Customer Reviews

War & Pain

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4 star:		(8)
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I must assume that if your interested in Voivod's, "War And Pain", then you must know something about real heavy metal.
Their debut album way back from 1984 is an undeniable classic. Early Voivod was something completely different, but if you were into bands like Slayer, Venom and Kill 'em All era Metallica, You most likely would like Voivod.
"War And Pain" is a brutal record. All the crazy riffs, the thundering bass, nuclear drumblasts and bloodcurdling vo-kills carry you into the land of the Voivod. A warrior vampire-lord with a lust for death. This album is all killer and no filler.
But, don't forget, there are 3 cd's. The "War And Pain" album, a live demo recording from 1984, which, if you appreciate real history, you will not mind the sound of the live disc. In my opinion, it's one of the heaviest things I've heard. And, a bonus disc for your computer which has a video, pics, art, lyrics and more.
You cannot go wrong by buying the first album. Hardcore all the way! This 3 cd set is a good buy and I bet will be hard to find one day so get it while you can!

Canada has a fine Rock and Metal tradition, but there seems to be something about the frozen North which seems to warp the minds of musicians a little. Canada's greatest export, Rush, forged a reputation for producing highly imaginative Progressive Rock with a hint of the unusual, even for the experimental world of Prog Rock.

Voivod did the same with Thrash Metal. These four twisted musicians produced one of the oddest albums of Thrash's early days. While Metallica and Slayer were content to play it straight and fast, Voivod seemed to make things deliberately difficult for themselves on `War And Pain', opting for a complex and choppy songwriting style. Playing at a speed where it would be easy to trip and stumble, the band doesn't miss a note. Think it sounds easy? Check Possessed or early Celtic Frost for examples of bands playing too fast for their own good then.

Title track "War And Pain" for example mixes up several riffs, which seem to tumble past like a rockslide, and are bridged together by guitar solos or rumbling drum fills, all the while Snake shouts blank verse lyrics of the horrors of war over it all. Sounds complex? It's the most straightforward song on the album.

Piggy was an incredibly underrated guitarist. Most bands of the time went for a twin guitar line, either to cover for lack of ability or to fill in holes when playing fast. Piggy carried all the guitar duties on his own. He possessed a killer chainsaw tone which cut red raw to the bone, and was able to slip effortlessly from rhythms to solos and back again. This album avoids double tracking the guitars, so during solos the rhythm drops out and is picked up by Blacky on bass. The galloping rhythmic pattern of the final track "Nuclear War" features countless guitar/bass interchanges, and it is difficult to keep up with who is playing what.

It's not just the music which is unusual. Vocalist Snake invented the Voivod, a creature that lives in a violent, dark cyber world, and is fond of torture and killing. The Voivod continued to pop up on subsequent albums. Snake's lyrics use simplistic words to express complex themes, probably because of the band's French Canadian heritage, where English is only a secondary language.

At a time when Speed Metal bands were stealing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest riffs to impress their fans, Voivod blew them all away with a raw and truly original Thrash creation. Unfortunately, most Metal fans in 1984 weren't prepared for such experimentation, and `War And Pain' remains a forgotten pearl cast before undeserving swine.

I managed to pick this up when it was brand new, first released for the rediculously low price of $11.99 factory sealed from a large chain store. I have owned this album on cassette for years, and boy did I snag this at the right time. This box set is awesome, and one heck of a value. The difinitive War and Pain set.

Disc one contains the 9 tracks of war and pain-remasted and sound just as crisp and raw/fresh as the day they were layed down.

Then-Voivod added live songs from their first show ANACHRONISM-tracks 10,11,12.

Next, they added the Metal Massacre 5 sessions for track 13, 14, and 15.

Disc two: This is the prized Morgoth Invasion: Live Demo Sessions december 1984. 16 tracks of prime Voivod as they lauch into the premier canadian thrash metal band role.

Disc three-CD ROM enhanced CD: This was the disc I nearly wet myself over. I have always loved Enhanced CD's. This has so much data on it, it's tought to fit here, and I'm still discovering stuff on it. Here's a brief rundown. It has the biography 1985, coments from 2003, lyrics, sound, Many many video clips (20 minutes or more at least, pics, art, wallpapers, and screensavers.

If you are a voivod fan, you must, and I repeat, you must get this album, It is silly if you didn't. I would have easilly paid 20-25 dollars for this, but you don't have to, so buy it ASAP!!!!!

Canada has given the world three of the most phenomenal musical acts: Rush, Voivod, and Skinny Puppy. All were pivotal in the roles that they played in helping to spread the ingenuity of their particular genre.

Had I been the producer of this album, I think "Suck Your Bone" would have been the first track, because it showcases the pure, raw energy of Voivod's early years. There are few metal groups that have maintained the same kind of ferocity through their careers as Voivod, and even fewer that have been able to explore different strains of their chosen field without losing the "red thread" that seems to creep into everything they do. Like Rush, and REM, Voivod has remade themselves many times through the years, all iterations continued to break new ground.

If you're a real metal-head, War and Pain belongs in your collection. If you aren't (yet), this is one of the few albums that will initiate you with the closest thing to a flaying you are likely to receive from a recording. Don't take my word for it, buy this album and don't look back.

It took me quite a while before I realized that I liked this album. What at first seemed like a completely haphazard blur of thrashing guitars, drums and screams, grew over several listenings into a coherent whole. I think the reason that they sounded so raw and unfocused at the time was that they were helping to pave the way, and there were few other bands to compare the sound to. The best cuts are probably the title track, Voivod, Blower and Warriors of Ice. If you enjoy any sorts of thrash or death metal, give this album a couple of listenings, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

If you enjoyed later Voivod albums this may not be your cup of tea. There are few similarities between their early stuff (War & Pain, RRROOOAAARRR, Killing Technology) and their later stuff (Nothingface, Angel Rat, etc.) several of which I have not even listened to.

wow i was having war and pain but i have buy it because for the demos and and of course the clip thanks to metal blade

I've never been a huge fan of Voivod, but I was pleasantly surprised by this album. Very raw and over-the-top, with raspy vocals and plenty of energy. I'll definitely be checking out some of their other stuff as well, as this one is really growing on me...

A must-have for any fan of Thrash Metal. Blacky's meat-grinding bass sound and Snake's Venom-like vocals will make you wish you were born a Voivodian. However, the production sounds somewhat inadequate. Having seen Voivod live this past summer perform two of these tracks ("Nuclear War" and "Voivod"), I thought they sounded MUCH better in concert than on the album. Still, it's WAR & PAIN!

This is probably the best Voivod album ever. Being their first it is definitely a far cry from their later progressive work. It's raw power is still enjoyable to this day, although it is a bit dated. Word on the street is that a 3 disc War and Pain box set is forthcoming. Long live Voivod!

If you want a pure hardcore 80's thrash sound then this cd is for you.

It sound like they locked the producer out of the studio and then recorded. It's pure, raw, agressive and (for the time when it came out) nasty.

The fore-runners of the 80's thrash scean. Taking the best from both the thrash and punk genra. Unfortunate for all that they didn't recieve the recomendation that they deserved.