The idea for Voïvod was born in 1981 in the Canadian province of Quebec, and a year later the band’s first line-up – Michel ‘Away’ Langevin (drums), Denis ‘Snake’ Bélanger (vocals), Jean-Yves ‘Blacky’ Thériault (bass) and Denis ‘Piggy’ D’Amour (guitar) – began by performing covers of classics such as Tank, Venom, Motörhead, Raven, Judas Priest and Sweet Savage, smuggling in a few original compositions. In 1984, Voivod’s debut, ‘War and Pain’, changed thrash metal history forever. And this was only the beginning of the formation of the musical, lyrical and visual aesthetic of the band, which went from a creation treating of war, apocalypse and violence (which can still be heard on the second album – ‘Rrröööaaarrr’), towards a science fiction aesthetic in every aspect. From ‘Killing Technology’ (1987) onwards, musically, they allowed technical influences to join the familiar thrash metal, including progressive metal, which would gain strength on subsequent albums; lyrically, they explored concerns about the development of technology in a direction that threatened humanity; visually, the covers by Away took on even more futurological depth.

The core of the band didn’t undergo much reshuffling for many years, apart from the bass player: from 2001 to 2008, it was Jason Newsted, known from Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam, among others. In 2005, Voivod lost one of its founding members, guitarist Piggy.

The band’s latest, sixteenth album (‘Morgöth Tales’) will be released on 21 July 2023.