AWAY Says VOIVOD's Long-Awaited Official Documentary Is 'Almost Done'

In a new interview with Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice, VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin spoke about the status of the band's long-awaited official documentary. Tentatively titled "We Are Connected", the film will cover VOIVOD's history from unlikely origins in northern Québec at the height of the Cold War to underground success to sharing tours and stages with IRON MAIDEN, RUSH and METALLICA. Included in the documentary will be high and lows throughout those 40 years, from major-label support and Billboard recognition to seismic lineup changes and an event many critics claimed to be the end of VOIVOD: the death of co-founding guitarist and composer Dennis "Piggy" D'Amour.

Asked why it was necessary for him and his bandmates to recently launch another Kickstarter campaign to help them finance the film, which is being helmed by director Felipe Belalcázar, Away said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "First of all, it's been in the works for quite a while. It's tens of thousands of dollars to make a movie. We had a very successful first Kickstarter that allowed us to move forward a lot. And now we're trying to have a cut for the summer festivals. The version for the physical release will be longer, but we're trying right now to do an edit for the summer fests, and we want to have it ready for the summer, basically. And it's only the last stretch where Felipe is doing some animation with my art and adjusting colors. It's the final stages, but we do need some money to finish it up since it's been a self-produced project."

When Kay asked Away if the film has already been edited, Away said: "Well, there's some stuff to be added still, but it's almost done. It's just that, again, we really wanted to have a cut made for the festivals — mainly heavy metal festivals for now, that are interested in showing it at their festival. For a theater release, we'll see what happens, but there will definitely be a physical release eventually with bonus material and et cetera."

Regarding why it has taken so long to put the documentary together, Away said: "It first started when Piggy passed in 2005, where we had the idea of doing some documentary, mainly to honor him. And so, when Piggy passed, we were like maybe two or three years without doing any touring. At this point, Snake, [then-VOIVOD bassist] Jason Newsted and I were on a mission to finish the two albums we had started in 2004. And so it gave me some time to gather the archives and put it into digital format. When we reformed for the Heavy Montreal festival in 2008, we just went on tour forever. And so everything was sort of put aside for a long time. And then, it must be about seven or eight years ago when Felipe got in touch with me. He really wanted to do that movie, and he sent me the DVD of the documentary he had done about the band DEATH, 'Death By Metal'. And I was really amazed. It's a bit like a Ken Burns documentary vibe where, if he's missing some archives, he will do a pan or a zoom on an old photo so the visual keeps moving. And I really liked that documentary, and I was convinced he could do something great for VOIVOD. So we started working on this. And, of course, his travels were cut short by the pandemic. But it's a period that it gave me the opportunity, since VOIVOD was not touring, it gave me the opportunity to gather even more archives and put them into digital format. So, now after all these years, it's almost done. [Laughs]. The last mile. [Laughs]"

Back in 2006, it was reported that VOIVOD had recruited Canadian documentarian Sam Dunn to helm the band's documentary after he interviewed members of VOIVOD for his "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" movie.

"It was a real honor to be asked, and we've already started shooting," Dunn said at the time. "The documentary is going to be about Piggy's life and the making of the new record and how those are tied together."

After VOIVOD's collaboration with Dunn failed to materialize for reasons that are not clear, the band recruited Belalcázar, who has a proven record of delivering quality productions to millions of metal fans around the world, most recently the aforementioned critically acclaimed Chuck Schuldiner documentary "Death By Metal".

VOIVOD has just completed a North American tour with PRONG.

VOIVOD has been touring in support of its latest album, "Morgöth Tales", which was released via Century Media, The Orchard and Sony Music.

The band's 2022 release, "Synchro Anarchy", garnered significant acclaim, winning the 2023 Juno Award for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Album" in Canada.

Once more recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by VOIVOD, "Morgöth Tales" includes fresh studio re-recordings by the band's current lineup of nine especially selected, not-so-obvious picks from the band's hyper-classy and extremely diverse back catalogue (between 1984 and 2003) as well as a brand-new song and the album's title track, "Morgöth Tales".

VOIVOD is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. Starting out as a speed metal band, VOIVOD have added a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style, and are credited as one of the "big four" Canadian thrash metal bands, along with SACRIFICE, RAZOR and ANNIHILATOR. They are considered by many as one of the most influential metal bands from the '80s, influencing and gaining praise from multiple bands and across numerous genres.

VOIVOD found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album, "Nothingface" (1989),which is the band's only album to enter The Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 114.