Since 1984’s To The Death! demo, Canada’s progressive metal veterans Voivod have built their songs out of winding improvisations and free-wheeling jam sessions. When the pandemic took those away from them, the band were forced to adapt their songwriting process. Their latest album, Synchro Anarchy, is the sound of that adaptation. A record full of darkness, dystopia and devilment, drummer Michel ‘Away’ Langevin reveals how unfamiliar territory helped the band create one of their finest albums yet.

Words: Phil Weller

L-R: Daniel ‘Chewy’ Mongrain, Denis ‘Snake’ Bélanger, Michel ‘Away’ Langevin and Dominique ‘Rocky’ Larouche.

Images: Catherine Deslauriers

“That mixture of building demos on a computer and finally jamming the thing live in the studio is what made this new album sound different.”

“W hen we were in the studio, a drum pattern came to my mind, so I stood up to go to the drum riser to show it to the guys. I tripped over my shoelace and almost fell over the drum kit.” Voivod drummer Michel ‘Away’ Langevin is talking about what seemed a fairly unimportant moment in the studio that turned out to be vital in bringing the band’s 15th album, Synchro Anarchy to life. “It was pretty funny because the pattern I had in mind kept skipping a beat. It triggered an idea in [vocalist] Snake’s mind where, say you stop for a second to tie up your shoe and then a car whizzes by and misses you when it would have otherwise hit you if you hadn’t stopped to tie your shoelace, your life is saved by a strange coincidence. Snake started writing lyrics and in them he had the words ‘synchro’ and ‘anarchy’ and in the way that we put the album together during a pandemic, while trying to make sense of everything, it felt like the perfect title.”