Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Voivod - Killing Technology (1987)

Another Voivod recommendation for me...but this album Killing Technology really leveled up my interest in this band and the two albums after this one, and extended my metal taste range to a few years older! Though I still prefer the progressive/technical thrash stuff, rather than the classic standard thrash of Metallica and Slayer.

I still haven't listened to the first two Voivod albums, but I've heard that those two albums stabilized Voivod's foundations with hostile cyberpunk thrash. However, this album is where the band landed in the progressive thrash map, Killing Technology! With spacey riffs in a legendary mix, this is the first of 3 progressive masterpieces by the band, with next album Dimension Hatross now becoming my all-time favorite of the band. I can now see the vision and originality and this progressive thrash trilogy.

Back to Killing Technology, the title track begins with rumbling ambience and what sounds like heart-monitor beeps (wow, so many albums with a track that has that sound, gotta make a list of those), then it stops shortly after a robot says "We are connected". Right then, freaky fast metal riffing crashes in with Snake's signature punkish vocals and lyrics of a paranoid futuristic dystopia. Now that's killer 80s prog-thrash! "Overreaction" has intense punkish bass groove selecting unique chords from Piggy (R.I.P.). F***ing you out of Kansas is "Tornado", beginning with subtle distortion before barging in with percussion and chords.

"Forgotten in Space" descends you into a claustrophobic prison planet to hold you captive. Amazing song! First bonus track "Too Scared to Scream" is a great summary of how I felt when I was 13, discovering and developing my taste in music based on my brother's interest. While I absorbed parts of his playlist of hard rock/alt-metal/post-grunge and Two Steps From Hell, he had some songs from 3 metal bands; DragonForce, Metallica, and Avenged Sevenfold (sorry, no Voivod). At that point, my tolerance was developing, and I was too scared for the screaming aggression of thrash and metalcore-turned-heavy metal, so I settled on the speedy power metal of DragonForce, which of course led me to where I am today. Excellent dark-ish reminder! "Ravenous Medicine" is pretty much one of the best Voivod songs and titles, where Snake vocals really rule.

"Order of the Blackguards" has quick thrash grooves with glorious chords erupting like a space volcano. "This is Not an Exercise" is basically furious thrash metal that has partly inspired industrial metal. You wouldn't wanna p*ss off that bull! The second and last bonus track "Cockroaches" has perfect fitting tone that should've been in the original vinyl edition for the old-school listeners to enjoy the extreme.

So unless you've been living under a rock and missed 30 years of your life, you already know that this killer band is a turning point in progressive thrash history. I would recommend this album and their next two to anyone wanting to educate themselves with original cosmic progressive thrash metal!

Favorites: "Killing Technology", "Forgotten in Space", "Too Scared to Scream" (bonus track), "Ravenous Machine", "Cockroaches" (bonus track)