Review by Death8699 on December 1, 2018.

After about a decade of silence by the band with Schmier not in the lineup, Destruction's main vocalist/bass guitarist is back! This was of course taking place in 2000. Destruction just wasn't the same without him. His unique vocals meshed so well with the Destruction of the old. Good to have him return, especially with this 2000 release declaring war when it comes to thrash metal, Destruction's divine genre.

The album opens with a clean guitar by Mike, then bam, the riffs that we once knew that he created are back in full force. Catchy, not boring, original, not copying anyone, and crunch tone that was more so effective as in the past. The whole album is like that. Crunch tone guitar and killer vocals by Schmier define Destruction as a whole. Mike still needs to brush up on his leads though. That was the only real bad thing to say about the album. I still think that this band was better as a quartet with Harry in the band. His leads were very advanced and wicked. It especially showed in "Live Without Sense". But Mike's leads have improved somewhat, though I think that it should mainly be rhythm guitar with not so many leads on the album. I was glad that he didn't go overboard on this album. The rhythms just dominated, really great to have this band back with some awesome thrash!

Energy stricken music with songs just dishing out pure unique thrash metal. I absolutely loved the mixing and production. Everything was all just right. The bass, vocals, guitar, and drums. A superb job in that department. Nothing left out at all. This is an album that you can listen to over and over without getting sick of it. The butcher definitely stuck back with a vengeance!

Overall, this is one hell of a comeback album. If you're a fan of thrash metal and haven't heard this one yet, check out "Machinery of Lies". If you think I'm full of it, then just listen and you will hear pure original thrash metal that is totally awesome. Good cover of Metallica's "Whiplash" as well. Great to have this band back in full force!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on October 18, 2014.

Voyager sounds as comfortable on this release as any band I've heard in recent times. Their emotional take on progressive metal reaches a peak with V and it actually sounds like the band is simply laying back and having fun with the material here. There are moments the guitar riffing matches with the vocals in manners most progressive has never treaded.

The result is one of the catchiest entries to progressive metal in some times. The band's harmonies are very pleasant to listen to, but pack a punch on top of that. The band isn't all just about aesthetics though, because the song-writing on this album is more than solid to back up any possible superficial displays of musicianship. Every song offers something different for added variety. Breaking Down is an early highlight with its catchy chorus and many later songs like This Morning Light also have an impact. There are many strong portions on this album and because of the somewhat accessible sound and amount of variation, each one is very welcome. V seems like it could be slightly more complex at times, but dynamics are handled with the correct amount of balance. On future releases, I would like to see them attempt to keep their progressive element in check, however.

In terms of progressive metal releases this year, this is a surprise because it beats out Anubis Gate's album quite handily and slightly knocks off the recent Evergrey release. People looking for a well-rounded release of progressive metal with a nice production job should look no further than V. It is also my favorite of this band's overall output.

Rating: 9 out of 10