Voivod – Infini

This album from the legendary Canadian metal band Voivod is their final album ever. Deciding to call it quits after the 2005 death of guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour, the band uses this album as a final tribute to an underrated metal guitarist. Continuing the tradition started with 2006’s Katorz, the band takes D’Amour’s last recorded guitar tracks, with no re-amping or overdubs, and adds the rest of the instrument parts around it. What results is a great album, one that cements Voivod and D’Amour’s legacy as one of the best metal bands to ever come out of Canada. D’Amour’s guitar work on songs such as “Global Warming” and “Earthache” gives these songs a special quality, that would be lost if it was a lesser band playing. The rest of the band does their part as well. Denis Belanger’s growl is the best it has ever been, and the bass playing from Jason Newsted manages to complement the rest of the band, rather than getting lost in the noise. The album tends to lean more towards the “groove” subset of metal, with speed metal and a bit of thrash sprinkled in as well. There are no hints of the progressive work that was found in their most notable works, which may upset some fans, but I prefer their focus on groove rather than complexity. If this is indeed the last Voivod album, then the band has gone out with a bang. Any true metal fan should have this album in their collection. (Sonic Unyon, www.sonicunyon.com) Charles Lefebvre