VOIVOD
Eric
Forrest - vocals / bass
Denis d'Amour - guitar
Michel Langevin - drums
After
15 years of history and no less than nine studio albums,
something was still missing in VOIVOD's eventful career:
the band have long realized how difficult it is to
convey the real energy of the band in a studio context.
Apart from an obscure single (recorded live at the
Roxy in L.A. in 1993) and four songs recorded in Berlin,
1995, that were finally released on the Kronic album
in 1998 (which also featured three remixes by Foetus,
DJ Acucrack and Haig Vatzbedian from Bran van 3000)
they never had a chance to properly document their
legendary live-performance and not only capture their
intensity and their well-rounded set list, but also
preserve such a show for future generations. Being
the thoughtful and forward-thinking band VOIVOD have
been since their very beginning, the decision where
to record the diverse tracks on VOIVOD Lives was not
only based on the fact that both venues offered professional
recording facilities, but also due to the legendary
status of both the CBGB's club and the Dynamo Open
Air festival. Furthermore, the band wanted to show
two very different aspects of a live situation: the
first within the intimate and yet seedy environs of
a tiny New York punk club, and the second outdoors
in liberal Holland in front of thousands of happy
festival-goers (opening for the godfathers of extreme
metal, Venom, who had as much inspiration on the bands
initial sound as early Motorhead. Sure the selection
of the songs will be subject to discussion and argument
amongst their fans, but each track on VOIVOD Lives
was carefully chosen according to performance and
to help display the undeniable diversity of VOIVOD's
numerous albums. Unfortunately all of the tracks recorded
during a show in Kraliky, Czech Republic (short before
the dramatic car-crash in the summer of 1998), whose
existence was spread via the Internet, were ruined
by the bass-drum microphone overloading the leaking
onto all other tracks. For their final track, they
pay tribute to their all-time faves Venom by covering
their classic tune "In League with Satan"
which more than once has been the closing number to
a successful VOIVOD performance, perfectly ending
their set with everybody cheering and singing along.
Is there a better way to bear witness to the uniqueness
of this French-Canadian space metal institution?
