, there’s a nice solo in between the riffs. Then we have “Fuck Off And Die” with the vocalist really sounding like a weaker version of Cronos, and then a quite nice main riff which goes into a generic chorus with an underlying generic chorus riff. It’s like a sloppier Venom rip- off. “Slaughter In The Grave” has a quite memorable intro riff but the drums and especially the cymbals are too loud on the mix. The short solos are pretty enjoyable but it does nothing to help this song.

Ripping Headaches is another fast-paced number with a maniacal drumming and some nice Venom-esque guitar leads. I swear I’ve heard those exact leads on “Black Metal” and “Welcome To Hell”. Then the rest of the songs just don't have any sort of coherence. They have a few good riffs but no real way to chain them together. For the most part, the break riffs are just kinda slow or otherwise plodding and unexciting - for example the chorus riff of "Thrashing Rage". Bah. Also, the songs are just far too repetitive - they're all at least 3 minutes and a half long but most only have enough good ideas for about 2 minutes and a half; like old-school Punk Rock (for example, Sex Pistols).

“The Helldriver” has some cool riffs; like if it was a bastard son of The Ramones and Hellhammer. It has the naïve and simple aggression derivative of Punk and the guitar tone reminiscent of Hellhammer. “To The Death!” starts off really slowly and densely and then builds up into an efficient speed metal number with a nice and enjoyable chorus even if a bit silly and predictable. Then, there are two more songs, “Horror” and “Build Your Weapons”, both of them being recycled and sloppy. Really, these songs sound like if they were recorded on the first take and they were too drunk or high on cocaine to play or even care about it.

Conclusion: Do you like Incoherence? I don’t think so. Well, that's the problem with this album - the coherence is gone, with too many silly ideas thrown together without much rhyme or reason. For the most part, “RRROOOAAARRR” sounds like a less talented, less inspired and less riff-oriented Venom album. Only for Venom fans or the die-hard Voivod fan. Absolutely non-interestening for a progman's ears!

album rating: 5/10 points = 48 % on MPV scale = 2/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars "Rrröööaaarrr" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Canadian metal act Voivod (and one of the releases in metal featuring the most cool album title ever). The album was released through Noise Records in March 1986. Voivod originally formed in 1981 and released two demos before being signed by Metal Blade Records for the release of their debut full-length studio album "War and Pain (1984)".

"War and Pain (1984)" featured a filthy and noisy heavy/speed metal style and a chaotic and lo-fi sound quality, and in many ways that sound is continued on "Rrröööaaarrr". "Rrröööaaarrr" is however slightly more sophisticated than it´s predecessor both when it comes to the songwriting, the performances, and especially when it comes to the sound production. The latter is still very raw and quite noisy too, but it´s sharper, and more detailed and powerful than the sound on "War and Pain (1984)".

While the basic heavy/speed metal sound of the debut is pretty much intact, there is audible development of the band´s sound to be heard on "Rrröööaaarrr". The tracks are actually slightly less catchy and occasionally even a bit harder edged than the music on "War and Pain (1984)". "To the Death!" is for example the most thrash oriented track in the band´s discography, but with the improved production values, "Rrröööaaarrr" is still more easily accessible than it´s predecessor. It´s not an easily accessible album by any means though. The tracks take a while to tell apart, and Snake´s voice and raw punked singing style is probably an aquired taste too. There aren´t that many catchy choruses and hooks in the music either, and the greatest assets here are the raw energy and badass attitude which oozes from the raw rhythmic assault, the above mentioned vocals, the hard edged rock´n´roll on steroid guitar riffing, and the rumbling distorted bass attack.

The sci-fi themed lyrics and imagery which would become a more fully developed feature of the band´s sound on the subsequent releases is also present here, but many of the tracks are more focused on other subjects like violence, praise of heavy metal lifestyle, and horror. In addition to the above mentioned "To the Death!" other highlights include "Korgüll the Exterminator", "Thrashing Rage", and the "subtly titled" "Fuck Off & Die", but it´s generally not an album where the tracks stick out much and the style and quality of the material is pretty equal throughout. Even to the point where it´s slightly one-dimensional.

So upon conclusion "Rrröööaaarrr" is a pretty strong sophomore release by Voivod. The songwriting could have been a bit more varied but the raw musical performances and powerful sound production pull in a positive direction, and to my ears it´s a definite step up from "War and Pain (1984)". A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

Review by b_olariu
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars This is the weakest Voivod albums for sure, from the '80's, pure thrash and nothing very inovating like later stuff of the band who are for sure more intristing and more towars progressive metal . I enjoy listning to thrash from that period, is the best period of this genre, the'80's , but this album got nothing realy intristing to show or offer, and has nothing to do with progressive music , not even 5 seconds of the album is close to prog music. 2 stars, weak and forgetable album in my opinion. From Killing technology Voivod begun to explore more grounds in music and they become to sound more mature and solid. Rrrooooaaaarr from 1986 is just plain mediocre, and even not at same value like Master of puppets for ex same year or Peace sells but who buying of famouses Megadeth, they were miles ahead of this album. Fans only.
Review by JJLehto
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars I have to begin by saying that this one of those album that personally, I really enjoy but is certainly not a progressive album.

