quote:
From Piggy, with love
Dave Jaffer
Deceased Voivod guitarist continues to drive the monumental metallists, appearing live at Heavy MTLEtymologically, the term "voivod" (or "voivode") comes from Slavic fragments that, put together, mean something like "leader of warriors." A voivod was something of a military and political leader, almost a cross between a duke and a commander, and those holding the title were powerful, respected and feared. It's unclear whether Voivod, the band that made Jonquière, Quebec, famous, knew all that when they started playing together under the moniker in the early 1980s, but for a generation and a half of metal fans, they are and always have been respected leaders.
Maybe they never had the massive appeal and success of Metallica, Megadeth or Slayer. And sure, they've only had one of their songs (X-Stream, from Katorz) featured in an edition of Guitar Hero. But since the early 1980s Voivod has been one of the most distinctive, ambitious and progressive bands in the history of metal; one whose story only slowed down when genius guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour succumbed to colon cancer in 2005.
"We're trying to promote Denis D'Amour's music," says drummer Michel "Away" Langevin of Voivod's "comeback" appearance at Heavy MTL. "He was the main writer of Voivod, so we just want his music to live on."
THE BIRTH OF KORGULL
A quarter century after starting the band, Langevin hasn't hung up his drumsticks, but these days he spends most of his time on his second career.
"Right now, I'm more a graphic artist than a musician. Although I'm still part of many projects, I'm [only now] starting to play a lot again," he says. "I spend a lot of time working on an online gallery where people can order prints or commission original art. For the past three years it has kept me really busy."
This career has made Langevin, even away from the drum kit, a coveted entity in musical circles. His portfolio includes album art for Dave Grohl's metal side-project Probot and merch for Danko Jones among countless other associations. But in the beginning, his job was to create an aesthetic that represented Voivod's prevailing themes and interests, including its long-standing and well-chronicled association with cyberpunk as well as its attendant fear of a desolate future.
"I did all the art for Voivod. The covers and all the merch," he explains. "Blade Runner and the early Mad Max movies had [an] influence on Voivod. And a little before that, Alien and stuff like that. It influenced my aesthetic, visually, so it turned out to have an influence on the covers of the albums."
MOTHERS OF REINVENTION
Voivod and Madonna may not have a lot in common on the face of it, but just like the Material Girl, Voivod's long, impressive career has been based on twin notions of reinvention and evolution. From the outset their metal was diametrically different than that of their contemporaries, and over the years it managed to venture into innovative new places.
"We were pretty impatient in moving on and not repeating the same thing over and over to the point where, [after the first] five or six years, it sounded like it was not the same band anymore," says Langevin. Indeed, his point has merit. From a speed and thrash metal base, Voivod continually tried on new accessorizing styles, running the gamut from hardcore punk to industrial noise to progressive metal. Landmark album Nothingface (1989) could not have happened without this dabbling and constant readjustment.
"The fact that we recorded a couple of albums in Berlin in the '80s helped a lot," recalls Langevin. "We discovered some technologies, like sampling and stuff like that, around '87, '88, and started to experiment a little more with the sound of the band.
"It's not like we were sitting down discussing the next move," he continues. "It was very organic. It just went in a more psychedelic way naturally."
Amidst the constant shifts and changes, though, immovable and centrally located are the bedrock elements that Voivod's musical legacy will always be based upon. Piggy's inventive and nearly inimitable guitar riffs, which were virtuosic in scope and almost religious in their composition, is one such element. Abject fear of a bleak tomorrow - another tie-in to cyberpunk - is another. Langevin explains the latter:
"There is a signature sound that is pretty apocalyptic because all the albums always dealt with high-tech weaponry and our fear of it. The main vibe over all the albums was a fear of nuclear war, that's for sure."
A LABOUR OF D'AMOUR
Nothing defines Voivod like the life and death of Denis D'Amour. For all intents and most purposes, his passing cast a shroud of indefiniteness over the band, whose gears stopped turning when D'Amour was laid to rest.
"The last three years we were mourning Piggy," says original and current Voivod singer Denis "Snake" Bélanger. "It's weird. It took us three years for us to realize that Piggy was dead. I was kind of hoping that I was going to be on one corner, one day, and see him, but that didn't happen."
"It's tearing me apart inside, because I wish he was here," agrees Langevin. "I'm trying to deal with the fact that we are rehearsing for the gig, the Heavy MTL show, and he is not in the room with us."
Still, out of darkness sometimes there comes great light. It was D'Amour's death that put the band on indefinite hiatus, and his music that's brought them back together - including original bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault, back in the band after 17 years and replacing ex-Metallica bassist Jason "Jasonic" Newsted for the live shows. Voivod's last studio album (2006's Katorz) revolved around guitar parts that were discovered on D'Amour's laptop, and both Langevin and Bélanger say that it's D'Amour's spirit that's driving the band's resurgence. (Dan Mongrain, of Martyr, will play in D'Amour's stead.)
"The fans over the years have been really loyal to Voivod," says Langevin. "We thought they deserved to hear what we had started."
"It's going to be really exciting being on stage and playing Piggy's music," says Bélanger. "I think that's the only way we can honour what he did. To be out there and to play and to make people realize how much he was a great composer and [how] he was so unique. If you're sitting at home doing nothing, it's going to stay dead. But bringing it live and showing the people his talent, it's totally a tribute."
photo: Jocelyn Michel