Voivod Continue On Infini-Ly

Things have become rather convoluted with all the pseudonyms and current/past members in the history of Jonquiere, Que. metal giants Voivod.

"This is a great line-up, but it's confusing now," admits Voivod drummer Michel "Away" Langevin.

"We play with Blacky [bassist Jean-Yves Theriault] and Dan [Mongrain, guitarist] at the same time an album comes out with Jason ["Jasonic" Newsted] and Piggy [late guitarist Denis D'Amour] playing on it," he continues, explaining the difference between the live roster and the one which performed on the band's latest effort, Infini (out June 23).

Basically, founding member D'Amour passed away in 2005, but he left a goldmine of guitar tracks for his cohorts to utilize. Mongrain is his live successor. As for bass, Newsted is best described as a "freelance" Voivod member, doing what he can from his San Francisco home, so original bassist Theriault — who left in 1991 — has returned in a live capacity.

Voivod's 15th album finds them wrapping up the heart-wrenching task of utilizing guitar tracks D'Amour recorded prior to his untimely demise. As with Infini's predecessor 2005's, Katorz, Langevin and singer Denis "Snake" Belanger have compiled a number of tracks the group were working on before D'Amour's death and configured them into full-on songs. While it sounds like the sordid pilfering of a dead man's privacy, Langevin assures D'Amour set specific plans for such an undertaking.

"We demoed songs in 2004 as a band," he explains. "They were done very cheaply, recorded at a rehearsal space.

"Piggy took those home and re-recorded the guitar tracks on separate layers. We had great guitar tracks over cheap drums and vocals. Fortunately, there were 10 tracks with bass because Piggy had gone to San Francisco to record bass with Jason. Those songs became Katorz.

"But with Infini, we had 30 songs with cheap drums and vocals, no bass at all and Jason had to write the bass lines and record them. While he was writing, I recorded my drums and sent the tracks to him. [Newsted] recorded, sent them back and Snake did the vocals. It was a strange process, but it's a miracle it exists at all."

As an album, Infini is incredibly cohesive for something Langevin admits was never created with two band members in the same room. From opener "God Phones" through "Destroy After Reading" and closer "Volcano," the album plays out like a meeting ground between the band's early aggressive years, the prog-metal of 1989's heralded Nothingface and their ensuing borderline psychedelia. In short, it's the perfect culmination of their quarter-century legacy.

But Langevin notes while Infini is an emotional affair and the state of the band's recording future is unknown, he's still quite proud of it.

"With Katorz, we were still in a state of shock with Piggy's departure as we finished it. Emotionally, [Infini] was less gruelling because we had a couple of years to regroup and re-energize. It was difficult, but not as much as with Katorz.

"It was painful to record for the first time without Piggy. I don't feel bad when I listen to Katorz or Infini, though. It could have been that [they] didn't exist at all so I'm proud to hear these songs. It's a victory over a tragedy."

Voivod will play these dates:

June 12 Donington, England @ Donington Park (Download Festival)
June 13 Walden, Netherlands @ Waldrock
June 19 Clisson, France @ Hellfest Open Air
June 23 Budapest, Hungary @ Petofi Csarnok w/Down
June 26 Balingen, Germany @ Messegelande (Bang Your Head Festival)
June 27 Bologna, Italy @ Arena Parco Nord (Gods Of Metal Festival)
June 29 Athens, Greece @ Rockwave
July 3 Quebec City, QC @ Woodstock En Beauce
July 4 Jonquiere, QC @ Place Nikitoutagan
July 11 Krakow, Poland @ Stadion Klubu WKS Wawel (Knock Out Festival)
July 12 Vizovice, Czech Republic @ Areal Iikerky R. Jelinek (Masters Of Rock Festival)
July 25 Lorca, Spain @ Lorca Rock
Aug. 14 Oulu, Finland @ Club Teatria (Jalometalli Metal Music Festival)
Aug. 15 Dinkelsbuhl, Germany @ Flugplatz (Summer Breeze)
Aug. 28 Bergen, Norway @ Hole In The Sky