Voivod | |
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.JPG) Voivod atHellfest 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Jonquière (Saguenay),Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Discography | Voivod discography |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels |
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| Members | Michel "Away" Langevin Denis "Snake" Bélanger Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain Dominic "Rocky" Laroche |
| Past members | Denis "Piggy" D'Amour Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault Pierre St. Jean Gilles Brisebois Eric "E-Force" Forrest Jason "Jasonic" Newsted |
| Website | www |
Voivod is a Canadianheavy metal band fromJonquière (now part ofSaguenay)Quebec. The original line-up consisted of vocalistDenis "Snake" Bélanger, guitaristDenis "Piggy" D'Amour, drummerMichel "Away" Langevin and bassistJean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault. The band has had numerous members changes throughout its43-year career, with Langevin as the only consistent member. Their current line-up includes Langevin, Bélanger,Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (guitar) and Dominic "Rocky" Laroche (bass).
Voivod's musical style has changed several times since its inception. Starting out as aspeed metal band, they have added a mix ofprogressive andthrash metal to create their own unique metal style, and have been credited as progenitors of the "technical thrash metal" sound along withCoroner,Watchtower,Dark Angel,Mekong Delta,Anacrusis andBlind Illusion, among others.[1][2]
To date, Voivod have released sixteen studio albums, as well as one EP, one live album, two compilations, seven demos and one DVD featuring a live concert. They have been grouped withSacrifice,Razor andAnnihilator in the "Big Four" of Canadian thrash metal.[3] The band found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio albumNothingface (1989), which is Voivod's only album to enter theBillboard 200 charts, peaking at number 114.[4] The band won the "Visionary" award at the 2017Progressive Music Awards.[5] In 2019, Voivod's fourteenth studio album,The Wake, won theJuno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year.[6] Voivod's most recent studio albumMorgöth Tales, a collection of re-recorded songs, was released in July 2023.
Voivod was formed in 1982 inJonquière,Quebec. Influenced equally by thenew wave of British heavy metal, the burgeoninghardcore punk scene and 1970sprogressive rock, Voivod forged a distinctive brand of heavy music that often relied on lyrical themes such asReagan-eraCold War politics, post-apocalyptic literature andscience fiction.Killing Technology (1987) began the band's evolution in earnest, with the character from Voivod's album covers (drawn by drummer Away and named "Korgull" on 1986'sRrröööaaarrr) significantly being depicted in a spaceship. Drawing more heavily on hardcore punk than metal influences by this point,[7] Voivod began evolving without the aid of increasing speed and storytelling on the followingDimension Hatross.[8] Voivod was one of the first thrash bands from Canada to gain popularity outside of their country's borders, reaching the peak of their global popularity with the 1989 albumNothingface, which featured a cover version ofPink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine".[9] Other covers include Pink Floyd's "The Nile Song" on their 1993 albumThe Outer Limits and "21st Century Schizoid Man" byKing Crimson onPhobos. Much of the band's sound comes from guitarist Piggy's use of dissonant chords, usually played in the high register of the guitar, combined with Blacky's bass tone and chords as well, used extensively onNothingface. Albums likeDimension Hatröss are dominated by unexpected time signatures and both Piggy and Blacky's liberal use of dissonant, unconventional minor chords.[10]
Two of the four founding members (bassistJean-Yves Thériault and vocalistDenis Bélanger) left Voivod in the early 1990s. Jean-Yves co-founded The Holy Body Tattoo, an avant-garde modern dance company based in Vancouver BC and also wrote extensively all the music for it, as well as other electronic music projects, while Denis Bélanger isolated himself and eventually started a new project, Union Made. Meanwhile, the band recorded four albums as a trio in the mid-to-late 1990s with new memberEric Forrest, nicknamed "E-Force", handling both vocals and bass guitar. Forrest was seriously injured in a car accident inGermany in 1998, and that incarnation of Voivod never regained the momentum they lost during his rehabilitation. After Eric Forrest left the band, his insurance company attempted to sue the band for the injuries he sustained in the crash, as he was in the care of the band at the time.
