Voivod: Morgöth Tales

We all have our blind spots when it comes to the music we love. I'm rather ashamed to say that Voivod fits very comfortably in that wheelhouse for me, despite having known about them for at least 20 or so years. The legendary Canadian quartet are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, and because of that the band has decided to re-record some selected cuts from their discography for Morgöth Tales, their newest release. On one hand, my inexperience with their music prior to this leaves me in a strange position; I can't really compare these new re-recorded versions to the originally released ones. That's a bummer, but on the other hand approaching a band with fresh ears and no preconceived biases can provide some valuable perspective of its own. And in the case of Morgöth Tales this reviewer's perspective is that Voivod kicks ass.

This does serve as a "greatest hits" of sorts, and I know most of us (myself included) hate those. While I'd tend to avoid those like the plague in favor of full LPs, Morgöth Tales really did me a lot of favors in chronicling Voivod's eccentric and wild genre bending antics throughout the years. Starting with a re-recording of "Condemned to the Gallows" off of the 1984 Metal Massacre V compilation, we get a taste of every era of the band up to 2003 (although there is a brand new track at the album's end), and it's quite the journey. Voivod started out as a quirky, punky thrash outfit but as the years progressed they developed progressive tendencies and a knack for loading their songs with bizarre chord progressions and tempo changes that came to define the band's mid-to-late 80's output and on.

The previously mentioned "Condemned to the Gallows" is about as workmanlike a song as you'll get from Voivod, and certainly the most basic track on Morgöth Tales, but that doesn't mean it suffers because of it. And while this is a blistering thrash track at its core, it still has some wild guitar playing and machine-like jackhammer riffs that give off this eccentric energy and aura that's hard to describe without hearing it for yourself. This eccentricities completely explodes starting with "Killing Technology" off of the album of the same name. This is when the band begins sounding like something from outer space, the riffs are so bizarre and uncharacteristic of pretty much any metal band or subgenre you can think of. It's wild, unpredictable, and I don't know where it's been my whole life.

As the album continues, We see the band continuing to pull tracks from their most revered period, hitting us with selections from Dimension Hatross and Nothingface. "Macrosolutions to Megaproblems" off of Hatross may be my favorite track on here, sounding like a love child of King Crimson and Kreator. Really, there's nothing to dislike throughout the entire release and I just frequently found myself in disbelief of how fantastic and somehow memorable these crazy songs with their crazy chords and crazy tempo changes are. I will say the final 2 re-recorded tracks (which also feature ex-members including Jason Newstead) aren't quite as engaging and turbo charged as the rest of the release, but they are still fine songs and well worth a listen. Brand new title track "Morgöth Tales" is just all over the damned place. From spacey, otherworldly soundscapes to aggressive riffs and propulsive drums in the drop of a hat, if this is an indication of how the band handles things these days then they are clearly in a good place. Guitar player Chewy is just absolutely preposterous here, with riffs and leads that defy logic and simply can't be heard anywhere else. Killer stuff.

Voivod went from completely off my radar to being target #1 on my next CD binge after listening to Morgöth Tales. This release probably isn't a necessity to most initiated fans of the band, but I would still absolutely suggest any fan of progressive metal give this a listen. And I would especially say so if you're new to the band like I am. I truly regret not giving the band the time of day until now, but with that error rectified, I can now jump headfirst into their discography and see what else it has to offer. Absolutely recommended!

Tracklist:
1. Condemned to the Gallows
2. Thrashing Rage
3. Killing Technology
4. Macrosolutions to Megaproblems
5. Pre-Ignition
6. Nuage Fractal
7. Fix My Heart
8. Rise
9. Rebel Robot
10. Morgöth Tales

Added: July 13th 2023
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 685
Language: english

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