If you consider yourself a fan of metal music and you have never heard of Voivod, then turn in your card now.  The French-Canadian quartet has been around for close to three decades and has endured their fair share of lineup changes.  Their brightest moment in the last decade was to get Jasonic (Jason Newsted) to play bass, and at this point, he is still in the band, although he doesn’t play all the live shows.  That brings us to Voivod’s latest live album Warriors of Ice, which features three-fourths of the original Voivod lineup, plus Chewy as a guitarist.

Warriors of Ice was recorded at a show at Club Soda in Montreal in December 2009.  Naturally, one would expect the crowd to be lively for the band’s performance, and that is what happens.  Unfortunately, part of the crowd reaction is cut from the album, which gives it a rather choppy feel.  Unless you are solely a fan of the Voivod and Katorz albums, then Warriors of Ice will prove to be a major disappointment.  That’s the bad of the live album.  As for the good, well, there’s a lot to like, as the crowd reactions that are kept in the recording is quite lively and into the performance.  Voivod rewards the fans with an equally good performance in which Chewy acquits himself well, particularly in playing mostly the older Voivod material.  Everything about Voivod is present, from Snake’s vocals to Away’s drumming, and even Blacky’s bass playing, as performs on this album.  The rough production values provide a bootleg feel, but given the band’s sound, it only enhances the sound on some level.

When one thinks of Voivod at their best, the lineup of Snake, Away, Blacky, and Piggy is often the most associated group.  Since Piggy died of cancer in 2005, the attempt to rekindle the spirit of Voivod has been tried, with Jasonic and Chewy being the replacements.  However, in live settings, Blacky has on some level, played with the band, giving Voivod some of that spirit back.  Warriors of Ice is the closest one will get to that, though the feeling is that there will always be something missing.

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*Comments:

1.  Voivod
2.  The Unknown Knows
3.  The Prow
4.  Ripping Headaches
5.  Ravenous Medicine
6.  Tribal Convictions
7.  Overreaction
8.  Panorama
9.  Global Warning
10.  Treasure Chase
11.  Tornado
12.  Nothingface
13.  Brain Scan
14.  Nuclear War
15.  Astronomy Domine

Total playing time:  71:44

Release Date: June 14th, 2011
Label: Indica Records

Voivod - Warriors of Ice

Reviewer: Peter

September 22, 2011