Voivod – Tatsumaki Voivod Japan 2008

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Only their second ever DVD following 2005’s D-V-O-D-1, the main feature of Tatsumaki is a full twelve-track concert from their 2008 debut Japanese show originally filmed for television broadcast in Japan. This was presumably not a very high-budget television broadcast. A three-camera shoot, none of which are in the pit or on the stage, and none of which seem to be in particularly good definition, the quality of the recording is bootleg quality at best. The sound is good, but not great (in fact the crew-shot hand-held camera footage from Québec City 2009 included here as a bonus has both better sound, and a higher definition picture, even if the camera-work is unwatchable) and the picture is grainy. The band are superb, and since so little Voivod footage actually exists, this is still a must for fans of the massively under-rated Canadian innovators, but new fans should look elsewhere at other CDs first. This is a DVD for fans only, and rightly documents a huge event in the band’s history: playing in Japan for the first time, but is by no means a career-defining visual document. The bonus materials also include an interview wit Foo Fighters front-man Dave Grohl, who has always made it known he is a huge fan of the band, and an unreleased faux documentary film called ‘Panorama: Seeking Voivod’, which is in French with English subtitles. But don’t worry, even the French-speaking people in the film make more sense than Martin Popoff’s sleeve notes.

Written by Andy Lye
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