Omg, yes! Those two are my favorites. It’s hard to say which band I like more - fucking Coroner with No More Color!! My god, what a fantastic album! And Punishment for Decandence.... then Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross and Nothingface....all classic albums! Two VERY good bands!
Voi Vod was like nobody else ever. Bought the first record ( War and Pain) when it was released, and me and my friends thought it was straight up metal noise. It was the HEAVIEST thing we ever heard. U gotta remember this was like 85 or something. They made Slayer and Venom sound tame. Then they turned hard left into weird , proto-math/sci-fi metal. Crazy band. Even to this day they are completely original. That's saying something after 30 years.
colin poitras absolutely! I bought the album for the cover alone when I saw it and I never would've thought they would be the most important metal band in my life for over 30 hrs now! and just saw them last year in NYC!!! TO THE DEATH FOREVER!!!!!!!!
Dude when I was getting into metal I got War And Pain and I did NOT dig all of it at the time. Only dug like a few songs and the rest was too much for me. It's a band that has to grow on a lot of people I think. Now I fucking LOVE Voivod and just saw em for the second time at MDF yesterday and WHEW
When I was 16 my sister drove my car for awhile and I left the Killing Technology tape in the car and she asked me "who are those guys, they're awesome!" I told her that it was Voivod but it was so weird because she listened to the Pixies, Sugarcubes, Nine Inch Nails... stuff like that. Voivod really did attract just about every type of listener.
The Wake is such a masterpiece of an album. Voivod is truly an incredible band. As amazing as Piggy was, it seems his soul resides in Chewy (Dan Mongrain). The band is every bit as strong today as they ever were, if not stronger. I’m looking forward to the live streams coming up in May and June. Long live Voivod!!
I love Voivod so much. I got Dimension Hatross on cassette when I was in high school and had to grab all their albums over the years. It's cool to see Dave Grohl speak on them like this. Voivod are overall one of the most underrated bands in history. Heavy, creative, interesting, and unusual without being annoying. What's not to like?
I'm in total agreement with Dave here. The best thing about Voivod is that they didn't have one definite style that they emulate again and again, but instead they uncovered a new style in every new record. And the gas mask performance is just brilliantly savage as well.
When Blackie left I got the contact number with Voivod’s management and got a buddy of mine an audition in Montreal. He asked me to go along for the drive so we made plans to spend the night at cheap motel and hit a few bars. The guys from the band were so laid back and friendly thru the audition process and we were blown away when they asked us what we were gonna do afterwards and if we wanted to hang out and grab some beers! It was probably nothing to them but to us it was the chance to hang out with legends! Easily 3 of the nicest guys I’ve ever met! On a side note, Piggy had one of the wildest effects set ups I’ve ever seen. Most of it was old stomp boxes that he tweaked to his own preference. It looked like a chaotic mess but sounded AMAZING! Great memories!
i'm Canadian & it sent chills down my spine to have Dave Grohl talking about my Canadian cohorts Voivod. I grew up with Canadian bands such as Voivod,Sacrifice,Annihilator,Exciter,Dayglo Abortions,Monster Voodoo Machine,Anvil,Razor,but i always came back to Voivod.When i was in high school in the early 90's we were tape trading & we had this kid come from New York that moved to our hick small town of St.Marys,Ontario & he brought his D.R.I. & M.O.D. with him & he gave me those tapes &I handed him my Voivod & Sacrifice tapes & he came back to school the next day with this HUGE SMILE on his face & was blown away because he said check out D.R.I. & M.O.D. man you'll love em which i did but i was like check out Voivod & Sacrifice but Voivod will blow your american nuts off lol & he was hooked.
Canadian also. I remember MuchMusic played Psychic Vacuum all the time when I was a kid. Freaked me out and I couldn't look away. Brilliant band. Also, there was a band called Jesus Christ (choice of name probably killed them) that made me think of an angry Alice in Chains...their one album has a lethal cover of Ace of Spades.
I think Dimension Hatross and Nothingface are more developed/mature/technical. But Killing Technology is one of the easiest to get into and one of the best thrash albums ever
Just saw Voivoid for the second time at their 40th anniversary tour. Still amazing and an absolute killer of a set. Recommend people see them on the tour.
