Review by Sandre the Giant
Sci-fi thrasher legends Voivod are a band well loved around Killchain headquarters, their own particular brand of space age thrash has always provoked joy in our black hearts. So when the band decide to rerecord some of their less obvious material for a 40th anniversary record, and include a new track too, we sit up and take notice. ‘Morgöth Tales’ is out now through Century Media.
Sticking directly with the band’s own unique take on thrash, ‘Morgöth Tales’ is a record made up of the less obvious tracks than you’d expect from a rerecorded classics compilation. I mean, we start with ‘Condemned to the Gallows’, an old school thrasher that first made an appearance on Metal Blade’s iconic Metal Massacre V compilation from 1984, and it has just as much life as it did back then. Then we’re off on a grand tour of the band’s legendary and off kilter discography. You’ve got immediately recognisable classics like ‘Killing Technology’ and ‘Thrashing Rage’ through later tracks like ‘Rise’ from ‘Phobos’ and even an appearance from Jason Newstead on ‘Rebel Robot’. Apparent today more than anything is that Voivod sound was in place form the start, giving everything that slightly odd tone, melodies that never quite seemed of this world, song construction that would influence the technical thrash and progressive metal worlds for decades to come. Closing out with the title track (smart to leave the new song to the end), it has a taste of maybe a more experimental approach coming soon. Wherever they go with it, if it’s anything like this it should be pretty great.
It is nice to see the band get Eric Forrest and Jason Newstead back in for their respective songs, and it is great to see a band look at their body of work with a certain reverence and critical eye. They’ve never been content to just play the hits and take an easy road. ‘Morgöth Tales’ is a love letter to classic Voivod, chosen by those best qualified to showcase their work. If you like this, you should basically pick up pretty much anything they’ve ever done, as you’ll not be disappointed. But pick this up too!
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The Killchain 