Composer Reacts to Voivod - Chaosmongers (REACTION & ANALYSIS)
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- Опубликовано: 11 июл 2024
- Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on Voivod - Chaosmongers
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • Voivod - Chaosmongers
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0:00 Intro
1:05 Reaction
5:49 Analysis - Chaotic Composition
7:16 Analysis - Structural Dissonance
10:07 Analysis - Melodic and Chordal Dissonance
18:59 Analysis - Clean, yet Dirty Production
24:34 Analysis - The Wild Guitar Solo
30:54 Analysis - It's About Resistance, Right?
35:40 Analysis - Tying Themes Together
37:10 Outro
I bought this album when it first came out. I sat in the dark that night and played it. It was a religious experience. 34 years later this is still my favorite album. Voivod all day, every day since that night.
Their next album where they fully embrace prog, ‘Nothingface’ would be a great album reaction.
Such a great band who are still out there kicking ass.
Just saw Voivod for the umpteenth time just four days ago.
Brilliant analysis! Thank you for giving Voivod the respect they deserve in your breakdown- I think you genuinely understood what Voivod was going for.
Just finished listening to this whole album for the second time today and you come out with this, nice
Sometimes I get my timing just right! :)
Oh man Acid Bath and Voivod back to back? Never thought I’d see that but that’s another reason I love your content. You’re very diverse and always keeping an open mind
Hello and hell yeah from New England..Viovod!!! I was listening to this when I was 14 yrs old..Piggy was the shite back in the day..Still is..!! This is so punky and metal and thrash..That chorus has a hook 10 Ft. long!!!..Great suggestion..Peace..
Yeah, I have distinct memories of listening to this while riding the bus to school.
Voivod is definitely one of the most original bands in metal history. Started out as extremely punky thrash, evolved to a kinda techy punk-thrash, then eventually into prog metal. This album (Dimension Hatross) was the pivotal point for them, as with the next album (Nothingface) they'd go almost full prog; but Dimension Hatross is where you can still really hear the punk/thrash origins, even though it's already starting to get more ambitious than most of their metal contemporaries. The recommender mentioned it, but what's crazy is how ahead of their time they constantly were. This was '88, really before any of the OG prog metal bands really got going, and it would still be many years before any bands really embraced their techy elements. If you remember Vector, they basically took Voivod's style, updated it with modern production and modern prog/black metal influences.
Anyway, yeah, this is just killer metal: dense, aggressive, heavy, memorable reiffs, technical without sacrificing any of the aforementioned elements... it's just a classic from one of the most unique bands in metal. My one word of criticism against Voivod is that I don't think they ever quite topped the trio of Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross, and Nothingface. They definitely released some great albums ever, but no others I would consider masterpieces.
It's certainly blowing my mind that this kind of music came out in the 80s because I associate so much of the composition to post-2000s. "Before their time" almost seems like an understatement in their case 😅
And their new stuff is still years ahead of everything else
Vektor, compared to Voivod, sounds like obnoxious German speed metal.
You can invert the chord to get a dissonant chord from a single guitar. I learned this from Metallica's early albums they used these kind of chords infrequently.
@@CriticalReactions They have more of song structure than early Kataklysm albums...For example The Mystical Gate of Reincarnation.
You're really eloquent bro. This was my first voivod song back in the limewire days and it was a beautiful spacey trip. I've come around to their dissonant chords and now I'm obsessed with Piggy's signature sound.
The bit around 4.40 reminded me of Cardiacs!
You should listen to " Macrosolutions to Megaproblems " from the same album. It has a little guitar section that sounds exactly like a song from The Seaside by Cardiacs.
Stellar Album!!!
I will like any video of someone trying out Voivod. It is such an acquired taste - I don't care if they like it or not.
They're such a tragically under-appreciated band with such a weird and alien approach to this sort of sound, that even seeing someone reacting and not liking it is rewarding - whether someone likes the band or not, that first reaction is always one of "what the hell am i hearing? Where did THIS come from?"
for me it's not dissonant. it's alternative harmonic.
It's weird how something this dissonant and disharmonic can still make so much sense and sound so beautiful... it's like music from another dimension, which is exactly the idea Voivod was aiming for....
