Metalcatto
I have a confession to make: I’ve never been the biggest Voivod fan. A mystery indeed, because the band has everything I should like—Thrash, Prog, space themes, and just pure, unhinged madness. But who knows? It just doesn’t click with me. Symphonique is pretty much a greatest hits album, but with an orchestra in the background, which might be what I’ve always needed to enjoy these guys’ work as much as I should. Anyway, does this work, or is it going to be full of clichés?
It’s a complex answer. For one, I’d say the orchestra doesn’t make the tracks worse. It doesn’t decrease their drama or their punch. I’ve always been rather skeptical about these orchestra collaborations because most of the time it feels like throwing a cherry on top of a nice cake. Sure, it’s good, but you didn’t eat the cake because of the cherry. In fact, you could throw it away and still have a good time. It’s not as extreme here. The orchestra does enhance the experience, since its work is pretty intense and dramatic. Yet it’s mostly details rather than dramatic changes.
Symphonique is clearly for the hardcore fans who have listened to some of these tracks since the 80s and want a bit of variation. To me, it’s nice to hear some of these songs with more modern and yes, better production value. The orchestra is just an extra. It adds that space opera dimension that perhaps was missing in Voivod‘s sound back in the day. So it feels more serious and less weird. You could tell me, “But Catto, the whole point of Voivod is to make weird Thrash.” To which I reply, yes, I agree with you, and we’re going to discuss the cons next.
It doesn’t suck, okay? I know that feels like a backhanded compliment, but in reality, that’s more than you could expect from these kinds of collaborations. Symphonique delivers exactly what it promises. There are next to no surprises here. If anything, the orchestra makes Voivod sound more civilized, more domesticated. So perhaps that’s not something you want from your old and dirty Thrash. This cleaning up has been done many times before, and I’m left wanting a new direction rather than a polished rehash of the past.
The loyal Voivod fans will see in Symphonique another interesting chapter in the band’s long career. More than having genuine issues, the album is simply a reiteration of great tracks from the past. I’m not sure if that fully does it for me, but perhaps that’s your train jam. Bands that feel like they went to rehab and made a full recovery. I like my artists broken, though. Give me the warts, the rough edges, the weird detours. Symphonique is good, but sometimes the mess is the point.
Label: Century Media Records
Release date: June 5th, 2026
Website: https://www.voivod.com/
Country: Canada
Score: 3.3/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 