Formed: 1982 in Jonquière, Quebec, Canada.
Thrash metal band influenced by the NWOBHM, Hardcore and Progressive Rock. Voïvod are easily identifiable by their use of unusual time signatures, dissonant guitar chords and lyrical themes influenced by post-apocalyptic literature, cold war politics and science fiction.
Founding members Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault (bass) and Denis "Snake" Bélanger (vocals) departed the band in the early 1990s (though Bélanger would return and leave the band several times until the mid 1990s), guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour and drummer Michel "Away" Langevin forged ahead with new member Eric "E-Force" Forrest on bass and vocals. Forrest departed in 2001 and Voïvod went on hiatus for a year. The band reformed in 2002 with Denis "Snake" Bélanger returning on vocals and ex-Metallica member Jason "Jasonic" Newsted performing bass duties in the studio.
Voïvod found itself on hiatus once more as guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour was diagnosed with cancer of the colon, he passed away in 2005.
In 2009 the band released its twelfth and final studio album Infini, which features the last music written and recorded by D'Amour.
Currently, Voïvod continues to perform live with its remaining original members; Denis Bélanger, Michel Langevin and Jean-Yves Thériault, augmented by session and touring guitarist Dan Mongrain.
Line-up, 1982 - 1991:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger vocals
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour - guitar
Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault - bass
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
Line-up, 1991 - 1992:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger vocals
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour - guitar
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
Line-up, 1992 - 1993:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger vocals
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour - guitar
Pierre St. Jean - bass
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
Line-up, 1993 - 1994:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger vocals
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour - guitar
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
Line-up, 1994 - 2001:
Eric "E-Force" Forrest - bass, vocals
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour - guitar
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
Line-up, 2002 - 2005:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger vocals
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour - guitar
Jason "Jasonic" Newsted - bass
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
Line-up, 2008 - present:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger vocals
Dan Mongrain - guitar
Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault - bass
Michel "Away" Langevin - drums
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 quickly after 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.
In addition to Jason Newsted, they had a few other well-known fans, including Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone and Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame. Dave Grohl was such a big fan while growing up that he would even invite their singer, Snake, to join him for a track on his Probot side project, on which he worked with several singers from rock/thrash/death metal bands he really enjoyed in his younger days. Away also worked as art director on this album, and contributed drums to a few tracks.
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From Wikipedia:Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. Starting out as a speed metal band, Voivod have added a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style.
Since its debut record in 1984, Voivod have released eleven studio albums as well as one EP, one live album, two compilations, seven demos and one DVD featuring a live concert. The band found mainstream success in the late 1980s with its most successful album Nothingface (1989), which was the first Voivod album to enter the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 114. Voivod's most recent studio album is 2009's Infini, which contains songs that were recorded prior to guitarist Piggy's death in 2005.