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[Metallus Maximus]

Metallus Maximus � Maximus Archivus � Classic Album Of The Day Archive (Moderator: Hellboy)
Classic album of the Day, 11/16/08-- VOIVOD-- Dimension Hatross

[zekeyou]

Quite easily for me the best album of VoiVod's career-- their 4th album, "Dimension Hatross".  This album is the perfect blend of the punkish dissonant steamroller from the first two albums and bit more of the refined-yet-quirky metal of Killing Technology.  Being first turned on to VoiVod from the song "Condemned to the Gallows" from Metal Massacre V, I pretty much stayed away from the band until my friend picked up Killing Tech.  I still wasn't sold, but I could tell that some serious development was underway, and I made the blind buy of Dimension Hatross when it came out, and I was floored.

All the songs here are pinnacle VoiVod (minus the Batman cover on the cd), with high points being Chaosmongers and Macrosolutions to Megaproblems-- but the truest gem on this album is the godly (dogly?) Tribal Convictions.

A toast to Piggy today.

Tribal Convictions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfpYIPbrcdY

And yes, I do love the early stuff nowadays.

[Release]

Phenomenal album.   

I bought Rooaaarrr and hated it.  Killing Technology wasn't a hit with me either.  But Tribal Convictions changed my views on the band.  Truthfully, I didn't like that song the first few listens but it grew on me pretty fast after that.  Digging deeper into this album revealed the genius of this band.  This is easily my favorite from them.  Nothingface is a close second but this is the fist one I always grab when the mood hits. I've come to love most of their catalog but the mid-period stuff are my favorites (this, Nothingface and Angel Rat).  War & Pain is still a little too much for me and I still haven't heard Rooaaarrr since I traded it in a few months after it came out.  It's funny, Piggy always walked the line between out of control, unlistenable noise and pure brilliance to me.  I can see how some people don't like his style but to me, very few have ever had an instantly identifiable style as he did.  He was one of a kind, just as this band was (is?).

[moshdrum69]

I am NOT much of a fan of this band,,,,,however "Dimension Hatross" kicks some serious ass!!

It is the only album from the band that I enjoy enough to own.

[Dr. Heathen Scum]

I'm down wit it   

[Fatal if swallowed]

Yeah there's some great stuff on this album, but it pales in comparison to their earlier efforts, especially the monster that was War and Pain!! 

[Venom]

Yeah there's some great stuff on this album, but it pales in comparison to their earlier efforts, especially the monster that was War and Pain!! 

War and Pain will always been my favorite by them. Hey look Fatal, we agreed on something!!

[Hellboy]

  Voivod's masterpiece!

This album should have been huge considering how original and ground-breaking it was; this is the perfect example of what a band can achieve without music label executives breathing down their neck. It's hard to believe Dimension Hatross is more than 20 years old already... it still sounds so fresh even today. And I even like the campy 60s Batman theme cover!  

R.I.P. Piggy

[Firefarter]

as good as the first 3 albums are,this is definitely where they peaked as far as i'm concerned.the only other album of theirs that even comes close is the S/T from 2003.

[Venom]

I will give this album a listen on my iPod this afternoon and come back with an opinion.  I know it has been a very long time since I have heard it and from I remember I have never been a fan.

[Venom]

After a good listen, I can say it sounded better than I remembered but I still prefer the first couple of thrash albums.  Going to listen to War and Pain now!

[mak28]

Great album.  It's more controlled than Killing Technology making it far more listenable and the retained thrash rhythms make kick a little more tail than what came soon after.  Chaosmongers rules.  I sing it all the time as it pops into my head at the oddest times.  I prefer Nothingface over this by a small margin and Angel Rat is right on its tail but its definitely right around the peak of the band's career.  Even so, The only Voivod I don't really care for is Rrroooaaarrr.  Everything else varies between great and brilliant.  I even love the Eric material.

[Pelata]

I've always wanted to get into VOIVOD...but I never could...I respect them, I can hear how good they are...but it just is not something I would reach for...

RESPECT!!! 

[concussed]

    I even love the Eric material.

ditto...

as for DH it's the first Voivod album that I truly loved.  Went backwards after the fact (I did have War and Pain back in the day but thought it was o.k.) and rediscovered the brilliance of this band.  Easily one of my all-time favourites...top 5 for sure!

[nvmbrsdoom5]

My first exposure to them was hearing the "War And Pain" album around 1985.  It was a bit too much for me at the time, too raw and over the top.  I liked the title track a fair bit, but didn't listen to the album much.  As a result, I didn't wind up picking up "rrrRRROOOAAARRRrrr" when it came out the next year, though I did hear it from friends.  It was a step forward but again I just couldn't grasp it really.  "Killing Technology" was more of a step in the right direction for me, I loved "Tornado" and "Ravenous Medicine" especially.  But "Dimension Hatross" was the album that fully hooked me at last.  I saw the video for "Tribal Convictions" before I heard the whole album, I taped it off of "Headbangers Ball" and I think I watched the video about two dozen times in that first week!  I listened to this album over and over so many times that eventually I had to put it away for a bit!  This is the cd I listen to most often by them, next to "Nothingface" and especially "Angel Rat" (which might be my favorite of theirs).
My favorite songs from this album are "Brain Scan" and "Psychic Vacuum", and of course "Tribal Convictions".

I was fortunate enough to meet the band on several occasions and hang out a small bit with them even once or twice.  Very nice guys, and Piggy particularly was great to me.  It really broke my heart when he passed.

I think the 1988/89 tour for this album was also them at their peak, live.  I saw them in 1990 on "Nothingface" tour and while it was still oustanding, you could tell the energy and enthusiasm wasn't quite at the same level as before.

If I really think about it, I'd say that Voivod might be my favorite metal band.  I don't listen to them with the same frequency as I once did, but I feel the most passionately about their music than anyone else.  (Celtic Frost is a close second).

[Hellboy]

Hey nvmbrsdoom5,

It's very cool to hear that Voivod might be your fave metal band, they are so underrated. I was also mesmerized by the Tribal Convictions video; even visually, Voivod did set themselves apart from what was the norm at the time. The main difference between Celtic Frost and Voivod is that while Celtic Frost were working hard to be "Avant-Garde", Voivod were Avant-Garde without even trying... if that makes any sense???