Audio CD review:
Voivod - Phobos

Voivod - Phobos

Band: Voivod Title: Phobos Rating: Release Date: 09 June, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Catalepsy 2: Rise 3: Mercury 4: Phobos 5: Bacteria 6: Temps Mort 7: The Tower 8: Quantum 9: Neutrino 10: Forlorn 11: Catalepsy II 12: M-Body 13: 21st Century Schizoid Man

Customer Reviews underrated classic by an underrated band - RIP PIGGY still utilizing eric forrest on bass/vocals, "phobos" is seriously one of my absolute favorite voivod albums. after the fairly rockin' "negatron", the mighty voivod return to form in a powerful way on "phobos". the guys successfully update their classic spacey prog thrash with subtle neurosis influences, although, as mentioned in an earlier review, it could have been the other way around. eric's vocal contributions are perfect, and i, for one, appreciate the different tone he brought to the band during this phase of their career. i may be in the minority, but i find his vocals on "tribal convictions", "ravenous medicine", and other voivod classics on "voivod lives" to be more powerful than the originals, and i love snake! this is one of their heaviest, most thrilling albums, along with "nothingface", and "killing technology"! and those of you that know voivod, know that's saying something, indeed! RIP, Piggy. you were one of the greats, and you will be missed. we look forward to the forthcoming voivod, in tribute to your passion and innovation! . A Return to form..R.I.P Piggy. Back to the old school prog/space guitar effects, and progressive chord progressions of Killing Technology/Dimension Hatross, this album was underrated at the time and still is. This album was a great return to form for Voivod. I say this album is one of their top three, along with the two aforementioned albums (unless one counts Nothingface). I was dissapointed in the self titled album, because it was way too basic compared to the Progressiveness (and also Neurosis influence (or is it the other way around) inherent on this classic release. I would like to spend the rest of the review to talk about the memory of the great guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'amour. He died friday (August 26th 2005) of colon cancer, and it is a tragic loss of one of the pioneers of progressive and experimental metal. In fact, I wouldn't be playing that type of metal without him. Voivod i had read about growing up, and was dying to hear them as a science fiction and metal fan. I then saw the video for "Astronomy Domine" on the Headbangers Ball in 1990, and was hooked. I proceeded to get into them, and they introduced me (through interviews, covers, and by the music itself) to prog rock and prog metal. Suffice to say I would not be playing that type of music if it weren't for them. My own guitar playing is hugely influenced by Piggy. The strange chords, diminished progressions, and flatted fifth chords I all started playing after hearing Piggy and Voivod. R. I. P and long live the Iron Gang!. Metal Mad Scientist's bubbly laboratory experiments I was hooked on this album from the first listen. Some people love it, some people hate it. Voivod expands on their sci-fi vibe with these progressive yet heavy songs, which are all connected by vintage synthesizer ambience. These in-between bits give Phobos (named after a moon of Jupiter?) a beautiful flow. The overall production has a rich, lush sound. Piggy and Away are outstanding performers on this album. Very tight playing. Eric Forrest does his best vocals ever here. Although many people, purists they may be, prefer Snake's heavily accented voice, Forrest does a fantastic job of sounding like Snake at some points, then heavying it up for his signature hardcore growl at other points. Just for the record, and some perspective, my favorite album by VoiVod is Outer Limits. Phobos is a close second. If Phobos came with some 3-D glasses, it might have been a tie for first place. . You can see a complete list of all Voivod discography, or go back to the Voivod tabs