Voivod Target Earth Review

Voivod Target Earth 2013

(r) 01/22/2013

One of the curious factors in my listening preferences is in the last four years I've gone back to the well and picked up many early bands whom started styles, and were movements in their respective locales.

My first taste of anything Canadian was D.B.C. (Dead Brain Cells) who employed a mixture of punk and thrash elements, whereas Annihilator were an aesthetic of total thrash, and then much much later I dove into Voivod whom are a different beast altogether.

Voivod have done a remarkable job of keeping the flame alive of being just off center of what is out there. My preferential go to albums are Nothingface, and The Outer Limits. They are as close to a science fiction composition, as they are in the ability to create interesting narratives to that foundation. Target Earth is a welcomed return, while bridging familiarity, and infusing fresh perspective. I feel it either works, or does not depending on my mood. What must really grab me is an instantaneous core which elicits atmospheric pastures, and pulsating beats.

What I do like are the first few tracks, they sound re-energized, competent, and capable. The thing that starts to fall for me is towards the middle section of the album because it falls. Its downward slope I think is a result in of the long play format with digital records, and I think this could have served a bit better as an EP. I think this can be digested into parts rather than as a complete full length.

Breaking it up a bit so the audience can integrate the complexities. I think this is also a result of the continued onslaught, and it is to a point of overload. Groups can elect to control how much they want to put out into there, as to keep their brand as recognizable, this I foresee being something bands will and should do in the future.

Target Earth I think needed to be digested in parts rather than as a complete whole package. I enjoy the record because its strong, and constructed with good clarity. On the flip side the fact the songs do sometimes blend into one another and it really compounds rather than accentuates the full experience. Nothing here can I fault with the musicianship, as it's fantastic. Thanks for reading.

B.

Virus - The Agent That Shapes The Desert Review

Virus The Agent That Shapes The Desert 2011

****/*****

Virus Bandcamp Site

A little more different than The Black Flux, this record settles into a very calculated logical orientation. I feel as though this record feels lonely, isolated, hunted, and judged. A great deal of the songs themselves have a discordant expositions, and mixing more of a looser playability seemed to really highlight Czral's guitar style this time.

At the midway point, the record settles into a very relaxed aspect, churning out each bit into throngs and pallets of emotion. It is rhythmic as hell, and though it doesn't fit the standard of groove expectation, it has something else that I admire, it sounds like nothing else out there.

The Agent That Shapes The Desert there's an unsureness but an unknown vibe that is sprinkled throughout. Though I believe this gets record pushes another evolution of Virus's 'sound', and that is pretty cool. It isn't what is expected and that I think works.

This is a record that feels traveled, and conflicted. For the atmosphere really does take some getting used to, and that is just fine for me. Its not supposed to be something that just pops or is accepted right away, it takes a little time, and it grows on you. Give it a try. Thanks for reading.

B.

Virus - Carheart Review

Virus Carheart 2003

Virus Bandcamp Site

A fantastic mix of distortion, and off time rhythms. The vocals really throws the listener into a auditory exposure to film noir atmospheres. Texturally speaking this hangs in my head. The title track brings back a familiar modern music vibe of the mid to late 80s, while also harkening back to a lost jazz era. It works I think because this isn't as familiar to the senses.

Though I'm ten years late to this record, I've gone on and learned about the band, its history, and some of the more unique qualities that I think give this a standout from the pack. In the last few years I've hit a wall of sorts in my listening experiences, and not having a lot of great successes finding what really fits my palate has really been a frustrating endeavor.  

Virus bridges this gap for me, and I've come to accept this will be the norm. Part of it is age, along with a finer fringe of my exposure and having great distances (because I don't have the ability to really be there). I've really leaned into the European sound, and I've liked what I've heard, thusly why I've been more accustomed to this idiom in the last few years. With Carheart I feel I've come full circle as a listener as well.

Carheart is dreamy and oozes large doses of twangy, and has a crisp off center vibe. This record has this scenic presence which sticks to your senses, and though there hints and nods to Ved Buens Ende all over it, the really interesting part is the missing blast beat motifs. The wispy or scratchy vocals are now a totally new beast, each track has a different ambient flair. I have gone back and forth on whether this is my favorite of the Virus lore, and I'm leaning towards being a continuation that flows into The Black Flux. Carheart is a record I've sunk into and have enjoyed immensely. Thanks for reading.


B.

Sleepy Time Gorllia Museum - In Glorius Time Review

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum In Glorious Times 2007



I have no idea what this is, and frankly that intrigues me. When I found this year, I was totally thrown backwards by how off center it is. Questions arise as to what instrument's are those? How come I have never really been aware of this band?

You bet this sticks with me because I've kept coming back to this and their first record. Wow. This is art in a way I've not really heard before. Though I'm quite familiar with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's shtick, the lore or story, that isn't what I care about here. I still find curious nibblets and crevices in In Glorious Times, for what it is worth.


This record weaves in and out of a chaotic place, there are some standard numbers, but it doesn't fit with what is expected in any shape. Every song is constructed to feel like its own affair rather than fit into an overall piece (at first), but after awhile I found that the songs work in a disjointed way. I love the shit out of the bass work on Formicary, is as off time as anything I've heard in quite sometime.

I think they've followed in the school of thought like the group Oingo Boingo. Like Boingo they were unique voice amongst a lot of distortion i.e. a modern band, whereas SGM follows in that next idiom. Because of that, I'm just blown away by the presentation. There is a mix of all styles packaged in a neat way. Though I think they were undeserved by a eclectic audience, the thing that I really like is that they are insulated from the type of monster exposure which has been aped and broken by large entities for per profit.

But, I think the more I delve into this pasture of sound, the more I'm hungry. What else can I find that has this type of presentation. I've already been well versed with King Crimson, The Swans, and Oingo Boingo, who else is out there? To hell with radio, there isn't anything I care to hear there anyways. I am anxious to hear what their final opus will be. Thanks for reading.

B.