Krazy/Killer Band Name Of The Week: VOIVOD

Who doesn't love an underdog? A smalltown bunch of guys done good? What about the Rudy of progressive metal bands? Who do we mean? V-O-I-V-O-D! What does that spell? VOIVOD!!

The origins of this legendary cult band begin in Jonquière, Quebec, a suburb of Saguenay, a city which happens to be approximately 5 hours drive north east of Montreal.

In his early tweens, After surviving ​a near fatal car accident when he was five years old, drummer/founding member Michel "Away" Langevin began to have nightmares, and then drawing them (!) This self-therapy seemed to have guided his early visions of the yet-to-exist VOIVOD. From this he started to draw pictures from TV and began to create his own characters. He created an early, rough version of the 'Voivod' character when he was about nine or ten while spending most of time in his room reading books about science fiction, particularly J.R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings".

While reading Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,' Michel came upon the word 'Voivod', a kind of Eastern/Central European lord or prince. He was inspired to create a "post-nuclear" vampire who lived in a land of constant war called 'Morgoth' and also came up with an early type of the "new-age 'Voivod/Korgull' machine. This reverse engineering of forming a band finally led to learning to play drums and finding others who would help bring his concept to life.

VOIVOD officially formed in 1981 when guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour had been searching for several musicians to start a band with. He found Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault, who agreed to play bass. There was a slight issue however, as Blacky didn't know how to play bass at the time. Blacky then hired (Away), who had been a friend from high school as their drummer. But Blacky's and Away's respective skill levels needed a bit of seasoning, so after about a year awayof honing their craft, they reformed, and aside from a few band member changes, they've been going ever since. 

Rock heavyweights like Metallica, Dave Grohl and Soundgarden have cited the guys from Jonquière as major influences. Their stew of NWOBHM/punk/prog-rock/early Pink Floyd psychedelia has stood the test of time, and even their earliest works sound fresh and relevant today. A big part of this is their lyrics about themes such as science fiction, post-apocalyptic visions and Reagan (substitute in Trump?)-era Cold War politics. 

See? VOIVOD's story could be Hallmark Channel movie-of-the-week! Only it would be the only Hallmark involving near-fatal car crashes, rural Québec towns, heavy metal and post-nuclear vampires. Tomayto-tomahto.