VOIVOD: First 'Optical Vortex' Episode Released

Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD have released the first in a series of webisodes, dubbed "Optical Vortex", in which they update their fans on the band's current and upcoming activities. In the first webisode, which can be seen below, VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin reveals that the group is expecting to enter the studio in January to begin recording its new album for a tentative summer release. He also talks about the upcoming release of VOIVOD's original 1984 demo tape, "To The Death 84", and the band's appearance at the 17th edition of the Roadburn festival on Friday, April 13, 2012 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland where VOIVOD will perform its classic "Dimension Hatrss" album in its entirety as part of the band's special headline show during the Au-del du Rel event.

VOIVOD's follow-up to 2009's "Infini" will contain the band's first music to be written with new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (MARTYR) following the passing of original axeman Denis "Piggy" D'Amour in 2005.

According to a posting on the VOIVOD Facebook page, fans can "expect something in the vein of 'Nothingface' with some elements from the other albums. It will be a classic VOIVOD album."

Regarding what the new VOIVOD songs sound like, Mongrain said in a recent interview, "As a VOIVOD fan since I am 12 years old and early rise of VOIVOD in late '80s and everything, I think I'm in conflict of interest right now. [Laughs] I like the old stuff as much as the new stuff, so I think it's a blend of everything. It's really a team work and Blacky [Jean-Yves Thriault] is back on the 'blower bass' he's got the original sound and we're having a blast jamming, improvising and writing. I think it's working pretty good."

On the topic of the lyrical themes covered in the new VOIVOD tracks, singer Denis "Snake" Blanger said, "The song we played [on the recent European tour] ['Kaleidos'] is about conspiracy involving drugs and the FBI [Laughs] It's hard to describe because we're kind of early in the process. There's another song called 'Target Earth', which is more like a spacy, conspiracy, controlling the information around the world. The main thing is the 'war' of information. You know, somebody Osama Bin Laden is dead, someone [else] says he's not It gets to a point where everybody has his own story and nobody is sure what the truth is. There's people above everything controlling the information."

In a recent interview with Exclaim.ca, Away stated about VOIVOD's forthcoming studio album, "It's more in the progressive metal vein, so it's reminiscent of the 'Dimension Hatrss' era."

On the topic of the new VOIVOD live album, "Warriors Of Ice", featuring three-fourths of the band's classic lineup Langevin, bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thriault and vocalist Denis "Snake" Blanger along with Mongrain, Away said, "I feel like it's an achievement because there was a point where we weren't sure if there was going to be a new VOIVOD album. It's not a studio album but still something we're very proud of. It's good vintage VOIVOD. . . There was never really a live album with Snake and Blacky since the one before was us as a trio with [ex-bassist/vocalist] Eric Forrest. So, yeah, it's refreshing to have an album with almost the original lineup involved."

VOIVOD 2011 is:

Denis "Snake" Blanger - Vocals
Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain - Guitar
Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thriault - Bass
Michel "Away" Langevin - Drums