Voivod — Dimension Hatröss

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

35 years ago today, Korgüll the Exterminator created "Dimension Hatröss" in an attempt to dominate its inhabitants!

On June 29th, 1988, Voivod released their fourth full-length studio album, Dimension Hatröss via Noise Records.

Dimension Hatröss was recorded and mixed at Musiclab, West-Berlin from December 4th, 1987 to January 4th, 1988.

It is a concept album which narrates the exploits of Voivod’s mascot cyborg Korgüll. The cover concept and artwork was produced by drummer Michel Langevin.

The Basic Storyline of Dimension Hatröss:

• Voivod’s namesake character/mascot, a.k.a. Korgüll the Exterminator, has already destroyed his own land and much of outer space, but his lust for conquest has not subsided, so he devises a laboratory experiment in which he creates a portal into another dimension and visits that realm in an attempt to utterly dominate the inhabitants.

• Things don’t go exactly as planned for Korgüll.

Track By Track Breakdown:

• “…Prolog…Experiment” – In which Korgull creates Dimension Hatröss and enters.

• “Tribal Convictions” – In which Korgüll arrives in the dimension to find a tribe performing a ritual dance around a “grand fire”. The tribe believes Korgull to be “what we’ve been waiting for…the flying lord, the god of all time”.

• “Chaosmöngers” – In which a gang of dissidents appears on the scene and tries to destroy Korgüll, believing him to be a creation of the Technocratic Manipulators.

• “Technocratic Manipulators” – In which Korgüll has begun to settle into his new, albeit temporary, life in Dimension Hatröss. He notices that the inhabitants seem to be under some form of mind control, all with “a number between their eyes”, taking “orders from the big head”. Korgüll tries to avoid complacency; he’d “rather think, but there’s something wrong”. This song is creepily prescient with regards to modern society.

• “…Epilog…Macrosolutions to Megaproblems” – In which Korgüll learns the true intentions of the Chaosmöngers: “The discord is real now, echo is very loud! No more! Control! Leave minds! Alone!”

• “Brain Scan” – In which the Technocratic Manipulators turn the tables on Korgüll and get inside his brain in an attempt to control his thoughts and extract his knowledge.

• “Psychic Vacuum” & “Cosmic Drama” – In which Korgüll fights the brain scanning process, reverses it, and steals the knowledge and “unique power” of the Manipulators, then reverses the process that brought him to Dimension Hatröss in the first place, destroying the dimension as he flees back to his own time and space.

The Wells Perspective:

The year is 1988, and as you can see by the “Track By Track”, with outer space all used up, Korgüll has created a new dimension in a laboratory experiment, then traveled there to observe its inhabitants, extract their knowledge, and destroy them all, along with their dimension.

As you can see Voivod delved deep into their love for Sci-fi on Dimension Hatröss, the bands nascent comprehensive concept release.

Musically, Dimension Hatröss finds the band evolving far outside the realm of 80’s Thrash Metal. Of particular note is Piggy’s guitar work – his already-common use of dissonant and minor chords are found in abundance throughout the whole of the album. I can’t say that I have a favorite song (or songs) from Dimension Hatröss, but I do have favorite parts, or passages among each track. Like many a concept album, musical and lyrical themes are a reoccurring element of the album, yet they don’t seem overly repetitive. Since I can’t choose a favorite song, I’ll just name the two key songs of from album, of which promotional videos were made; “Tribal Convictions” and “Psychic Vacuum”.

If someone hadn’t yet heard Voivod, and were to ask me which album I would recommend, I would tell them to begin with Dimension Hatröss. — E.N. Wells

More Information:

The "Batman Theme"'s cover only appears on the CD version, it is not present on the original vinyl and cassette pressings.

The word Hatröss is pronounced by singer Snake (Denis Bélanger) in French as the word atroce, meaning terrible or horrible.

Estimated sales are more than 70,000 copies, worldwide.

Critical Reception:

In 2017, Dimension Hatröss was added by the US magazine Rolling Stone to its Top 100 Metal Albums of All Time list at No. 78.

About Dimension Hatröss, AllMusic’s Greg Prato retrospectively stated;

“Released nearly two years after the transitional Killing Technology, Dimension Hatröss is the first album where Voivod's experimental metal is explored from beginning to end. Shedding the clichéd lyrics that the band relied on for their first two releases, they're thankfully replaced by much more thought-provoking lyrics. The group has also grown as musicians -- guitarist Denis d'Amour is one of metal's finest, the rhythm section of Michel Langevin on drums and Jean-Yves Theriault on bass is tighter than ever, and vocalist Denis Belanger sings more conventionally (no more shrieking).

The band's sudden songwriting maturity becomes evident from the opening track, "Experiment," when futuristic imagery collides head on with heavy sounds. "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems" contains impressive, busy interplay between the bandmembers, while "Tribal Convictions" is a simpler, Sabbath-like number that opens with some primitive drumming courtesy of Langevin (who also designed the album's cover). Dimension Hatröss is Voivod's first fully realized album and sets the stage for their best ever, 1989's major-label debut, Nothingface.”

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “Dimension Hatröss” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/dimension-hatr%C3%B6ss-expanded-edition/1219793698

Click this link to listen to “Dimension Hatröss” via Spotify: Dimension Hatröss

Click this link to watch the official music video for “Tribal Convictions”: https://youtu.be/yAI7gWFbvMM

Click this link to watch the official music video for “Psychic Vacuum”: https://youtu.be/c0Miy1nppIU

Click this link to follow Voivod on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Voivod?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Voivod — Dimension Hatröss

The Basic Storyline of Dimension Hatröss:

Track By Track Breakdown:

The Wells Perspective:

More Information:

Critical Reception:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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