So it’s no secret that I’m a Voivod fanboy. They have been my favorite metal band longer than some of you have been alive lol! And yeah, I even have Voivod in the coveted back patch position on my metal vest. Can I post a truly fair review of their latest platter? All systems go…!
My first exposure and love of Voivod goes all the way back to mid to late 80s, with their first four albums: “War and Pain”, “Rrröööaaarrr”, my all-time favorite Voivod album “Killing Technology”, and “Dimension Hatröss”. Hell, I even had the balls to blatantly copy lyrics from those albums and turn them in as my own for English poetry homework assignments lol1. The band has had lots of highs and maybe some lows – sorry Jason Newsted, the albums you played bass on with the band back in the `00s just aren’t that great – but the band has never failed to put out interesting albums. Their hard work, attention to detail, and commitment to their weird sci-fi prog metal ideals were rewarded when “The Wake”, by all rights a monumental album, won the band a Juno Award2 in 2018. How do you follow up to that, especially in The Age of COVID? Answer: 2022’s “Synchro Anarchy”.
After I heard the singles ahead of this release (“Planet Eaters”. “Paranormalium”, and “Syncho Anarchy”), I was reasonably optimistic of the new release at the time. I was hearing fresh material from my favorite band, and that’s always cool, right? Hell, I was even hearing chonky/weird tidbits that are no doubt throwbacks to “Killing Technology”, and “Dimension Hatröss”. Fuck yeah!
As per usual, I got the new Voivod album the very day it was released, and had it playing that very same evening. But after having listened to this album several times now, both by way of the intended track order and a randomized shuffle, I’m having a bit of a hard time picking out many of the tracks as being overly memorable. There’s a lot here – but just not a lot here that sticks in my head by the time the last track fades out.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some interesting tracks here to investigate. “Planet Eaters” is a cool track with a fair bit going on (the video is cool AF too) that reminds me of the underrated Eric Forrest albums. “Sleeves Off” has a fun proggy surf-rock thing going on that is reminiscent of the “Angel Rat” album. “Holographic Thinking” fits in with the “Target Earth” and “The Wake” albums’ vibes nicely, and “The World Today” has a definite “Nothingface” look&feel.
But maybe all of that is also perhaps why this album doesn’t fully 100% click with me (yet?); it’s hodge-podge of nods both great and small to previous Voivod albums perhaps dilutes this album’s own individuality. Maybe the somewhat incoherent “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” nature of this album that slightly affects it’s overall memorability? I honestly don’t know.
Sonically, this is one of the best sounding albums the boys have put out in a long time. New-ish guy Rocky on bass sounds superb here, and is tight as fuck in sync with Away, while also making sure his bass is distinct and dare I say fun to listen to here. Chewy on guitar always brings new and interesting things to the table; he’s not shy about using any and all influences for his rhythm and leads. Is that an Allan Holdsworth riff? Is that arpeggio from some never-used exotic scale? You never know, and that’s what makes his playing so enjoyable to delve into. And Snake on vocals? Come on now — you know Snake always delivers the goods. As such, all of the pieces of the puzzle are here, for what it’s worth.
My gut-feel suspicion is that this album will probably grow on me over time, the way it took me a while to get into and appreciate “Target Earth” for example.
But in the meantime, I see no reason to not recommend this album, even if it’s a bit of a grower not a shower in my mind so far. After all, even a slightly incoherent Voivod album is still very much worth investigating, indeed! 🙂
1 Hooray for the pre-Internet days, where plagiarism for high school homework was a shitload easier to pull off undetected lol!
2 You know: the Canadian version of The Grammy.
I think it might have worked a bit better as an E.P, to be honest.