Voivod was inducted into Metal Hall of Fame on stage Saturday June 18, 2022 by Metal Hall CEO Pat Gesualdo, in Syracuse NY at the Pure Filth Festival 2022. Joining him on stage for the ceremony Tim Henderson CEO and Editor of Bravewords.com and Munsey Ricci Skateboard Marketing Ltd.
All photos by Munsey Ricci
Very few bands survive for four decades. Even fewer are those that continue to reach new creative heights, long after legendary status has been achieved. Voïvod were never like other bands: even as the thrash metal scene exploded in the early ‘80s, the Jonquière, Québec crew stood apart, both as unique visionaries and as proud subverters of the metallic norm. From early prog-thrash classics like Killing Technology and Dimension Hatröss through to the psychedelic explorations of The Outer Limits, Voïvod have been standard bearers for individuality and creative freedom for nearly 40 years.
Always defiantly out of step with prevailing trends but widely respected as true mavericks, Voïvod even weathered the untimely death of talismanic guitarist and songwriter Denis “Piggy” D’Amour in 2005. Buoyed by the support of their huge global following, surviving original members Denis “Snake” Bélanger (vocals), Michel “Away” Langevin (drums) and Jean-Yves “Blacky” Thériault embarked on a new and challenging chapter in the Voïvod story, releasing the much-hailed Target Earth in 2013, with guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain proving himself to be a smart and dextrous successor to D’Amour.
By 2014, bassist Dominic “Rocky” Laroche had replaced Thériault, and a new incarnation of this indestructible band crossed their compositional beams to forge yet more mind-bending, psychedelic post-thrash wizardry. Released in 2018, The Wake was almost universally hailed as the finest Voïvod album since the band’s late ‘80s heyday. One of the band’s most successful albums yet, The Wake scored chart entries in Germany (#26), Switzerland (#51), Belgium (Wallonia) (#94) and the USA (New Artist: #8/Overall: #148): confirmation that the band’s return to peak form had struck a chord with fans old and new. Not surprisingly, Voïvod hit the road to reaffirm their status as one of metal’s most unique and powerful live acts.
“At first we went on tour for almost two years, pretty intensively, with great bands and line-ups,” recalls Chewy. “We went all over the globe, to Australia, Japan and Europe many times, and twice across North America. It was great! We had also a few surprising invitations, like playing the Montreal Jazz Fest. We also won a Juno award for ‘Metal/Hard Music Album’ of 2019. We came back home in late December 2019, and then everything stopped for obvious reasons.”
Confined to their quarters for those long months of lockdown, Canada’s finest simply did what they do best: create. The result is Synchro Anarchy, Voïvod’s 15th studio album and, as fans have come to expect, yet another unparalleled eruption of wildly imaginative heaviness. Shaped by the weirdest of circumstances, the new songs were born from an intense period of collaboration.
Voivod Website
Voivod discography
War and Pain (1984)
Rrröööaaarrr (1986)
Killing Technology (1987)
Dimension Hatröss (1988)
Nothingface (1989)
Angel Rat (1991)
The Outer Limits (1993)
Negatron (1995)
Phobos (1997)
Voivod (2003)
Katorz (2006)
Infini (2009)
Target Earth (2013)
The Wake (2018)
Synchro Anarchy (2022)
Primal Fear Ralf Scheepers Interview-Debut Album Re-issue, Gamma Ray, Helloween Wanted Him, Halford
Nathan James Interview- Iconic Album w/ Michael Sweet, Tommy Aldridge, Joel Hoekstra & Marco Mendoza