Reviews list for Voivod - War and Pain (1984)

Voivod started as a thrashy speed metal band inspired by Motorhead and Discharge before the spacey progressive style later. In their debut War and Pain, they still had their twisted character and aggressive energy, and this mid-80s production fits so d*mn with the raw ambience. I haven't heard such filthy bass since Arch Enemy's Black Earth!

Snake's vocals are different from what I've heard in their progressive trilogy. His shrieks are a unique distinctive feature here. His broken English is amusing, but it makes some sense because he's French...-Canadian. The music has straight fury, getting direct with crashing riffs and flaming solos by Piggy, similar to the bluesy style of Fast Eddie Clarke (both passed guitar legends, RIP) tightening some things. Away drums away with his D-beat-influenced thrash beats that are as pounding as Blacky's blacky bass.

You definitely wanna look out for the band's "theme", "Voivod", with its killer lyrics like the unrestrained "VOIVOD!!!" chorus and in one of the verses, "I'll chop your body to eat!!" The bass leads the way in "Warriors of Ice", which is so unlike the similarly named second track of Rhapsody (of Fire)'s debut Legendary Tales. Voivod's song is a straight speeder, unveiling an odd structure with Piggy's shredding that he would be looking back in pride from heaven now. "Suck Your Bone" is a fun song to listen to with Piggy's frantic mayhem, executing kick-rear rhythms and peripheral tempos that head up in the chorus.

"Iron Gang" attacks harder than a prison riot. Then the album's title track starts menacingly, a filthy dirge that is often mistimed in some parts. Still great! Next song "Blower" blows you away in chaotic frenzy, especially at the end.

"Live For Violence" crawls into one ear, violently bursts out the other, and vice versa, back and forth. The main riff of the song is powerful, along with some parts showcasing the band's future experimentation. A great heavy song! Up next, "Black City" has some of the most evil bass ever heard that alone might inspire later black metal bassists. The 7-minute closing epic "Nuclear War" has a beat marching to a peculiar rhythm. Then Piggy's aggression takes over, combusting and wrecking until the ending. SO WILD!!

Before Voivod headed into their progressive side, War and Pain slams your head clean off with a gigantic mallet like croquet. There's not a lot of progressive melody here, just fists of fury delivering punches through windows and doors. They got so good in their debut, but their progressive albums would show their evolving sound and fame....

Favorites: "Voivod", "Suck Your Bone", "War and Pain", "Live for Violence", "Nuclear War"

Thrash metal was still only a young pup in 1984 having first appeared on the scene only two years earlier in 1982 through a couple of groundbreaking underground demos from the likes of Metallica & Sodom. 1983 had seen the first proper album releases taking shape & they were to make an immediate impact on the underground metal scene with Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” & Slayer’s “Show No Mercy” getting thrash metal off to rollicking start & putting the rest of the world on notice that they’d have to step up their game if they wanted to compete with the new levels of extremity the Americans were dishing out. It would seem that their close neighbours in Canada were paying attention though because over the next couple of years we’d see several high quality & long-term Canadians thrash metal institutions making their initial forays into recorded music.

The first & arguably most important of these bands was the unusual Quebec four-piece known as Voivod who released an album-length demo entitled “Anachronism” in 1983. It was actually a live recording of the band’s very first live gig from the 25th June 1983 & the tracklisting was made up of five originals & 17 cover versions from bands like Judas Priest, Tank, Sweet Savage, Raven, A II Z, Budgie, Venom & Motorhead. Voivod would soon release some more original material though in the form of another album-length demo; this time a studio outing going by the name of “To The Death” which was released in January 1984. This grabbed the attention of Metal Blade Records head Brian Slagel & the label agreed to release the first Voivod studio record shortly afterwards. The resulting “War & Pain” album was released on 10th August 1984 & it perfectly showcases Voivod’s sound at that time through a raw & energetic production job full of electricity. To my ears it sounds very much like a live performance as it manages to harness the incredible urgency that the music emits when these musicians come together. Personally, I think it was the perfect production for early Voivod although it may not suit a more straight-forward & traditional thrash band.

