Authentic Combination of Quebec's Spirit and Japan's Culture - A Review of Voivod's Ultraman

Progressive thrash metal pioneers Voivod have often walked off the beaten path to surprise their fans from all around the world with unconventional ideas. Even four decades into its career, Voivod still manages to take us by surprise with the release of Ultraman. This record pays tribute to the Japanese science-fiction series from the sixties that easily beats the shallow adventures of Batman, Spiderman and Superman. If you haven't watched these series yet, give yourself a gift and buy some of the magnificent reissues on Blu-ray that have recently been made available all around the world. As Voivod drummer, founder and mastermind Michel ''Away'' Langevin has stated, this series has had a huge impact on him as a teenager and young adult which makes this unexpected tribute so authentic, charming and refreshing.

There are two different versions of this release. The most complete one comes as a vinyl release in three different colours with two thousand five hundred copies in total. This release includes different versions of three distinct tunes from the original Ultraman soundtrack in different languages. The instrumental versions focus on the impressive technical execution that proves once again how fluidly Voivod interweaves mysterious progressive and psychedelic rock sound spheres of the sixties with its very own chaotic, dystopian and menacing thrash metal trademarks. The versions in different languages offer international listeners a great idea of what Ultraman is all about in English, honour the mother tongue of the involved musicians with wonderful French renditions and pay tribute to the original material as you can even hear Denis ''Snake'' Bélanger sing in Japanese. The latter gesture should be particularly appreciated in Japan and might increase the band's already respectable fan base in the land of the rising sun even further.

As if nine Ultraman songs weren't enough, this release also offers two live tracks recorded at Festival Jonquière en Musique four years ago. The first eleven songs performed then and there were included on the magnificent special edition of excellent last studio album Synchro Anarchy. The two songs released on this extended play are the two encores the band has played in front of an energetic hometown crowd. The chaotic ''Overreaction'' exemplifies the band's dystopian progressive thrash metal innovation perfectly while ''Voivod'' is a raw band anthem that has stood the test of time for four decades and counting. If you purchased the last studio album's limited edition, then there is no way around buying this wonderful new release as well. Needless to say that Voivod is an absolutely captivating live band. If have attended three shows of the band so far, in Chicoutimi, Ottawa and Frankfurt to be precise, and I would attend another show anytime the band comes close to where I happen to be.

This new output has also been digitally released but said output only includes five out of eleven songs. The band has selected one of each Ultraman songs as well as the two live cuts. This means that this release has less repetition and offers a perfect overview of the recording sessions but completists will certainly want to purchase the vinyl version.

The only element to criticize is that this album isn't available on CD thus far. Digital purchases lack the wonderful experience of holding a new offering by an amazing band in your own hands while the ongoing renaissance of vinyl outputs is unnecessarily expensive in my opinion. Perhaps the band is going to be releasing a CD version for Japan where this format is still relevantly popular and purchasing a release about Ultraman directly from Japan would only be a fitting option for me.

As it is now, Voivod's Ultraman is worth your attention if you are a faithful fan of Voivod, if you like progressive thrash metal or if you embrace Japanese culture. Since I fit into all three categories, I have been spinning this release digitally since it has come out and still hope to be able to purchase a physical version of this wonderful gem one day. As of now, Voivod's Ultraman might be this year's best extended play while Voivod's previous studio record Synchro Anarchy might be album-of-the-year material. As you can read, being a fan of Voivod has never been better than now!

Final Rating: 90%