VOÏVOD RELEASE NEW SINGLE ‘CONDEMNED TO THE GALLOWS (2023 VERSION)’

13th June 2023 0 By Jon Deaux

Canadian sci-fi metal innovators VOÏVOD are celebrating 40 eventful years of existence in 2023 with the announcement of their special anniversary studio album entitled Morgöth Tales, to be released on 21st July via Century Media Records. The band have released the album’s second single ‘Condemned to the Gallows’, streaming now.

Pre-order Morgöth Tales here.

‘Condemned To The Gallows (2023 Version)’ is a very special choice, as it once marked VOIVOD’s first ever song released on an album, originally appearing on the Metal Massacre V Compilation back in 1984. VOIVOD vocalist Denis “Snake” Bélanger comments:

“Morgöth Tales starts where it all began. ‘Condemned To The Gallows’ was the first song ever recorded in a studio. I recall being shocked, hearing my voice for the first time, and I was a bit intimidated. I had joined the band only a few months prior to that and I didn’t know how to sing or even if was capable of doing the job. So I jumped in, and this 40-year adventure was about to begin. Revisiting this song was a real trip. Going back in time to when we were young and wild, recapturing that same fury inside that led us up to now made me realize that the spirit never gets old. Thanks to Mom, who kept well preserved, the only lyrics sheet existing on the surface of this planet, with my smudged left-handed writing. Otherwise, we would have been screwed.”

Once more recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by VOIVOD, Morgöth Tales includes fresh studio (re-)recordings by the band’s current line-up of nine especially selected, not-so-obvious picks from the band’s hyper-classy and extremely diverse back catalogue (between 1984 and 2003) as well as a brand-new song in the album’s title-track, ‘Morgöth Tales’.

VOIVOD drummer Michel “Away” Langevin commented about Morgöth Tales:
“Morgöth Tales covers 40 years of space exploration. It was really exciting for us to revisit a more obscure part of the Voïvod catalogue, from thrash-punk to prog-metal to…? The title track is a new song, which we started writing in the tour bus and hotels during the Opeth European tour in November / December 2022. It has the vibe of the experimental music we are doing nowadays, with a new twist I think. We also had the great thrill of getting E-Force and Jasonic involved on this album. I hope you’ll dig it, Chewy, Rocky, Snake and I certainly had a blast recording it. All aboard and ready for take-off!“

The Ltd. CD Jewelcase in O-Card and Digital Album formats will also come with a cover version of the Public Image Ltd. track “Home” (04:38) as a bonus.

The LP format will come on 180g vinyl and with a 4page LP-Booklet in the following variants:

Black LP – Unlimited
White LP – Ltd. 800x copies (Canada – www.cmdistro.de)
Transparent Green LP – Ltd. 300x copies (www.cmdistro.de)
Red LP – Ltd. 300x copies (VOIVOD outlets)
The albums pre-order begins today and is available here: https://voivodband.lnk.to/MorgothTales

Track Listing:
1. Condemned To The Gallows (2023 Version) [Originally on Metal Massacre V Compilation, 1984]
2. Thrashing Rage (2023 Version) [Originally on “Rrröööaaarrr”, 1986] 3. Killing Technology (2023 Version) [Originally on “Killing Technology”, 1987] 4. Macrosolutions To Megaproblems (2023 Version) [Originally on “Dimension Hatröss”, 1988] 5. Pre-Ignition (2023 Version) [Originally on “Nothingface”, 1989] 6. Nuage Fractal (2023 Version) [Originally on “Angel Rat”, 1991]
7. Fix My Heart (2023 Version) [Originally on “The Outer Limits”, 1993] 8. Rise (2023 Version, feat. Eric Forrest) [Originally on “Phobos”, 1997] 9. Rebel Robot (2023 Version, feat. Jason Newsted) [Originally on “Voivod”, 2003] 10. Morgöth Tales [New Song]Band Members:
Dominic “Rocky” Laroche – Bass
Michel “Away” Langevin – Drums
Denis “Snake” Bélanger – Vocals
Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain – Guitar