BravePicks 2018 – VOIVOD's The Wake #7
December 24, 2018, 5 years ago
Another gruelling year of heavy metal debauchery is almost over! Killing is our business ... and business is good! And this year the metal scene killed it with a myriad of heavy intrigue! So the votes are in and the compiling is complete! It's time to crown the winners and call out the the disappointments.
So who will be our #1? You’ll find out as we count down the BravePick Of 2018 each day in December! And our devout scribes killed it as well, putting their collective metal minds together to build the ultimate lists including individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY), Top 5 Brave Embarrassments (a fan favorite!), Top 3 Concerts, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2018? and Metal Predictions For 2019. All will be showcased come the New Year!
'Tis the season to commence the good, bad and ugly of 2018! On with the cream of this year's crop!
BravePicks 2018
7) VOIVOD – The Wake (Century Media)
An album only worthy of the Voivod name, the Canadian thrash / space metallers were back at it again this year with eyes wide open. The Wake is full of killer thrash and prog and shows no signs of slowing down 14 albums in their career. The musicianship is top notch as always and comes to a climatic crescendo on the 12 minute closer “Sonic Mycelium”. The Wake takes the lucky #7 spot on our countdown.
As BW scribe Ryan Owenson noted in his review, “What also strikes the listener is that The Wake is different from its predecessor, Target Earth. Where Target Earth is made up of a good deal of material that’s quite immediate (the influence of Blacky’s contribution?), the immediacy is replaced on The Wake by post-societies and forever mountains, both of which hold their own mysteries to unravel.
“But don’t take that last comment as any sort of complaint. Voivod is still writing vital, illuminating songs that are joyous to discover and behold and the band feels as energetic and inspired as it ever has. There isn’t any rust or slowing down here, the stamina and creativity impressive in the face of Voivod’s almost 35 years of existence.
“In the end, The Wake is such a celebration of what makes Voivod so entirely Voivod. We just can’t imagine how this album could have been written by anyone else. The Wake is Voivod, and Voivod is The Wake. Interconnected and interstellar.”
BravePicks 2018 Top 30
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7) VOIVOD - The Wake (Century Media)
8) WARREL DANE - Shadow Work (Century Media)
9) SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS - Living The Dream (Snakepit / Roadrunner)
10) SLEEP - The Sciences (Third Man)
11) BULLET - Dust To Gold (Steamhammer / SPV)
12) DEAFHEAVEN - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (Anti-)
13) RIVERS OF NIHIL - Where Owls Know My Name (Metal Blade)
14) IMMORTAL - Northern Chaos Gods (Nuclear Blast)
15) BLOODBATH - The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn (Peaceville)
16) AMORPHIS - Queen Of Time (Nuclear Blast)
17) BLACK LABEL SOCIETY – Grimmest Hits (eOne)
18) IHSAHN – Ámr (Candlelight / Spinefarm)
19) THE DEAD DAISIES - Burn It Down (Spitfire / SPV)
20) MELIAH RAGE - Idol Hands (Metal On Metal)
21) ALICE IN CHAINS - Rainier Fog (BMG)
22) HIGH ON FIRE - Electric Messiah (eOne)
23) MAMMOTH GRINDER - Cosmic Crypt (Relapse)
24) ICARUS WITCH - Goodbye Cruel World (Cleopatra)
25) UNLEASHED - The Hunt For White Christ (Napalm)
26) SATAN - Cruel Magic (Metal Blade)
27) GRAHAM BONNET BAND - Meanwhile, Back In The Garage (Frontiers)
28) MONSTROSITY – The Passage Of Existence (Metal Blade)
29) GRUESOME – Twisted Prayers (Relapse)
30) DIMMU BORGIR - Eonian (Nuclear Blast)