Voivod briefly disbanded in 2001 before Bélanger returned to the band.[11] The next incarnation of Voivod featured three of the four founding members:Denis Bélanger (a.k.a. "Snake"; vocals),Denis D'Amour ("Piggy"; guitars), andMichel Langevin ("Away"; drums) along withJason Newsted ("Jasonic", formerly ofMetallica) on bass guitar. The albumVoivod was released in 2003. Guitarist Denis D'Amour died at the age of 45 on August 26, 2005 due to complications fromcolon cancer. In July 2006 they releasedKatorz, based around riffs found on the laptop of D'Amour. Just prior to his death, he left instructions for his bandmates on how to use them. In November 2006, the song "X-Stream" was featured onGuitar Hero II.[12]
Voivod were planning to work on what was to be their final studio album in late 2007, which contained tracks recorded with D'Amour before his death. Voivod was part of the Heavy MTL show that was held inMontreal on June 22, 2008. Voivod also performed at the Monsters of Rock Festival inCalgary,Alberta, on July 26, 2008, and supported Judas Priest at theBell Centre in Montreal, on August 12, 2008. Voivod also played a full set at Thrash Domination in Kawasaki, Japan, September 20–21, 2008, along with the bandsTestament andForbidden. The band consisted of Bélanger, Langevin, a returning "Blacky" Thériault, andDan Mongrain on guitar.
In early January 2009, Voivod announced that they were putting the finishing touches on their new album and expected to release it in the spring of that year. The album, now known asInfini, was released on June 23, 2009.[13]
By July 2010, Voivod had been writing and recording new music (including Dan Mongrain on guitar). On July 4, 2012, Voivod announced the title of their thirteenth studio album,Target Earth, which was released on January 22, 2013.[14]Target Earth has a more progressive sound than some of their last few albums, and is a return to a more "classic" Voivod sound that can be heard onDimension Hatross andNothingface. All the music was written by Blacky and Chewy, while Snake focused on lyrics, and Away took care of the artwork.[15]
On July 10, 2014, it was reported that Blacky had left Voivod again.[16] It was announced that he was forced out of the band. In late January 2015 the band released the new single "We Are Connected" which is the lead track from the 7-inch split vinyl disc with the bandAt the Gates. It is the first music to feature new bassist Dominic "Rocky" Laroche. They also released a new, five-track EP, entitledPost Society, featuring two new tracks and a cover ofHawkwind's "Silver Machine", on February 26, 2016.[17]
As early as February 2015, Voivod began work on their fourteenth studio album, which was to be released in 2016[18] but later pushed back to 2017.[19] The band was expected to begin recording the album in August 2017.[20] In June 2017, Langevin told Rock Sverige that the songwriting was almost completed with an estimated release for early 2018. He also said that the album would probably be a double-album on vinyl due to the songs being "really long and progressive", describing them as "seven or eight minutes long songs" and with it being a concept album as well.[21] In November 2017, the members of Voivod began recording their next studio album,[22] titledThe Wake, which was released in September 2018.[23]
In 2019, it was revealed that the master tapes for Voivod'sMCA-era albums were destroyed in the2008 Universal Studios fire.[24]
Voivod's fifteenth studio album,Synchro Anarchy, was released on February 11, 2022.[25][26] The band releasedMorgöth Tales, a collection of re-recorded songs, on July 21, 2023.[27] The band also is currently writing new music for their next record.[28]
Voivod's style has been classified asprogressive metal,[29][30]thrash metal,[9]technical thrash metal,[1] andavant-garde metal.[31][32] Their earlier albums have been labeledspeed metal,[9][33] whileAngel Rat has been labelledalternative metal.[34][35] Their influences includeBéla Bartók,Igor Stravinsky,Dimitri Shostakovich,Yes,Einstürzende Neubauten,GBH,Genesis,Hawkwind,Judas Priest,Iron Maiden,Killing Joke,King Crimson,Motörhead,Sodom,Nektar,Pink Floyd,Ramones,Rush,Van der Graaf Generator,Venom, andUFO.[36][37][38][39][40] The band has been praised for their unique approach, or cited as an influence, by other bands and artists such asPantera,[41][42]Meshuggah,Fear Factory,Jason Newsted (Voivod's bassist for their 2000s albums), andDave Grohl.[43]
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Timeline
It's definitely the band that had the most impact on VOIVOD. We were fans of DISCHARGE and VENOM and all that, but MOTÖRHEAD was really the focus of VOIVOD in the sense that I totally copied "Philthy Animal" Taylor, and Snake's vocals are really influenced by Lemmy's vocals. Of course, Piggy was a huge fan of "Fast" Eddie; actually, Piggy's first nickname was "Fast Piggy." [Laughs] MOTÖRHEAD was really the example for us.
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