This album is still 30 years ahead of its time. My favorite Voivod album. Nothingface is really good, but a little "straighter." Thanks for your analysis!
hard to believe that this came out 34 years ago
I bought this record when i was 13 In 88. Expecting it to be just another thrash metal record in line of exodus and testament. Hey. I was 13 going into thrash for my second year after metallica and slayer. But Voivod just took my yourney into another path on music. My favorite band . And 20 years lather i find Rush, that was my next big happening in life. Much to late. I was to much bound into hardcore and metal in early years, that i just ignore that band when they were still playing. Sadly.
Love the reactions. That's how Voivod always is, just wheh you think you know what's coming music structure wise they throw you for a loop
I used to play this CD in my car all the time. I had a friend that rode with me to work who would make me turn it off, LOL!
Nice analysis as always. Like you said, the dissonance is there but it is not grating. I think they really nailed its usage and did get the production to help support it. Piggy (their only guitarist and main composer) used to experiment and customize the shit out of his guitars and gear to get the exact texture and tone he aimed for on each album and used it as the main ingredient for the robotic / sci-fi theme of their music. Their following albums further highlight this as his songwriting and the production value keeps getting better and the conventional metal elements become even less important.
About this album, it is a concept album where the narrator is sick of this world and uses a particle accelerator to materialize itself into another dimension, only to find out that the new world is even worst than the previous one.
It is not accessible, they do their own thing and don't even seem to give any attention to what the mainstream metal and rock are doing - IIRC at this point in time they took their inspiration from movie records, 70's prog rock and compositions like Stravinsky's Rite of spring instead of other metal records. It took me a while to get my footing around so many crazy ideas, but there are no weak tracks here.
I thought this was a nice introduction to Voivod - a unique style, crazy riffs and ideas, rythmically complex, good production and it only gets better from here for those who dig this.
Thanks for some of that background info about the band. The concept of this album is bonkers though. Certainly intriguing but I'm not sure I could take a whole album of this. 😅
Those fast-talking monotone vocals are conceptually somewhere between a shell-shocked cyborg narrator trying to describe an otherworldly journey as it happens, and a series of deranged, cosmic tyrants dictating their alien manifestos to their captive audiences of brainwashed followers, with each of the songs being a different take on some cosmic dystopic nightmare - it's a bizarre concept album, for a bizarre band. One of my favorites, Voivod and Celtic Frost never got old for me over the decades! In a way, Voivod and Celtic Frost have spoiled me on harmonic music over the years: today, I have trouble enjoying music unless there's at least a bit of this sort of "spice" to it - "normal" pop music sounds sort of flat to me!
With the albums concept of a journey through a series of different alien dystopias in mind, those lyrics in "Chaosmongers", I've always taken to refer to be a description of a form of government in which the Chaosmongers maintain a loose sort of control over their world by inspiring their subjects to aimless and chaotic terror and revolution, always attacking the wrong victims, while the Chaosmongers quietly orchestrate the whole thing from the shadows, remaining on the edge of power and control by outliving their competition.....
@@pietrayday9915 I feel the same thing about the way Snake sings. I think my favorite example is the intro of Brain Scan.
If you haven't already, check out goth rock bands like Bauhaus, the Cure or Siouxsie and the banshees.
Voivod are THE band that nail dissonance, more than any other. They've essentially created a whole language of musical dissonance that is remarkably coherent.
Here let me shrink it down, they are awesome
wow what a really insightful reaction.
I've owned this album since it came out. it's my favourite thrash album of all time. It's a jazz punk psychedelic concept prog thrash masterpiece. PS. You're analysis is next level. big thumbs up
I think it's relevant to note that Voivod is a four piece band with only 3 instruments. There are never 2 guitars. I believe Piggy used loop pedals for solo sections. Also, his guitar style is a very innovative synthesis of many influences, of which different aspect shine through on the wide array of styles and sounds they have touched upon. A huge influence on his particular use of dissonant chords was taken from Robert Fripp of King Crimson. After Dimension Hatross, the chaotic seeming structures are slightly smoothed out and compositions generally become much more accessible, even if there are many break neck transitions.