This is why I love Dave. He has no shame of his love for metal. So many people who once loved metal pretended that they hated metal the second The Chilli Peppers and Jane's Addiction picked up steam.
Can anyone deny the fact that these guys were at the forefront of the mathcore sound? Their combination of thrashing metal riffs and changing tempos with off-kilter chording laid the foundation for later bands (Dillinger Escape Plan anyone?). Listening to them was like being trapped in a factory run by evil cyborgs...cold, hard and relentless! RIP Denis D'Amour.
This interview was conducted by Sam Dunn, he's the founder of another YT channel, BangerTV. He's a fantastic host, always asks great questions and then lets the subject get on with it, to quality results like this video here. Check out his channel for all things metal.
I remember when Dimension Hatröss was out. It blew off our minds and everybody loved it. Then on a german Metal-TV-Show two guys from Dokken commented on "Tribal Convictions" which was the promo video of Hatröss: "horrible" and they were giggling. 25 years later Dokken ended in smoke and Voivod is like a living Prog legend. Thats justice :)
Voivod was/is truly original in their sound. I always have loved bands that have this punk spirit and anger within their structure then somehow they become this progressive machine as they evolve. Voivod embodies this greater than almost any other band (even Tool) while still owning their original core.
I agree with Dave here, most people didn't quite get Voïvod when they came out in 84.I didn't at first either.War and Pain sounded like a nuclear aftermath and Rrroooaaarrr was even worse.The "space" came with KT and by the time of DH or Nothingface they were totally spaced out.That kind of progress in thrashmetal was pretty unknown in that era......Took me years to "get" their stuff and became a die hard fan eventually...
I saw Soundgarden open for Voivod. Don't remember the year Id guess 89'-91' somewhere around there. Voivod was on the Nothingface tour and Soundgarden was on Louder than Love. Both bands killed it but VoiVod was legendary. I think Prong also played. It was a club in Kansas City 'The Shadow'. Amazing show.
Old Goat the Antichrist I was there too! 90. The Shadow. Plaster coming down from the roof when Soundgarden played. Saw Ministry there too. Then it turned into Americas Pub. Blech. One if my most favorite concerts. We helped Voivod find a McDonalds.
In Seattle, Prong opened. Voivod smoked out the place so badly that you couldn't see the band during the first two songs. What a great show. Soundgarden was good but we were blown away by Voivod. This was at the Moore Theater in downtown Seattle.
@@PaulWildstar I was there. Great show! VOIVOD forever! Pity they never played Seattle for their Killing Technology or Dimension Hatross tours. A friend told me that when he went down to S.F. to see them on the Hatross tour, he asked the band, why they never came for those albums, and they said promoters weren't asking for them.
It's a tricky one to be honest. My favourite is typically the one I would be listening to at the moment... Sometimes it's DH, other times it's Nothing-Face or Angel Rat. The albums are so different, yet all so great. DH is made by a band which is definitely trying to create very aggressive sounds while at the same time creating song structures that are unheard of within metal (certainly at the time). N-F is the sound of a band removing a bit of the aggression and becoming more "direct" in their song approach. It also contains the best cover version of a song ever made. Angel Rat is what Blue Öyster Cult would have sounded like, had they gone for thrash metal... Speaking of which, I am sure Voivod could have made the perfect version of "Astronomy", just like they did with "Astronomy Domine".
I remember seeing them headline in 1989 with Soundgarden and Faith No More opening for them. Crazy show. You just don't see that type of diversity on a bill anymore. Small club. Perfect atmosphere. Once in a life time experience.
It's amazing that Dave could play with Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, and Paul McCartney, and he loves Voivod, Motorhead, Black Flag, etc... I saw the Voivod/Kreator tour in SF-Voivod was awesome. Right on Dave!
my instrumental band Removal did a 7" series featuring singers(and a subsequent itunes release). we were lucky enough to have Snake do one, he is too much.
I'm Canadian & so dam proud that Voivod is Canadian! But i still remember hearing Voivod for my first time in high school & being blown away & we were listening to great Canadian bands like Sacrifice,Annihilator,Razor,Monster Voodoo Machine,Lesser Known,Quo Vadis,Anvil,Killer Dwarfs but Voivod were in a class of their own from those bands.
