Voivod is a progressive thrash metal band from Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada, with a very distinct sound. Formed by Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, Michel "Away" Langevin and Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault in 1982, the fledging group soon found the perfect singer in Denis "Snake" Belanger. A blend of thrash with some progressive rock thrown in (on Killing Technology), and lyrics leaning heavily on sci-fi imagery. One of the first Canadian punk and thrash bands to enjoy success outside of Canada, they released four albums in the mid '80s before being signed to a major label. War And Pain in 1984, Rrroooaaarrr! in 1986, Killing Technology in 1987, and Dimension Hatross in 1988. Their blend of thrash and progressive rock caught the ear of MCA Records, who signed them and released their next album, Nothingface in 1989. The video of their Pink Floyd cover, Astronomy Domine, got tons of MTV airplay. They would headline a club tour with bands like Soundgarden and Faith No More, relative unknowns at the time, opening for them.
Things started slowly sliding downhill for them after, their next album being poorly received, 1991's Angel Rat. 'Grunge' was taking hold, with bands such as their former opening act, Soundgarden, enjoying a rise to stardom. Blacky left the band just before Angel Rat's release. 1993 saw the release of The Outer Limits album. Following the subsequent tour, Snake quit Voivod. The former Liquid Indian man, Eric "E-Force" Forrest replaced Blacky and Snake in one fell swoop on bass and lead vocals, and would stay with the band for two albums, 1995's Negatron and 1997's Phobos. 2000 saw an EP (Kronik) and live album (Lives), and in 2001 a car accident invalidated E-Force with a broken back. The group was put on hiatus, until eventually the decision was made to reform the band with Snake. Voivod fan Jason Newsted, fresh from Metallica, filled the vacant bass slot. This version of the band would go on to release 2003's self-titled album, Voivod.
Guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour sadly died on 25th August 2005 from colon cancer aged 45. After his diagnosis he spent the last 2 months of his life recording ideas & guitar parts for several albums worth of new songs. After his death the rest of the band completed work on Voivod's 14th album, Katorz, released in July 2006 and Infini in 2009.
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. 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 on Dimension Hatross and Nothingface. All the music was written by Blacky and Chewy, while Snake focused on lyrics, and Away took care of the artwork.
On July 10, 2014, it was reported that Blacky had left Voivod again. It was announced that he was forced out of the band. For months he requested meetings regarding the band business and artistic affairs, but was denied such talks by one of the other members. 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 band At the Gates. It is the first music to feature new bassist Dominic "Rocky" Laroche. They also released a new, five-track EP, entitled Post Society, featuring two new tracks and a cover of Hawkwind's "Silver Machine", on February 26, 2016.
As early as February 2015, Voivod began work on their fourteenth studio album, which was to be released in 2016 but later pushed back to 2017. The band was expected to begin recording the album in August 2017. 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. In November 2017, the Voivod members began recording another album, titled The Wake, which was released in September 2018. The master tapes for Voivod's MCA-era albums were long thought to have been destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire; this was later disputed by Blacky, who revealed in late 2019 that the master tapes for Nothingface, Angel Rat and The Outer Limits were located in a facility in Pennsylvania, after persistently questioning Universal staff, and claimed that they are now in his possession.
Voivod's fifteenth studio album, Synchro Anarchy, will be released on February 11, 2022.
Current members
Michel Langevin (Away) – drums (1982–present)
Denis Bélanger (Snake) – vocals (1982–1994, 2002–present)
Mongrain (Chewy) – guitar (2008–present)
Dominic Laroche (Rocky) – bass (2014–present)
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