It's remarkable to think that Canadian prog-thrash-punk legends Voivod are on possibly their best run since their 80s heyday, having not released a bad album since 2013's Target Earth. Both that excellent comeback and 2018's The Wake showed a band re-energised since the death of founding guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour in 2005, Martyr's Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain proving a capable substitution if never a replacement. As solid as the Voivod/Katorz/Infini run of albums were they very much showed the sound of a band running on fumes, using up the final riffs of Piggy and acting as a tribute and fond farewell to the departed comrade. Synchro Anarchy, the band's fifteenth studio album, continues to impress as the reinvigorated Voivod again take steps away from thrash aggression and focus on the progressive and technical side of their sound to great results.

Each and every song here is a catchy, twisty construction of Voivodic metal that blends the band's unique formula into something that is at once utterly their own but also completely unique. As a long-term fan, it's a genuine delight to listen to Synchro Anarchy and hear the band making something that follows in the path laid by Target Earth and The Wake but very much an experience distinct from both. This album is at once more progressive and less experimental than The Wake, straying a little more into post-punk realms and never ignoring the power of a hook, be it vocal or guitar. It's one of the more melodic and even catchy albums from the band, lodging parts of its songs into your head before you understand them, like some deranged computer program.

Opener Paranormalium begins with a flourish of doomy riffs intercut with high-pitched Voivodic squeals, soon building into a chuggy thrash groover that rambles entertainingly through various riffs and vocal sneers from the inimitable Denis "Snake" Bélanger. Chewy's riffs and soloing are an obvious highlight, but the band are so tight a unit that each has his own offering, from Dominique "Rocky" Laroche's rumbling bass to Michel "Away" Langevin's always restless drums. And the songwriting is superb, leading you through spacey and downright psychedelic territory without losing the thread of its central metallicness, even returning to the first of many infectious choruses. Songs like the title track expertly mix thrash and prog, a technical guitar and bass-led breakdown switching to a hazy space rock passage in the way that only this band can, Snake's vocals turning melancholic and the music hearkening back to Angel Rat's melodicism.

That leads naturally into the following Planet Eaters, the psychedelic aspects to the band's sound coming through a little stronger as the riffs dance discordantly. Some songs play with that more than others, several times placing the thrashier weirdness alongside more ominous prog excursions such as Sleeves Off, which goes from an almost upbeat opening to ensconced discordance, keeping your ears trained thanks to that central curvy riff. Holographic Thinking has some of the dreamiest vocals from Snake on the album even as the guitars churn away thrashily below, and Mind Clock builds into a galloping thrashy monster that speeds up and slows while remaining utterly ominous throughout again thanks to Snake - those who see him as a one-trick pony of a vocalist are very mistaken. Everyone will have their own favourites, the almost Cynical moments on The World Today and the bizarre antsy Quest for Nothing personal highlights, yet this is also the sort of album that reveals more, in different places, on each listen. And it's a more than excellent follow-up to The Wake, if perhaps not quite as good? Opinions will differ on that but all can surely agree that Voivod, in their fifth decade of existence, remain masterful.