Voivod – Katorz (2006)

April 17, 2023

It pains me to rank a Voivod album so low (not that 3 is particularly dog-rough). I struggled for years to get into the Newsted-era / final Piggy releases but have returned to them now with a greater appreciation for the wider Voivod discography and history.

It is a shame then that I still generally am not that into this era of the band; Katorz is fairly inoffensive and also rather “safe” for Voivod (they’ve had “safe” albums before, like Angel Rat, but even there it radiated with the band’s unique sound and charm). It has a more of a hard rock / metal direction, with a looser, warmer sound, which works for some bands but none of the above things are particularly what I come to a Voivod record for.

RIP Denis