Polish label Metal Mind Productions have been busy in recent times, and much to my delight, what with putting out reissue-after-reissue of many albums of many bands; both relevant and forgotten about. VOIVOD's 2006 release "Katorz" is among that number. Why the label chose to reissue a much more recent release is beyond me; I wonder the same about the subsequent 2009 release, "Infini", which is to be reissued at the same time.

"Katorz" is the phonetic spelling of "quatorze"; the French spelling for '14'; alas, this was the 14th release from the band. As for almost of all of the other bands that pull a creative card like this out of the proverbial hat, this album felt like that point at which they had momentarily hit a brick wall; "let's name our album after its chronological spot in our discography!". Oh well; it has to happen to a band as great as VOIVOD at some point.

It's not a totally redundant, boring pile of listless drudgery; it's certainly not the "Super Collider" of their career; thankfully, that has yet to happen to them. However, it is certainly one of their less exciting albums, at least not in my humble opinion.

"The Getaway" is a muddy, hodgepodge of upbeat-yet-mid-tempo Punk and Hard Rock riffs, with a repetitive chorus, that completely belies the intriguing, progressive undertones that their previous albums were known for. It was the 'weirdest' Thrash you'll ever hear. The album shows signs of promise by the time "Mr. Clean" swings by; a bass-heavy mix and jarring use of rhythm and strange drum patterns generates a psychedelic, heavy track that is both groovy and catchy. A few more inconsistencies down the road until we hit "Silly Clones", and the album perks up once again; Jasonic, which you should know as the pseudonym adopted by none other than bassist-extraordinaire Jason Newsted for his tenure in VOIVOD, gets to show off a bit in this track.

"Polaroids" follows in a similar vein as "Mr. Clean"; a rollercoaster that doesn't necessarily generate wild notions of vertigo, but rather turns you dizzy by spinning you around in horizontal figure-eights; musically, the album at least ends on a positive note, even though it didn't commence on one.

Naturally, I expect people to disagree with me. In fact, I would encourage it; I would hope that a band manages to release an album that isn't hated by everyone. However, I would at least stress that their are definitely superior releases in the illustrious Canadians' discography.