Canada’s Voivod have enjoyed the kind of career most musical acts would envy. For the uninitiated, this Canadian quartet plays a heady blend of metal and punk with psychedelic overtones while employing both complex and odd arrangements. At present, Voivod is still led by founding members drummer / artist Michel Langevin aka Away and vocalist Denis Bélanger aka Snake along with guitarist Daniel Mongrain aka Chewy, and bassist Dominic Laroche aka Rocky.
Already huge influences on such disparate musical acts as Ryan Adams (he dedicated his album ‘Orion’ to late guitarist Dennis D’Amour), Tool, Soundgarden (band has dedicated songs to them and opened for them on their Louder Than Love tour), Mr. Bungle, Mastodon, Isis, Metallica, Dream Theater, Darkthrone, ALL, The Young Gods and countless others. They were also once hand-picked by Rush to open their Canadian dates and have headlined over Faith No More, Slayer, Exodus and many others.
Rather than being confined to one specific genre and struggling to come up with new and innovative ideas, the Voivod machine have always boldly broke musical boundaries with reckless aplomb. And while there were some obvious hiccups along the way – 1991’s ‘Angel Rat’ and 1993’s ‘The Outer Limits’ being the most obvious – it was those very musical choices which ultimately defined the band.
Their latest and 16th record, ‘Morgöth Tales,’ features 11 songs and should cater to longtime fans and newbies alike. Featuring 1 new song (title track), re-recorded versions of classics, and deeper Voivod cuts, their 2023 offering seems like the perfect promotional piece for a band who has successfully endured myriad musical landscape shifts.
Said singer Snake in an interview with The Moshville Times about the latest record and its inherent challenges, “It was really fun to do. First you realize how time flies, but for some of those songs it was like opening a treasure chest – they were buried for so long! There’s great memories of the first song that we ever recorded (“Condemned to the Gallows”) – I lost the lyrics! I was expecting someone on the internet might have them but I looked and there was nothing about that song. I was desperate because the music was already recorded and I was freaking out because on the original recording, I can’t hear what I was saying and I can’t recall what I was singing about because it was all screams and the definition is not really clear. I thought, “maybe my mum has it because she’s way more organized than I am”, so I called my sister and said, “can you go and see mum and see if she has…,” and I gave her the title. Then she called me back and said, “Yeah. It took two minutes to find it!” It’s like – file 36, second drawer and there you go! It was my handwriting – the only copy in the world!”
Their 42nd anniversary tour kicked off already in late February in Ohio and makes its way to the East Bay before finally winding down in late March in Pennsylvania. If their set list is any indicator, the upcoming show will feature songs both well-known and obscure with an emphasis on their ‘Nothingface’ record as well as earlier fare.
Voivod headline the UC Theatre located at 2036 University Avenue in Berkeley. Special guests include Prong, Hirax and Abominous: The Final Godsend. Doors open at 7pm and the show kicks off promptly at 8pm. Advance tickets are $35 and can be purchased here at theuctheatre.org. All ages are welcome.
(Capital Chaos TV)