These guys were all very accomplished musicians even at this very early stage & it’s hard not to think that they must have spent a significant amount of time paying their dues as they certainly sound like well-seasoned veterans here. Away’s drums have an organic quality to them that’s a long way from sounding mechanical like so many of his peers were starting to. His style is very much rooted in hardcore punk & this is a major contributor to Voivod’s raw velocity & aggression. Blacky’s bass sound is a filthy beast & he fills a very similar niche to Motorhead’s Lemmy Killmeister here in that you can almost consider him to be a second guitarist & that helps to allow the single guitarist more freedom & room to move. Front man Snake gives us a gnarly vocal delivery that sits somewhere between the punky gravel-throated approach of Tank’s Algy Ward & the raspier attack of some of Germany’s thrash metal elite. His lyrics are also a very important component of the Voivod package & have always been highly literary & intelligent with strong roots in science fiction. On this occasion he presents the vision of a dark post-apocalyptic world in the wake of nuclear war. But it’s guitarist Piggy that’s the real star here. His rhythm guitar style certainly emulates the bluesy but dangerous attack of Motorhead’s Fast Eddie Clarke to an extent however Piggy’s significant technical skills enable him to create something altogether new as he weaves psychotic lead solos into the songs at unusual moments with the raw aggression of early Tank springing to mind quite often.

As was the case with his Canadian counterparts Exciter, Piggy doesn’t employ much palm-muting in his riffs; instead preferring an approach that’s much more in line with the hardcore punk model than the more rhythmic thrash metal one. But there’s also a little more going on here than that with many of the song structures showing hints of the progressive rock influence that Voivod would expand on with future releases. In fact, some of the solos are given a noticeably psychedelic quality through the intelligent use of effects. This is incredibly violent music that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat & you get the distinct feeling that almost anything could happen. To be honest, Voivod make an awful racket for a single guitar band too. At times they can make some wildly chaotic music that gives you the feeling that the whole band were suffering from ADD & were simply incapable of sitting still although those that truly understand Voivod’s vision will find their experimentation to be both intriguing & inspired. 

But please be warned, “War & Pain” is not the sort of record that will give you a quick fix. It can sound pretty cold & inaccessible to the first-time listener & taking it all in over a short period is a daunting task. The industrial landscapes we’re presented with here require many listens to dig their teeth in & I have to admit that I wasn’t always onboard. Some of that is undoubtedly due to the fact that despite the widespread reports to contrary… this isn’t actually a thrash metal record. In truth there is very little legitimate thrash on offer here. To my ears it’s a speed metal album with a strong hardcore punk core & an overarching prog rock attitude. I’ve never understood how anyone could confuse it with thrash to be honest because it doesn’t employ any of the signature techniques that the genre has built its reputation on. I mean if you can show me more than a couple of thrash riffs on “War & Pain” you’ll be doing well. Sure.. there’s a strong NWOBHM influence on display but it comes entirely from the more bad-assed & punk-driven side of the movement. Certainly not the Iron Maidens, Saxons & Def Leppards. If I had to describe Voivod’s sound I’d suggest that it’s a combination of the grimy heavy metal of Motorhead, Tank & Venom & the full-throttle energy of hardcore punk bands like Discharge & GBH with a little bit of the ambition of prog rockers like King Crimson & Rush thrown in for good measure. There’s also the odd touch of Killing Joke & Hawkwind there too.

It’s a really interesting listen but there’s a limit to how much I can commit. I don’t think that I ever find myself going absolutely nuts over any of these songs despite finding almost all of them to be enjoyable. I’m just not sure that I can relate to this sound enough for it to be a real favourite. Instead I’ll continue to come back to it every now & then in the hope that I can break down the remaining barriers that are stopping me from placing it on the sort of pedestal that some diehard fans do.