VOIVOD Frontman On Winning JUNO AWARD For 'The Wake' Album: 'It Was Something Else'

VOIVOD frontman Denis "Snake" Belanger spoke to Metal Express Radio about being honored with a Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Award) in the "Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year" category. VOIVOD won the award for its latest album, "The Wake", which was released in September 2018 via Century Media Records. The disc was recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Recording Studio in Canada. The album's artwork was once again created by VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin.

Belanger described the experience of landing a Juno Award as "something else." He explained (hear audio below): "'Cause we're not used to those kind of reception and stuff like that. It was quite surprising, but in a sense, in the other way, I thought it was well deserved, because we've been doing it for 36 years now, and I think the whole industry in Canada wanted to recognize that effort over the years. And, of course, 'The Wake' album, they had no choice [but] to put us somewhere, because the reviews were so good and we had such a killer album that they had to do something. And also because of the career that we had, the long stretch of work, they wanted to give us a sign that [it wasn't going unnoticed]."

The rest of this year's "Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year" nominees were BEYOND CREATION ("Algorythm"; Season Of Mist),CANCER BATS ("The Spark That Moves"; New Damage),KEN MODE ("Loved"; New Damage) and KOBRA AND THE LOTUS ("Prevail II", Napalm).

Artists who released albums between September 1, 2017 and November 9, 2018 were eligible for nominations.

To be eligible for a Juno Award, musicians must be Canadian citizens. This is defined by CARAS as 50 percent or more of group members holding Canadian birth certificates, passports or are Canadian Permanent Resident(s) with residency in Canada during the last six months of the eligibility period.