Two brand new
VOIVOD tracks,
"Earthache" and
"Global Warning", taken from their forthcoming album
"Infini" can be heard online now exclusively via
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles' webiste.
"Infini" will see a June 23rd release date via
Relapse Records stateside, and via
Sonic Unyon in Canada.
Infini’s 13 tracks were the last to be written with late guitarist
Denis "Piggy" D’Amour. The CD version of
"Infini" will be packaged in a deluxe digi-pack with artwork designed by
VOIVOD drummer
Away. Images and pre-order options for the CD can be viewed here with details on the double LP pressing forthcoming.
"Infini" was built from the final songs created by the band with
Piggy. There were many discussions and ideas as to how to complete these recordings of songs that had never been actually performed with the whole band in one room. All of his original demo guitar tracks appear as they were recorded, no re-amping, no overdubs, just
Piggy as he played the tracks he envisioned in his small bachelor apartment, the amp in the bathroom, capturing his performance with the laptop given to him by
Jason Newsted.
Michel went into a studio in Montreal with engineer
Glen Robinson and tracked his drum parts, and
Jason waited anxiously to get the tracks and add his bass which he recorded with
Enrique Gonzalez Müller at Fantasy Studios in San Francisco, then
Snake tracked his vocals with
Glen in Montreal afterwards.
Jason and
Enrique mixed the record in San Francisco over the holidays and Infini was born. Truly a collaborative record that came together from a respect and belief that these final
VOIVOD songs deserved to be heard.
In light of this sentiment the band agreed to play some summer festivals in ‘08 with original bass player
Blacky and fellow Montrealer
Dan Mongrain of the band
MARTYR, playing all classic era
VOIVOD material.
Dan turns out to be a technical wizard, and his own band
MARTYR is a well respected extreme prog metal band from Montreal. It was a risky move without
Piggy but the fans and the band were happy with the outcome so much so that this lineup will play more live shows this summer.
Snake summed it up this way,
"If we don’t play live again then the songs die with Piggy and he wouldn’t want that, his genius deserves to be heard by new and life long fans."VOIVOD will perform at a number of upcoming summer festivals with the line-up of
Denis "Snake" Bélanger (vocals),
Dan Mongrain (guitars),
Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault (bass), and
Michel "Away" Langevin (drums), performing material from the first ten years of
VOIVOD’s catalogue. A listing of confirmed appearances can be found below.
Jason is still a member of
VOIVOD and one day there may be live shows performing the songs from the last three records that Jason was very much a part of. Currently the band is working on a short clip on the making of
"Infini".
VOIVOD Tour Dates:June 6 Solvesborg, Sweden - Sweden Rock Festival
June 12 Donington, UK - Download Festival
June 13 Walden, Netherlands - Waldrock
June 19 Clisson, France - Hellfest
June 23 Budapest, Hungary - Petofi Csarnok
June 26 Balingen, Germany - Bang Your Head Festival
June 27 Bologna, Italy - Gods Of Metal Festival
June 29 Athens, Greece - Rockwave Festival
July 3 Quebec City, QC - Woodstock en Beauce
July 4 Jonquiere, QC - Place Nikitoutagen
July 11 Krakow, Poland - Knock Out Festival
July 12 Vizovice, Czech Rep. - Masters Of Rock Festival
July 25 Lorca, Spain - Lorca Rock
August 14 Oulu, Finland - Jalometalli Metal Music Festival
August 15 Dinkelsbuhl, Germany - Summer Breeze Festival
August 28 Bergen, Norway - Hole In The Sky