KILLING TECHNOLOGY

Through most of their catalogue, the evolution of the band seems like a gradual trajectory from thrash roots to spacey prog concerning the initial "Snake" years up from War & Pain until The Outer Limits, but their was one jagged shift that must be noted...and that is this album. Whereas Voivod's second effort was a dirtier, faster, uglier, and frankly, crappier album than the debut, Killing Technology was a complete shocker in just how different it sounded. It was as if Roooarrr! never happened, and the throaty yelps were back instead of Snake's attempt at thuggish grimy hollering, and the production values were a HUGE step up in quality. There was a lot of new things going on as well.

Piggy's guitar riffs really piled on the dissonance, which actually gave these songs an extra richness and all-encompassing vibe. The rhythms are generally fast and aided by lots of D- beat drum beats and general bashing, but there's a whole new level of complexity displayed in songs like the brilliant "Forgotten In Space" with some definitive proginess disrupting the thrash flow of the album.

It's still essentially a thrash album, but one of the most complex and intricate ones of it's time, and certainly unique not just for utilizing proggish aspects, but retaining a punkish vibe throughout the proceedings as well with Snake's snarly vocals and that aforementioned D- beat drumwork. Throw in full on dystopian sci-fi lyrics and some kickin' bluesy solos and you have an album with a whole slew of different influences forming one unique vision.

I used to own this on vinyl, which omitted the leftover tracks "Too Scared To Scream" and "Cockroaches", which honestly are the two tracks I could easily live without. The other songs, though, are killer, with "Overreaction"'s ferocity and "Forgotten In Space"s adventurousness within the thrash metal confines being essential tracks.