VOIVOD — Synchro Anarchy (review)

Album · 2022 · Technical Thrash Metal

4/5 · 2022-02-14
siLLy puPPy

When Canada’s most distinguished technical thrash metal band VOIVOD hit the scene all the way back in 1984 with its balls-to-the-wall debut “War And Pain” the metal world wasn’t quite prepared for its impact as if this strange musical outfit had drifted in on some asteroid that hit the planet and suddenly infected the eardrums of musical extremists. The band pretty much created its own branch of metal music from the getgo and only preceded to drift into more avant-garde and progressive territories as time went on. Luckily the world caught up to the idiosyncrasies laid down by these Quebecois thrashers who easily distinguished themselves from the other so-called big four bands Sacrifice, Razor and Annihilator.

Despite having found its own unique musical niche in the now expansive world of metal music, VOIVOD remains even to this current day an act that sounds like no other. While some bands like Dream Theater or Metallica for example have legions of imitators, VOIVOD for some reason has never spawned an army of clones or bands that were influenced by them. None have even come close to its bizarre otherworldly mix of jangled guitar chord rampages, time signature quirkiness and slinking musical processions that really do insinuate a parallel reality that sits outside of the perception of most human beings trapped in the 3D construct. Yet somehow VOIVOD has tapped into the large potentials just outside of the perception of many and made a multi-decade career out of it.

With the loss of Denis D’Amour aka Piggy in 2005 it was presumed that the founder of VOIVOD’s unique guitar angularities would take his secrets to the grave but lo and behold the world had not only accepted VOIVOD’s unique musical visions but worshipped them. In came Daniel Mongrain to take the role as guitar mangler and has so far channeled the spirit of Piggy as if Piggy actually simply took over his body and continues to steer his music in an almost eerie similarity. Here we are in 2022 and VOIVOD returns with its 15th studio album SYNCHRO ANARCHY and the band which now features the lineup of Michel “Away” Langevin (drums), Denis “Snake” Bélanger (vocals), Mongrain on guitars and Dominique “Rocky” Laroche (bass) remain in the same lineup as 2018’s amazing comeback “The Wake.”

Graced with the same style of Twilight Zone visual arts that the band has adopted since the more progressive albums such as “Killing Technology” began to test metal heads’ preconceptions all the way back in the 1980s, SYNCHRO ANARCHY continues the now tried and true comfort zone that VOIVOD has been gracefully following for quite some time now and while many are going ballistic over the fact that this band never deviates from the norm and release some kind of polka metal hybrid or something just so they can trash it and castigate them for not sticking to something they know best, the truth is VOIVOD is actually quite good at what they do and after all since there are really no contenders for this particular style of hardcore punk infused tech thrash metal skirting the world of prog rock and Motorhead-esque 80s metal, why stop now?

It’s true that metal has come a long way since VOIVOD’s musicians were the true masters of weird back in the late 1980s with a gazillion bands that are even weirder these days but just because VOIVOD no longer are the masters of weird by no means signifies that they are ready to be put to pasture any time soon. SYNCHRO ANARCHY may not reinvent the wheel or any other instrument of metal navigation but what it does accomplish is that it delivers a no nonsense ferocious attack of proggy tech thrash metal that only VOIVOD can dish out in abundance. The band wastes no time with the opening “Paranormalium” which delivers ample doses of jittery schizoid guitar riffs in classic atonality in conjunct with the oddball off-kilter counterpoints of the bass, drums and distinctly VOIVOD vocal style of Snake.

The album may not take VOIVOD to “The Outer Limits” as their style once did but at this point in their career these guys are legends and are quite remarkable in how they consistently deliver album after album of top notch VOIVOD-isms in top musical form. No, i’m not expecting VOIVOD to try to be the next Mr Bungle or psychedelic blackened death metal band. I expect VOIVOD to remain exactly what they are on their own terms and in that regard SYNCHRO ANARCHY is an excellent delivery of their classic sounds and stylistic quirks. Having said that i do find this album to be less compelling than “The Wake.” Compositionally speaking, SYNCHRO ANARCHY does seem to be content in simply retreading that which has been done without even the tiniest attempt to step things up or meander into other sectors of the VOIVOD universe. Nope. These guys have fully opted to deliver what most fans probably expect and that’s what they do on this release.

So when evaluating and reviewing a classic act like VOIVOD perhaps its better to take into consideration that the band is in a league of its own and avoid comparisons to other bands both stylistically and in a temporal context. VOIVOD has always exited in the vacuum of the space-time continuum utterly and blissfully unconcerned about what is happening around them and for that i truly applaud this band who shows no signs of insecurity as many an aging metal band has displayed over time. These guys know what they do best and they deliver that with a gusto unmatched by many of the old timers. In that regard VOIVOD can only be compared to itself and in terms of VOIVOD releases, SYNCHRO ANARCHY may not sit high on the band’s canon as best releases but ounce for ounce this one more than delivers the goods for a true VOIVOD fan with not a band track to be heard. To my ears this is yet another excellent slice of nerdy tech thrash metal that will get several return visits as time marches on.