Rrröööaaarrr is a purely thrash metal album. As if the album name wasn't metal enough, the music will remove any doubt. There is nothing progressive about this album, it is thrash metal to the core. Very fast paced, held together with thrash beats, and lots of double bass with blazing guitar solos sprinkled throughout.

There are some interesting things I noted about this album: The bass work is pretty good, and for thrash metal there is very little tremolo picking. Instead most of the guitar work are chords instead of pure tremolo picking. I rather like it. Gives the album a kind of frantic feel to it.

My personal favorite songs are: Slaughter in a Grave and Ripping Headaches, though I do like all the tracks on the album.

Overall, I really like this album. I'd personally give it 4 stars. However, this is a thrash metal work with no prog in it whatsoever. So for this site, I give this album a rating of: 2 stars.

Review by Prog Sothoth
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars Like an enormous buttocks with wings, RRROOOAAARRR!!! glides over the musical landscape, dropping brown steaming bombs upon all semblance of good taste and musical merit. Their previous album was unquestionably raw, but had a ton of charm. For this album, much like the cover, the sound is murkier and generally filthier. Snake's throaty vocals from War And Pain are replaced by early Venom aping with Snake snarling like a drunk Cronos. It's terribly unappealing. The album itself is generally faster, with some songs such as "Ripping Headaches" going full throttle like some of Slayer's Reign In Blood's faster tracks, although the production actually gives the listener a ripping headache with the snare being too loud.

"Here comes the last fighting men. One by one they're passing in the gas."

An excerpt from "Horror", the lyrics are the same brand of sloppy broken English rants about fighting and destruction that litters their prior work, which remains as one of this album's few unintentional charms, despite the ugly vocal delivery.

Piggy's guitar work is difficult to distinguish thanks to a muddy rhythm sound that's drenched by the bass guitar and an incredibly irritating lead tone that, when they're actually decipherable, sounds like a bunch of blues scales played fast. The rhythm section itself has a punkish looseness to it that benefited their slightly rockish thrash debut moreso than what should be tight workmanship concerning this more straightforward speed-thrash affair.

I'm not sure what Voivod were going for here, since it was a clear step back in terms of quality in my opinion from War And Pain, and quite soon afterwards they would release Killing Technology, which sounded like a different and far more accomplished band altogether. A sophomore slump, but hey, there's always the lyrics to enjoy.

"Don't need restrictions. Raise the forceful fist. Forge ahead with fun. As long as I live I will cross our weapons To heat up the steel It's time for an ovation"

Latest members reviews

2 stars This album is the only album in the whole Voivod discography which isn't an improvement or a change in style in comparison to the previous album. This is a very fast, aggressive thrash metal approach with some dark, hypnotically and almost industrial approaches, an interesting mixture somewhere in b ... (read more)

Report this review (#383273) | Posted by kluseba | Wednesday, January 19, 2011 | Review Permanlink

2 stars When you really love someone, you even love its flaws. Yes, it's quite hard to stand by this declaration: unconditionnal love may appear as romantic, but also as illogical or neurotic. So, when acquiring Voivod's Rooooaaaaaaarrrrr (did I miss one r?), I knew I had to expect a music more brut ... (read more)

Report this review (#184622) | Posted by CPicard | Friday, October 3, 2008 | Review Permanlink

3 stars It took band quite long time to record 2nd album and the result of this session isn't satisfying to be honest. Sound didn't change much although it appears to be more brutal than previous release. I'm not trying to say it's bad album but there's lack of something memorable and I don't think band ... (read more)

Report this review (#176630) | Posted by LSDisease | Sunday, July 13, 2008 | Review Permanlink

2 stars RRRÖÖÖAAARRR is a very aptly titled album, for that's exactly what you get here. Voivod depleted their music of almost all formal structures - just naked brutality here. If there is one album out there that wants to kill you it's probably this one. And yet there is a certain charm in being rolle ... (read more)

Report this review (#162266) | Posted by strayfromatlantis | Wednesday, February 20, 2008 | Review Permanlink

5 stars RRROOOAAARRR!! like the name this album express true brutal thrash/speed metal of early 80's and is a reference for VoiVod growing sound (more technic than War and pain also). Songs like [%*!#] off and die and Korgull the exterminator, for example, are expression of all the (year 1985) young c ... (read more)

Report this review (#47534) | Posted by | Tuesday, September 20, 2005 | Review Permanlink

2 stars comparing to debut album it's very poor. band went more brutal but lost the rock and roll vibe of first release. lost rock and roll but didn't gain more complex style the next album includes. so here we have struggling between old Voivod (Slaughter In A Grave, Helldriver - the best moments her ... (read more)

Report this review (#33867) | Posted by l-s-d | Wednesday, January 19, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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