Label- Century Media
Release Date - 11 February 2022
Words- Tony Bliss
When the somewhat unimaginable prospect of new Voivod music was made reality in 2013 with ‘Target Earth’, fans across the globe were obviously frothing with delight, but all the more agog that the Canadian pioneers had managed to locate possibly the only six stringer able to tap into the talismanic genius of late guitar wizard Denis ‘Piggy’ D’Amour. The fact that the band would then hit a career-high rivalling creative streak with new axe-slinger Dan ‘Chewy’ Mongrain was all the more unlikely, however ‘Synchro Anarchy’, their fifthteenth record, sees Voivod remain on peak form and dishing out a predictably brilliant dose of their signature, house-of-mirrors prog-thrash.
Indeed, whilst being a heady brew of everything there is to love about the Quebecians vast legacy, that always free-wheeling sonic spirit means that, as ever, Voivod covers plenty of new ground. The best case in point may be the gleefully unhinged art-punk riff storm ‘Sleeves Off’, which is at the same time a structural oddity AND catchy as hell, whereas the ever transforming ‘Mind Clock’ mutates from downbeat sparsity to a skewed and skittering tech-onslaught, and back again. Even the relatively straight (by Voivod standards mind you) ‘The World Today’ offsets its tunefulness with a healthy dollop of 70’s prog rock fidgeting.
There are few bands that can muster this sort of wilfully questing approach and remain thoroughly, unmistakably themselves throughout nigh on fifty minutes of music, but every second here speaks the quintets distinct language (thanks in no small part to ‘Snake’ Belangers consistently acerbic vocals). Just check out the sci-fi cut n’ thrust of ‘Planet Eaters’ or doom-laden closer ‘Memory Failure’ with its bewildering flights of fancy and Holdsworth-esque fusion soloing for some vintage Voivod, but truth be told there isn’t a track on ‘Synchro Anarchy’ that's not packed to the gills with angular, electrifying ideas that prove the band are still operating on a plain several miles higher than their peers. Business as usual then.
8/10
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