Loved Voivod ever since I saw them along with Celtic Frost and Running Wild back in `86. Voivod sounded to me like Metal/Hardcore with King Crimson thrown in to the mix. Their version of Schizoid Man btw, is right on target.
This is so cool, I've got new respect for Dave G, VoiVod are so under rated (not that that's a bad thing) VoiVod are to good of a band for the masses to catch on . Thanks for that.
Never forget heard blower in 84 and I was floored couldn’t grasp what I was listening to just knew I wanted more. Those first five albums are Absolute chaos
Grohl is the superstar that has brought what we all loved and enjoyed in the early 80's. Real Metal the Incarnation of all that's very very heavy today. Probot brought credit to those bands that laid the groundwork and path. He needs to talk about Die Kreuzen from Milwaukee. Nirvana said the two cassette tapes they played in their tour van going to gigs was Celtic Frost and Die Kreuzen. Long Live Voivod!!!
It is always interesting hearing great artists talking bout the bands that influenced them. I feel you don't hear enough of that in band interviews. Voivod's first 5 albums were amazing, totally unique, technical thrash masterpieces. Never really cared for much of their stuff after the 80's. But them five albums are heavy metal gems !
J.J. Decay Interviewers ask those questions a lot, it's just that they don't always get answers this interesting. He's clearly very passionate about this, and I have to agree with his assessment of Voivod.
Massive respect to Dave Grohl for loving Voivod and his fan boy love of them. Certainly one of the most individual bands out there. I bought the vinyl of Killing Technology back in 87 based on a review in a music mag....such an important purchase for sure. And they are still doing it as The Wake is bloody awesome!
I'm in agreement with Dave. Voivod totally fucked with my head the first time I saw the video with the gas masks and the smoke covered stage, like some set from a future war. It was late on a summer night on some odd-numbered UHF station and I was like "what the fuck IS this"? It was quite an experience. Their tales of a bleak futuristic society ruled by cold hard technology have been with me ever since that fateful day.
When you see something totally awful and decadent, open your arms and let it sink in. It might be not so bad in the end. It actually opens your mind. As a good brain teaser. Voivod taught me this many many years ago.
As Dave mentions Piggy's death it is post 2007. I'm guessing late 2008 after the release of Katorz, which was created from some of the riffs he recorded before his death. Anyway, fantastic interview, and it's lovely to know Dave shares my adoration of this unique, unclassifiable band.
I remember when I first heard Voivod in 5th grade I was surprised by how musically talented the band was. Piggy’s guitar parts are insane to pull off. How he isn’t revered as one of the best guitarists is a crime
Voivod is a product of the town they grew up in - Jonquière, Québec. This is what Away saw from his bedroom window and what Piggy heard from his: farm6.staticflickr.com/5284/5202507245_040e5c4f38_b.jpg
I liked the more well known thrash bands in the 80s, and didn't really pay much attention to voivod, though I had heard of them. I have recently bought Rrroooaaarrr and KT and, to me, they did have that French thing going on where I think they considered themselves to be doing art rather than just music, and that's the key to understanding them. Rrroooaaarrr is actually a lot more focussed than you would think but Piggy also used punk style riffs as well as thrash riffs, that give it a chaotic aesthetic.
I was way into Voivod back in the day, saw them at least 3 times, including the NYC Ritz show w/Venom that Dave references. One thing that stuck me after I heard them was how huge they sounded with just a bass and guitar, truly a wall of sound.
My 1st Voivod show was during the RRROOOAAARRR!!! tour… They opened up for Celtic Frost and, although I’ve heard of them, I never heard them before. Absolutely blew my mind! 🤯 I made it my mission in high school to make sure Everyone heard this band!
Voi Vod one of a kind. Often forgotten which sucks. They were one of a kind and not imitated nor duplicated. I was a straight up thrash fan and really was drawn too them because it wasn't just speed and not satanic. I enjoyed their quick time signatures and it still sounds fresh,raw and exciting to this day. Great band. Thank you Sam for this interview.
