VOIVOD To Release Album Of Re-Recorded Versions Of Early Songs To Celebrate 40th Anniversary

Vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger of Canadian progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD has revealed to Agoraphobic News that he and his bandmates are working on a 40th-anniversary album, apparently titled "Morgöth Tales", featuring re-recorded versions of songs from their first few albums. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was a really fun thing to do. It was like a time capsule, going back in time [to] revisit these old songs, especially one in particular, which was first song we ever recorded ['Condemned To The Gallows']; that was for 'Metal Massacre V' [1984] on Metal Blade Records back in the day, before our first album. And the funny thing about it was there was no lyric sheet in the compilation itself. It was us, including many other bands. And the way it was recorded, it was really hard to figure out the lyrics; I couldn't remember what I was singing. So we're looking everywhere on the Internet, if someone has it or whatever. And it was nowhere [to be] found. And then I said to myself, 'Maybe mom has it in the attic somewhere.' And then I called my sister: 'Can you check at mom's place? Maybe she put it somewhere.' And she went, and my mom classified — everything is in order with mom. And she was, like, 'Yeah, yeah, I have it. File number six.' And then she pulls out the only copy of the lyrics in the world of that song.' And we were, like, 'Yeah!' 'Cause [music for] the song was already recorded. And we were, like, 'Oh my God. What are we gonna do?'"

Circling back to the upcoming 40th-anniversary album, Snake said that it will contain a song "not [from] every album, but mostly the period from 'Rrröööaaarrr', 'Killing Technology', 'Dimension Hatröss', 'Nothingface'; we revisit one song from each [album]. And it's in a chronological [order]. So it's very fun. It was fun to do."

According to the singer, the LP, which "should be out around July", will contain "about 10 or 12 songs", including "Thrashing Rage" and "Killing Technology". He added: "It was really — like I said — like a time capsule, going back. And I'm trying to sing these songs like I used to. It was really fun to do," he repeated.

As previously reported, VOIVOD will return to the USA with a run of shows this spring. Featuring IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT as support, this trek will be part one of VOIVOD's "40 Years Of Morgöth Tales" tour.

Before "40 Years of Morgöth Tales" part one, VOIVOD will make select appearances across the U.K. and Netherlands in April; then, the group will return to Europe in May for a tour with TESTAMENT and EXODUS, with festivals to follow in the summer.

VOIVOD is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. Starting out as a speed metal band, VOIVOD have added a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style, and are credited as one of the "big four" Canadian thrash metal bands, along with SACRIFICE, RAZOR and ANNIHILATOR. They are considered by many as one of the most influential metal bands from the '80s, influencing and gaining praise from multiple bands and across numerous genres.

VOIVOD found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album, "Nothingface" (1989),which is the band's only album to enter The Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 114.

VOIVOD released a new EP, "Ultraman", last November via Century Media Records. The effort features a highly original tribute to the "Ultraman" TV series theme as well as previously unreleased bonus live cuts, available both as a 12-inch vinyl EP or as a digital EP.

VOIVOD's 15th studio album, "Synchro Anarchy", was released in February 2022 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2018's "The Wake" was produced by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio and features cover artwork created by drummer Michel Langevin (a.k.a. Away).