Voivod
Synchro Anarchy

My heart races as I prepare to tell you about Voivod's latest work. A strong emotion overwhelms me, something that happens very rarely, when bands so significant to me release new records. And what a release—I declare this right from the start! There's little to say about their past: they've been around for almost 40 years, and Synchro Anarchy is their fifteenth official album. I've been following them since the very beginning and they have never made a musical misstep. Always recognizable, always faithful to their Thrash Metal roots, with deadly Progressive inserts, as well demonstrated in the nine songs that constitute the solid framework of yet another masterpiece.

Some might pronounce that I am the usual exaggerator with my proclamations and praises; I couldn't care less about any negative comments towards my enthusiasm, driven by the perfect knowledge of a precise and solid musical machine, even though Away and Snake are nearing sixty.

As always, the cover and all the internal artwork of the booklet are designed by the clear hand of drummer Away, a true driving force on four-wheel drive with his instrument, capable of dictating vertiginous rhythms and textures well supported by his colleagues. They self-produce, record whatever and however they want any sound of the album, without too many frills but direct and effective. The production and sound quality aren't too clean, with a certain underlying "rawness" that is well noticeable throughout the entire work.

The armed attack opens inexorably with "Paranormalium", which at the two-minute mark explodes with a sudden Thrash Metal acceleration with an '80s flair, making reference to our glorious past, period Dimension Hatross, to give a reference to what I'm declaring.

Progressive Metal makes a loud entry in the subsequent title track: broken guitar, spacey vocals with a chorus that gets under your skin from the first listen... to stay there forever.

There are no empty passages, no "restful" moments to speak of. Everything is precise, compact, smooth, deadly.

In an instant, you're at the end of the listen and the urge to put the album back on from the start is strong!

They've won once again, indifferent to fashions, criticisms, sales.

They are Voivod, the flying Canadian masters...THE WORLD TODAY...

Ad Maiora.