So... I was at the
Target Earth launching party in Montreal last night, which was taking place at 8PM at a small venue, the Cafe Chaos. Where a DJ played the CD over and over in its entirety
My guitarist was a bit late and picked me up at 7:10 and we were hungry as fuck. Grabbed a bite not too far and got at the Cafe Chaos around 7:45, expecting a lineup outside. But it's unusually quiet. I was nearby last Wednesday and the place was crowded. My friend asks: "you sure you got the venue right". I am seriously not sure anymore because looking inside, there's maybe a dozen patron downstairs. We enter.
We walk around. People are discussing among friends. No signs of a launching party until we get to the back. There's a big screen and a live Voivod show (muted) and we bump into some guy who is involved with the launch (and who used to work with my guitarists's former band). He tells us the guys are upstairs and at 8 sharp, CDs will be on sale and the record will play. We go up. My friend is nervous "Voivod is my whole adolescence, one of the main reason I play guitar".
We get there, I can't fucking believe it. I do a headcount. There's 9 people, plus the Voivod guys. With us, that's 15 people total. We go grab beers, which taste like fucking piss. I'm about to bitch about my beer when the DJ announces the event. Than the first track starts. I've got a big fucking grin on my face. My friend goes right for the line to buy the CD. By the third track, I am convinced. This isn't a regular comeback, where you're just happy a band you used to like
almost doesn't suck anymore.. Like Metallica, or Heaven and Hell. This is, like, one of the best Voivod records ever!
I'm banging my head and listening intently when a lone guy passes in front of me and smile. "Hi!" he says. It's Snake and he's obviously in a partying mood despite the low crowd. I don't know what to answer. I just extend my hand and say: "This... this is a fucking awesome album. A true comeback". He thanks me. We start talking about the process. Being on the road for so long with the new lineup, he tells me the chemistry is at its peak again. Playing so many old tracks live and in the studio, they've really come to a better understanding of their older material. Where they were bold, what worked and what doesn't. We talk about everything from early classics to golden era Nothingface to the post-Nothingface era that was a little less aggressive and not always well received. He speaks at length about Jack Luminous. It seems obvious to me that they like progressive elements but maybe Angel Rat and the Outer Limits lacked a slight bit of Voivod magic.
The way he explains it to me, it's like they were back to having done Nothingface and Target Earth was next. They were trying not to lose the energy of early records, push forward into the weird and while doing all that, make the record modern and relevant for 2013. He seems to think they succeeded and I agree. Snake was very talkative, very generous of his time and the conversation tone was sincere, not PR from what I could see. I see someone else wants to talk to him and I turn to him and move a little aside so he can join. The three of us talk some more and then my friend comes back, while I'm still listening to track after track of pure fucking awesome metal. "This is a bargain" he says, "30 bucks and I got the new CD, two promo CDs and a T-shirt! I couldn't find Snake to sign my stuff though, nor Dan Mongrain".
I explain I was just chatting with Snake. He's still not at the signing table. My friend punches me lightly, calling me a motherfucker. People are starting to get in. Obviously the cold day (it really was fucking cold!) slowed the enthusiasm of many. My friend finally locates Mongrain whose other band (Martyr) used to open for his band back in the days. How things change. They chat a long while
There's a few people from other local acts, so we discuss. The Voivod guys remain the stars of the event and all are very generous of their time as well.
Everyone I talk to seems to love the new album. There's a little bit of every Voivod era but the bolder, progressive element manage to keep an aggressive edge. That is the key difference. And although everyone agrees Mongrain has really paid tribute to Piggy's guitar style, I still notice the slight Mongrain influence in there. Guys like Schuldiner have obviously been a huge influence on his style and there are slight touches here and there. And it works really well. The most adventurous track is one of the last songs, a really punkish, hardcore, in your face track (that I personally didn't find to be one of the best, but if that's the worse on the record, that's a success!)
It was really awesome to witness such a groundbreaking, uncompromising band come back so strong. Local act for me no less.
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mjollnir wrote:
Noble Beast's debut album is way beyond MOST of what Priest did in the 80s.