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Critical Mass
Fanzine Interview
Canadian futuristic techno-thrashers VOIVOD are currently recording
a new album in Toronto. CRITICAL MASS got in touch with drummer
Away (Michel Langevin) to talk about the past, present and future
of the band. But first, a brief VOIVOD history:
1984: VOIVOD released their debut LP "War and pain",
a harsh, raw metal album with a very punky edge. The classic, original
line up was: Snake (Denis Belanger) on throat, Piggy (Denis D'Amour)
on guitar, Blacky (Jean-Yves Theriault) on bass and Away (Michel
Langevin) on drums.
The second effort from the band was "Rrroooaaarrr". On this album,
the "classic" VOIVOD sound takes shape, but the album may be a bit
too chaotic and messy. A "hard listen", even for dedicated VOIVOD
fans.
1986: The third album "Killing Technology"
saw the light of day. This album is, together with 1988s "Dimension
Hatross" considered (by many VOIVOD fans) as VOIVODs prime time.
These two albums are sure milestones in metal history, and years
ahead many bands of the time. Both records were recorded in Berlin
with the classic thrash-engineerer Harris Johns. This collaboration
resulted in killer production!
1989: The band softens up their sound a great bit,
gets more melodic and unleashes the great album "Nothingface", including
a really great cover of PINK FLOYD's "Astronomy Domine".
1991: "Angel Rat" is released. Something has happened here on the
bandphotos, Blacky is not to been found. He has left the band, but
do play on the album (he's listed in the credits section). The album
is even more nice "space music".
1993: This year, "The Outer Limits" album was released
with a session bassist (Pierre St-Jean). The original cover artwork
on this album was done in 3D, and came with 3D glasses! Very nice!
1995: Snake has left the band, leaving only two original members;
Away and Piggy. The band finally meet Eric Forrest who takes care
of both bass and vocals, making the band a power-trio. A new album,
"Negatron" was released. The album indicates that VOIVOD has stepped
back to the hardcore sound from the '87-'88 era, but with a modern
sound.
And this year, 1997, we'll get a new VOIVOD album, a live album
and a homevideo.
Over to the interview with Away, VOIVODs drummer:
How's are things going for VOIVOD
at the moment?
We are putting the final touch to the pre-production
of the new album, which we're gonna be recording starting Feb. 23rd.
We will tour Europe in the Spring and Summer. We also have a live
album scheduled for the Fall.
After Snake left, did you and
Denis consider to quit the band for ever? And, during that period,
did you think of changing the name of the band?
Of course we considered splitting the band for
good. I was going to recycle towards computer animation. But after
much reflexion, we realised that we still had lots of musical
ideas that voivod fans would probably want to hear. Since Piggy
always wrote most of the music, and I always took care of the
concepts, we didn't see the use of changing the name of the band.
What are Snake and Blacky up to
today?
Snake has a new band and Blacky is involved in
the Internet business.
Are VOIVOD touring much with this
album? Any plans for some Scandinavian dates?
We toured for one year and a half for Negatron
and we want to do the same for the next album, but we want to
concentrate more on Europe this time around. I will make sure
to make it to Scandinavia.
How come that the multimedia on
"Negatron" wasn't included in the european release?
Because it was a project put together with
the collaboration of our American label; Mausoleum.
How come that VOIVOD went back
to a much rawer, more aggressive style? Did you get tired of softer
direction VOIVOD had on the latest albums?
Also, the sound is very high tech
and "up to date", were VOIVOD inspired by the sound of bands like
Fear Factory/Ministry and perhaps Machine Head/Pantera?
The bands mentioned above are all great bands.
It was a thrill to watch bands such as Fear Factory, Machine Head
and Pantera performing with much anger. We went back to the hardcore
sound because we missed it, after playing psychedelic space music
for 5 to 6 years.
I heard a rumour about a comic
or art magazine that you made, that got stolen from your fan club
Could you tell some more about this? (Is this mag still available???)
The comic was never stolen. I'm still working on
it, and hopefully it's gonna be completed for the European tour.
But the fan club office did get broken into in 1990.
Have you done any exhibitions
with your art?
Only once, in a burned church. I was offered to
do a couple more but I never had enough time to put it together.
Are the members of VOIVOD involved
in any other projects (music or anything else) ?
I played on a couple of Foetus albums called Steroid
Maximus and on one Men Without Hats album called Sideways.
To what songs have VOIVOD made
videos for? Did you make the special effects for the latest video?
We made videos for : Voivod, Ripping Headaches,
Ravenous Medicine, Tribal Convictions, Psychic Vacuum, Astronomy
Domine, Clouds in my House & Insect. I did the computer animation
on Insect using Soft Image on Silicon Graphics.
Coolest memory in VOIVOD history?
We toured with Rush in 1990 for the Nothinface
album. Meeting those guys is one of the highlights of my career,
since they had such an important input on the direction we took
as a Sci-fi metal band. Great moments are too numerous to recall
(as much as not so great episodes) but recording Killing Technology
and Dimension Hatross in Berlin was a very exciting period.
J.G. Thirlwell sings and does
effects on "D.N.A.", but you have also been involed in some project
of his, could you tell some more about that?
My frienship with Jim dates back to 87, when I
met him at one of our shows in NYC. He's one of my favorite artists
and I hope to work with him again. We share the same interest
for freak sideshows.
When playing live, do you use
any spectacular effects on stage to match the S.F. oriented lyrics?
We used to have screens, projections, smoke etc...But
nowadays, except for the occasional stroboscope, we prefer to
concentrate on the musical performance.
What music do you prefer listening
to, except for metal (and Pink Floyd :-) )?
In the beginning: Motörhead, Venom, GBH, Discharge,
Sex Pistols, Van der Graaf Generator
Nowadays: Sepultura, Bauhaus, Beck, Van der Graaf
Generator & Techno
Who does the design of your way
out guitars?
First I did the designs and Piggy would build them.
Them he started to draw his own and had those made by a guy named
Liberatore. Now he's using Fender and Gibson & Eric is using
Fender.
Where can we buy VOIVOD merchandise?
We put the Iron Gang back together at this address
: P.O.box 62, Station A, MTL.QC.CANADA, H3C-1C5.
What will the upcoming album
sound like, compared to "Negatron"? Also, could you tell something
about the video "Nanoman"?
I would say that it's a mixture of Dimension Hatross,
Outer Limits and Negatron. The video for Nanoman will come out
with the live album. The footage was shot at the Dynamo festival
and I made some computer animation to mix with the live stuff.
Any closing words to your Scandinavian
fans?
Yes, I know there are a few Voivod freaks over
there, thanx for the many years of support and I hope to meet
you all this summer...By the way, Norse Mythology is the greatest
!
We thank Away for this interesting
chat. Be sure to check out VOIVOD if you still haven't.
Read and see more VOIVOD stuff on these sites:
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