Wow, this album completely blew me away. No track could be any better. This album is genius, and my favorite metal album of all time. First of all, this doesn't fit under any genre. I'd have to create my own sub-genre, such as "progressive thrash metal", or "space/cyber thrash", simply because this can't be classified as progressive metal or thrash metal. The songs are very well written and the concept and cover-art (obviously) are creative, like any other Voivod masterpieces. The concept is as follows, the voivod being has created a machine that forces protons travelling at the speed of light to collide with anti-protons travelling the same speed in the opposite direction. This collision spawns a micro-galaxy that the voivodian being can explore, which leads to the eight projects of "Dimension Hatross", the experiment, the tribals, the chaosmongers, the technocrats, the epilogue, a brain scan, psychic energy-stealing beings, and the ultimate destruction of the newly-created galaxy. Now, let's get to the songs, shall we?
The first song, "Experiment", is the thrashier of most of the songs, especially the verse. With a brilliant echoing, it creates its own world. With an epic intro and a wonderfully-done outro, this is an incredible song. The second track, "Tribal Convictions", is the most well-known and popular song from the album. It starts with a bad-ass intro, followed by a groovy riff and verse. The song steadily progresses to thrash speeds and a crazy outro. "Chaosmongers", the third track of the album, starts with a Nirvana-esque riff, but then takes you to the voivod universe with a very punk-influenced feel. Then, it takes you with numerous tempo changes and fantastic riffs.
The fourth track, "Technocratic Manipulators", starts with the most optimistic riff of the album, but soon spirals into a powerful horrifying section after the second chorus. The solo, like "Chaosmongers", is very well done. Then "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems" starts playing. It begins with a jazzy fade in, then a beautiful verse. It soon delves into the chorus, a great one at that, and then makes it to numerous riffs, which shows Piggy's true genius. The sixth track, "Brain Scan", begins with an eerie riff that progresses to a doomy verse, then an epic chorus and soon gets to a point with the solo. At the end, an uneasy outro takes over, like in "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems".
The seventh track, "Psychic Vacuum", begins with what sounds like an alarm, to make the listener feel uneasy. Then, it goes into a cool, laid-back verse and then back to the uneasy with the chorus. After a little while, after the great solo, the song takes you to the ends of space, falling through the stars. Then, it takes you to the extremely brilliant outro. (Nothing can stop the psychic vacuum." The final track, "Cosmic Drama", is my favorite from the album. It begins with an epic intro, then to another doomy area that makes it even more epic. The verse begins and tells about the galaxy being destroyed. Then, the chorus, which is amazing. This and, "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems" have the best choruses. It has what you would expect from a closer at the end, many single pattern crash cymbal hits and bare string strums.
If you have the special edition, then you get the ninth track, "Batman", which bumps the time of the album up to forty-one minutes. It is a cover of the Batman theme, composed by Neal Hefti. It has a wonderful solo and makes the album complete. All this being said, "Dimension Hatross" is a truly creative and brilliant album by a truly creative and brilliant band. This, to me, is one of the best metal albums to have graced the world. Thank you, Voivod. (R.I.P. Denis D'Amour, Piggy.)
Official promo video:
Official promo video:
Sample:
