Voivod - War and Pain

Voivod, arguably the best cybermetal band in existence, has lived a 14+ year career in relative obscurity. Each album broke new ground in the metal community and displayed the highlights of one Denis D'Amour, the most creative guitarist in metal, bar none. They were just kids when they recorded this, and already here Piggy is a guitar god, and Blacky (who had just learned the bass!) shows great promise... Things start off with a bang on War and Pain, which holds a greater resemblance to Motorhead and Black Sabbath than what we are used to hearing from them today. Even here though, one can find the trademark digital delay effects and punchy bass lines which would drive future recordings. This is primitive metal however. Snake sounds like Dan from Die Kreuzen, and Away just pummels "away"... The production is poor (hey, it's 1984!) by today's standards, and after all this, War and Pain is a must have for any music lover looking back at the roots of modern metal. This, along with Kreator's Endless Pain, and Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales, opened the door to the metal we hear today. The first album from one of the most original bands out there.