VOIVOD — The Outer Limits (review)

Album · 1993 · Progressive Metal

5/5 · 2024-07-25
UMUR

"The Outer Limits" is the seventh full-length studio album by Canadian progressive metal act Voivod. The album was released through MCA Records in August 1993. It´s the successor to "Angel Rat" from November 1991 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Jean-Yves Thériault has left, leaving Voivod a trio on "The Outer Limits". The bass parts were recorded by session bassist Pierre St-Jean. "The Outer Limits" was produced (and mixed) by Mark S. Berry, which is quite the unusual choice, as Berry was not particularly familiar with producing heavy metal artists. Most of his production/mixing work was done for pop and rock artists.

But that was obviously what Voivod were looking for at this point. "Angel Rat" was produced by Terry Brown, which of course made a little more sense, but Voivod were obviously intent to keep developing and changing things up. To my ears Berry did a fantastick job. Some people feel that "The Outer Limits" features a sterile and cold sounding production job, and while that may be true to some extent, it´s exactly the right sound for Voivod´s music. Gone are the organic and murky sounding production values of "Angel Rat" and instead the listener is treated to a clear, sharp, and detailed sounding production, which perfectly suits the sci-fi themed progressive metal of Voivod.

While Voivod consciously chose to go for a more simple vers/chorus structured songwriting approach on "Angel Rat", "The Outer Limits" is a partial return to the more complex song structures of the late 80s releases and just a generally more creative and adventurous composition style (including the return of more dissonant guitar riffs and unconventional time-signatures). Complex tracks like "The Lost Machine" and the 17:28 minutes long "Jack Luminous" represent the most progressive tracks on the album, but they are complimented by more immediate vers/chorus structured and hard rocking tracks like "Fix My Heart" (which features an irresistible uplifting mood and energy) and the cover of "The Nile Song" by Pink Floyd (which fits in well with the original material). So "The Outer Limits" is a varied release, which brings together elements from progressive metal, psychedelic rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, and the outcome is undeniably and uniquely the sound of Voivod.

"The Outer Limits" was the last album to feature lead vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger until his return in 2002, and Michel "Away" Langevin (drums) and Denis "Piggy" D-Amour (guitars) would take Voivod in a much more harder edged and aggressive direction on the next couple of releases, which sound nothing like "The Outer Limits". Thus "The Outer Limits" is a pretty unique sounding release in Voivod´s discography. They hadn´t released anything like it before, and they haven´t released anything like it after. So listeners should prepare for an adventurous, varied, and intriguing progressive metal release. They can also expect high quality performances, strong and unique songwriting, and a powerful and detailed sound production, suiting the material well. A 5 star (100%) rating is fully deserved.