Just such an important band whose innovation and influence continues to this day. As much in their own compositions as in the wide variety of bands in the prog, math, tech, avant-garde and dissonant styles of rock and metal.
loop pedals werent a thing in 1988
4:59 definitely 2 guitars
@@fuckcensorship69 Then overdubbing/editing. Reading it as literally never 2 guitar sounds at once does give an absurd impression. There just aren't 2 guitarists.
I have the official guitar and bass transcription book for Dimension Hatross and I can confirm there are sections of Chaosmongers that have two guitar parts. Both were recorded by Piggy, of course.
Voivod was on the forefront of the speed game/race which was a big thing back then, I heard "this is the fastest band"... and certainly Killing Technology was that...but this album ? wow.... themes. you have to listen to the whole thing to get it, and it is a story of the voivod discovering and exploring a micro universe... that sounds so strange typing it... lol .... but it was so out there.. the run of Dimension Hatross to Outer Limits is legend imo... such a crazy arc, every album was "them" but so different...
Thanks man, interesting and good review here, just for your information we used to tune in 435, this give us an odd sound so to speak.
Can't beat getting feed back from a band member.
Also I picked up the bass in part to your playing on these albums
I've come to think of Voivod not so much as a metal band, but a jazz band filtered through a punk-meets-metal aesthetic derived from Venom and Motorhead.
Voivod is a Prog rock band that plays punk so hard it turned into metal
Voivod are the exact point where prog and punk collide at their most violent. Even on their later albums with the original line up, nothing is ever certain. You never know where they're going to jump next, or where they're going to land. Divisive? Absolutely, Voivod are all or nothing, and that's why we, the fans, love them so much! TO THE DEATH!
Listen to the first couple Die Kreuzen albums to hear where Piggy picked up the dissonance, and the first couple Killing Joke LPs to hear where they picked up some of the weirder rhythms.
Don't forget all the King Crimson he was listening to!
And Dead Kennedys.
It's one of those albums that takes at least 10 listens to really appreciate.
As a non-metal fan (mostly post punk, shoegaze & noise rock) I somehow came across Vektor which led me back here to Voivod. I gravitated to Dimension Hatross straight away, it's taken a few more listens to get into Killing Tech, Nothing Face & Outer Limits. Not sure if any of the rest of their catalogue will be to my tastes.
Kind of tricky to try to analyze the lyrics of this song out of the context of the whole concept of the album.
The whole album tells a sci fi story, you might want to dive into it track by track, they are all very interesting musically.
Definitely definitely definitely one of the MOST influential bands of our time 🤔That is rarely gets the proper acknowledgement 🙄
From P.I.L. to KRALLICE ? Something in their guitar sound really makes me think of those other Canadians, or is it just me ? (its roots are very anchored in post-punk imho)
This was pretty much my same take when I first heard these guys, and this album in particular. I had never heard anything remotely like it, and it kept me guessing the whole time.
Great review of a top album! Subbed! Voivod peaked with this gem of a masterwork. They should be bigger than Metallica but alas... we're surrounded by basic normie plebs
I've always considered Mekong Delta to be the king of oddball thrash bands, but Voivod is just as good.
You talked about dyads and two guitars playing different notes, but there's only one guitar player in this band.
Overdubs
Now do Otoboke Beaver! 😁
you really have to listen to this as a whole album... then it makes more sense....
I really like Voivod but the vocals always make me chuckle, constantly sounds drunk lol
All of the best metal is always a bit funny, over the top or ridiculous in some way!
I think I'm preaching to the choir, but if you can't handle the ham, cheese, and other silliness in metal, than you're just not cut out for enjoying the genre: the silliness is part of its charm! I think that all of my favorite metal bands have some vaguely silly vocals: King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Voivod, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Nasty Savage, Korovakill, Venom, Cirith Ungol... it's at a point after all these years that the "normal" radio-friendly stuff kinda irritates and bores me! Anyway, I agree: Voivod always puts a smile on my face, and those vocals do kinda come off a bit like a drunken, raving robot, which, from what I've seen and heard from the vocalist before, would probably be a description that he'd appreciate! :D (He comes across as a genuinely nice, good-humored guy!)
I think he gets paid a dollar for every time he says the word dissonance.
Voivod with a hard O.