Jumping The Shark Part II - This time, it's PERSONAL!

VOIVOD - 'Angel Rat'

Mechanic / MCA 1991

I debated on whether or not to include 'Angel Rat' in the previous post, which I did indeed take as a betrayal (in the same month as C.O.C.'s dull 'Black Album' inspired 'BLIND' no less - thank GOD I discovered Boredoms that year), BUT!

As my taste in music has widened and deepened, 'Angel Rat' has grown on me quite a bit. I remember reading an interview with Snake at the time where he was asked about the downplaying of their more progressive elements and he cheerily said something to the effect of "We got tired of sounding like Rush and decided to go Alice Cooper". This truly sickened me at the time. Of course, Snake was referring to 'Pretties For You' and 'Easy Action' era Cooper, which I can hear now, and not the 'Feed My Frankenstein', Kane Roberts - Rambo slap guitarist- 80's Alice that I thought he meant! That perception, coupled with the comparatively straight songwriting on 'Rat', you can see how that could happen.

Obviously, Voivod were shitting their pants. They were getting HUGE post 'Nothingface', but there was a storm brewing in the (pacific north)west that was changing the heavy metal landscape. Having the then über-sloppy Led-Sabbath-oid Soundgarden and about to rule the world for 30 seconds Faith No More opening, and becoming better received than them, Voivod realized that their intensely technical metal had a limited appeal. Not to mention it was so hard to play they weren't having nearly the fun that Soundgarden seemed to have with their slow motion classic rock-isms (of course, Soundgarden were also high on MDMA, which probably helped).

Generation X were putting what I refer to as their 'Diaper Headphones' on, digging a punkish permutation of the stuff they grew up on - becoming nostalgic for the early 1970's and getting 'back to basics'. Pretty soon the 'GRUNGE PURGE' would rise and the razor sharp futuristic dystopia offered by Voivod would become as passé as Poison, Warrant and the rest of the Glam Rock Goofballs. But unlike the coke addled poodle-do's, Voivod KNEW IT.

What could they do? 'Angel Rat' finds Voivod trying to simplify their approach, reference the 70's (Alice Cooper Band / King Crimson) more explicitly than before (even visually), while trying to keep some of the trademarks that marked their sound (Piggy's bizarre chording, Snake's Franco-English crooning). This wouldn't have been as big of a deal if they hadn't dumped the Voivod lyrical concept.

Since 1984's kick ass debut 'War & Pain', Voivod had been telling the story of Korgüll The Exterminator, the alien scientist/warrior who is the Voivod from which the band took it's name. Initially just a cool and unique way to talk about your typical metal subjects of death and destruction, by 1987's 'Killing Technology' the band had started using it to delve into subjects like slavery, theology, classism, science and eating cockroaches.

While 'Angel Rat' didn't lyrically dive into the world of personal angst like everyone else circa '91 and largely remained in the realm of science fiction, it didn't continue THE STORY!! At the end of 'Nothingface', Korgull the Exterminator was left floating in an ocean. I WANTED - No- NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!! And 'Angel Rat', while certainly thematically nautical, didn't deliver.

Truth is, taken on it's own merit, 'Angel Rat' is a fantastic, mature, Metal record. Whether that's a good or bad thing is relative to you, the listener. Beyond the hard rock shock of opener 'Panorama' (which had me jaw dropped at it's conventionality at the time), there aren't any bad songs on the record. 'The Prow' has the balls to put an ACCORDION in it's outro - and it RULES. Is it as good as any of their previous albums? No. At times the synth augmented passages get a bit too guaze-y for their own good. Is it as bad as their TRUE shark jumping point 'Negatron' (or the entire Eric Forrester era)? HELL no. But in and of itself it is a great record and had another band released it as a debut, it would have been a successful outing.

Now, all that said, who the hell is Kiisti Matsuo and why is she a 'lyrical consultant'?

Dans la mer

You'll go down

Go down where

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