I have very little time for bands re-recording early material—the older I get, the more I actually actively oppose this practice—but, when Voivod come knockin', I answer, full stop. So, in celebration of 40 years of being the absolute best, the Canadian prog-metal icons have gone through their history and selected a nice variety of tunes to re-record with their current lineup and some notable guests. 

“Condemned To The Gallows” kicks things off, and it is sort of nice to actually hear this song with a production that allows the song to be heard, loud and proud, galloping strong and hard, although you can't beat the original recording(s) for spirit (which is my beef with these releases in general). “Thrashing Rage” is tons of fun and proves Away still has the double-kick skills; “Killing Technology” could be a brand-new track, which shows both how ahead of their time the band was back then and also how well the material from that era has held up. 

Again, it's fun to hear these songs with a clearer production, although you can't beat the original for charm. And I'm of the mindset that Nothingface is one of the greatest records ever recorded by human beings, so the re-recording of “Pre-Ignition” here, well, it's awesome, but you can't improve upon perfection. “Nuage Fractal” and “Fix My Heart” don't offer much of a leg up on the originals, although they do serve as a reminder to how great these tunes are. 

Phobos' “Rise” features a guest spot from Eric Forrest, which is awesome; Voivod's “Rebel Robot” sees Jason Newsted return to the fold for a guest spot, also awesome. The best part is the album closes off with the title track, which is a new song, bizarre and skronky guitar work leading the way through a sideways, atmospheric tune that is at times very Voivodian and at other points goes into new terrain. 

That in itself a very Voivodian thing to do, as this record proves, even if, yeah, I'll go back to the original recordings every single time after shelving this one, fun as it is.