I saw VoiVod with Violence in 86 or 7, I will never forget it! Piggy with that jagged cut up guitar, Aways drums were like thunder.. so cool to hear dave talk about them so fondly. They have always been one of my favorite bands.
I seen voivod open up for Celtic frost in Seattle wa back in 1984!!! Celtic was touring morbid tales and voivod I'm pretty sure was touring war in pain!!! One of if not one of the best gigs I've ever seen top 5 all time favorite gigs for me. I've been in bands and I've seen 1000s of bands live in my 55 years!!!
Around the time of it's release I bought the War and Pain cassette and was blown away, I played it often and I remember drawing the cover on a huge piece of bristol board in class, wish I still had it, Good times, loved this interview I feel the same way about VOIVOD!!!!
The only other band i can think of that was doing crazy Metal-Punk experimental stuff in the early/mid 80's was GISM from Japan, which is kind of sad since they never got much attention outside of japan until much much later on
Saw Voivod headline the World War III show in Montreal in '85, headlining after Celtic Frost, Destruction, Possessed and Nasty Savage. This was just a few months before Rroarr was released. They blew all the other bands away by a county mile and made everyone look like amateurs. It was fantastic.
Jack Luminus, and the entire Outer Limits album is phenomenal. I still have the 3D glasses. I got it after not listening to anything after Hatros, and considered it “new” VoiVod. We listened to in in the van on the way to job sites every day. It took a bit to warm up to it, but it became my #2 after Hatros.
2 things 1: I actually ran into Sam Dunn a few years ago in my hometown of Victoria BC which is his hometown with his kid and took a picture with him he was so nice. 2: Buddy of mine's dad auditioned for Voivod as a drummer.
Well, I will say that I cannot thank you enough. Most people thought I had some sort of learning disability or something... But I knew that those first four VOIVOD albums were pure genius. I've had the chance to met them over the years, and they are really great people.
Knew them from War and Pain in middle school, then sort of let them go until college when a friend ordered me to get Nothingface. They've been with me, a classical musician, ever since. They remind me of Bartok's string quartets, new sounds and a style all their own. The only show I saw was in 1990, in a high school gymnasium, with Soundgarden opening. Unforgettable.
Love Dimension Hatross! Had it on cassette back in high school in the 80s, and upgraded to CD not that long ago. They have a lot of solid albums but that is still my facorite one ever after all these years!
I was at that Venom show - it was at The Ritz. They recorded it for half of their 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusic' album. The next night, Carnivore swapped with them.
There just has to be something to the whole Canadian association with some of my favorite most unique strange badass creative music artists. Freaking Dave Brockie was from Canada and Voivod...Man Voivod is on another level. I don't think anyone I can think of in all the years since I got my first voivod album in 88 has done what they have musically. Like he says here it was punks, rockers, metal heads prog guys and just all sorts that would converge with this band. Actually back then my Minor Threat, Black Flag Skater friends were more accepting of my getting into Voivod then any of my other friends back then. Lot of my straight up Metallica, Megadeth friends just couldn't grasp what I was listening to or it was too Metal for some of them like a set of power tools getting tortured to death by too much power!
Colyn Emery donT forget nomeansno my favorite canadian band, the french-side of Canada have a lot of good musicians too, but the anglo-saxon don't like french music
True..my metalhead only friends just didn't get it so to this day I unfortunately only have 3 people I can discuss voivod with at a hardcore fans level..sad but true but thank God for the Facebook voivod pages and all the freaks around the world like us!!
Us Canucks love our Voivod. I first heard Ripping Headaches in 87 and when Tribal Convictions and Psychic Vacuum came out from Dimension Hatross I was hooked and I was only 11 or 12.
I totally agree. We saw Voivod live on 4th October and I told my friend: "I cannot even mention any band that is even remotely like Voivod." Amazing show. And they opened with 'Killing technology', which is one of their best songs from the album I like best. By the way, my favourite song is 'Forgotten in space' from the same record to this day.
Also, Obliveon - From This Day Forward, and if you want to get even wackier, Children - Hard Times Hangin' at the End of the World... ..But seriously: HAIL VEKTOR!!!! }8)