EP REVIEW: Post Society – Voivod
WORDS: Tim Redman
VOIVOD are a band that’s always evolved. Starting out as a Thrash act they have arguably the most interesting story of any progressive metal band. Modern VOIVOD is a very different beast to the band that released War and Pain way back in 1984. In recent years since the death of Piggy, the bands guitarists and driving creative force, they put out the well-received album Target Earth in 2013. Now the band are back with this EP to bridge the gap until they’re next record.
So what can you expect from Post-Society? The opener, coincidently also the title track, opens with a bass line that could have been lifted straight from one of the bands early records. However this comparison soon falls apart as the remainder of the band joins in. The unique vocals of frontman Snake what fans of the band have come to expect. Lyrically the subjects covered deal with the fall of society while musically the band continue in the same vein as their recent records with progressive metal riffs that could have been written by Piggy himself abundant.
Forever Mountain is a more heavily prog tracks and is also the shortest of the original material on offer here, despite clocking in at over five minutes. The use of odd time signatures and the clear yet crunchy production are most noticeable on this song. The next track, Fall starts off with an acoustic interlude before settling into a riff and vocal structure that builds into a more traditional fair. VOIVOD are really showing that they know what their doing here with technically interesting structure. Despite this the song fails to flow particularly well or hold the attention long enough to really appreciate these. Lyrically the song talks about autumn and the return of ghosts associated with it.
The last of the original songs on the EP is We Are Connected. This song goes all over the place during its seven minute running time, from faster catchy riffs to a slow guitar-led interlude interspersed with robotic voices. The bass comes through heavily in the mix here giving new bassist Rocky his chance to shine. The album finishes up with a cover of HAWKWIND’s Silver Machine. While covering a classic is often dangerous ground, VOIVOD manage to make their interpretation faithful yet distinct enough to warrant its place on the EP.
The material on offer here isn’t anything special. That is not to say that they aren’t good, fans of VOIVOD’s recent output will not be disappointed with this. The problem is instead that all four of the original songs on here fail to grab the listener and while they would be passable in the context of a full album the lack of any really catchy hooks here hurts the EP. Not bad, but not great either.
Rating 6/10
Post Society is set for release on February 26th via Century Media Records.
