Since news of death of Piggy in 2005, the release of VoiVod's fourteenth album has been seen by the majority of those who recognize the achievements of Montreal's finest as possibly the bands swansong release. With Piggy's guitar parts recorded prior to his untimely demise and stored on his laptop, it was left to co-founding member Michel 'Away' Langevin to retrieve, rework and ultimately base the rest of the album around the legendary guitarists final work. Would "Katorz" be a worthy testament to Piggy's memory, or would the weight of expectation ultimately loom heavy over the record?

Any fears that "Katorz" would be a patchwork collage of mismatched songs were certainly misplaced, and what we are treated to is a master class in spaced out metal. "The Getaway", drops into fifth gear and screeches the album off with break neck speed. Early Punk is not so subtly mixed with more contemporary influences, to create a foot stomping modern twelve carat gem. VoiVod's ability to mix and match tempo and style changes, not only on an album, but often within one song is what has distinguished them from the pack and "Katorz" is no different.

"Katorz" has a slow simmer like quality about it, there is no blitzkreg, no sudden rush of blood, but slow burn. By the third or forth spin "Odds & Frauds", "Red My Mind" and the album highlight "The X-Stream" are as ingrained in your brain as if the album were an old favourite. It is fair to say that "Katorz" is no "War and Pain" or "RRROOOAAARRR!!!", but what album could be? It is hard to see where VoiVod can go from here, and if "Katorz" is indeed the final breath from these metal pioneers, let not it be said that they departed with a slow deathly hush but a scream from the very belly of the beast.