The Formative Years – Voivod
In the late 1980s as a prepubescent metal was the law and after meandering through the limited offerings of the local record stores, befriending older scenester and actively tape trading, I was introduced to bands that derived from the speed metal formula I had become infatuated with.
One of those bands was Voivod, who not unlike their countrymen Annihilator enjoyed a bit of an exotic status in my tape collection as they hailed from Canada.
While their Dimension Hätross album excited me with its raw thrashy approach, it was Killing Technology that blew my mind with its unusual tempos and machine-like cadence.
Killing Technology has stood the test of time with its unheard musically varied surge of aggression and the sonic equivalent of a haunting, dystopian future that suddenly seemed all too real.
With their breath-taking, progressive thrash comprised of obscure, outstanding riff sequencing, dominant bass, machine-like complex drumming and an underlying industrial feel, Voivod sounded otherworldly and were light years ahead of their time only to evolve to the next level at an alarming rate once the epigones came close to catching up with them.
With its razor-sharp, nuanced and highly unorthodox delivery, Killing Technology managed to conjure apocalyptic images backed by what seemed to be an avid appreciation for the power, grit, filth and frenetic propulsion of bands like Discharge, Venom and Mötorhead.
Killing Technology constituted a quantum leap for thrash metal by infusing it with the complexity of progressive metal elements.
