VOIVOD's long-awaited official documentary 'We Are Connected' to premiere at festivals this summer
07-03-2024
Canadian prog-metal band VOIVOD have launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help them finance their official documentary film.
From unlikely origins in northern Québec at the height of the Cold War, VOIVOD‘s post-apocalyptic sci-fi aesthetic fueled by a youthful obsession with their instruments took them from underground success to sharing tours and stages with IRON MAIDEN, RUSH and METALLICA. There were, of course, 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.
VOIVOD has joined forces with metal film director Felipe Belalcázar to make the band’s official documentary, “We Are Connected”.
VOIVOD states: “Our latest Kickstarter campaign is aimed at bringing the epic story of VOIVOD to the big screen with a theatrical cut set to premiere at festivals and events this summer. Thanks to your unwavering support, we’ve finished filming and editing, and now, we’re diving deep into post-production to create a masterpiece worthy of Voivodians across the globe.
“But that’s not all – as a token of our gratitude, we’re offering limited-run, premium T-shirts, each featuring unique artwork by the legendary Away, in collaboration with Felipe.
– Chewy‘s Shirt: A rare ink drawing from ‘The Outer Limits’ era in 1993, previously unseen and now brought to life.
– Snake and Rocky‘s Shirt: A 2002 ink masterpiece featured in the booklet of the self-titled 2003 album.
– Away‘s Shirt: The iconic Mercury symbol, inked in 1997 for the ‘Phobos’ booklet.
“By backing our campaign, you’re not just helping us cross the finish line for the documentary; you’re securing a piece of VOIVOD lore for yourself. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to wear your VOIVOD pride and be a part of music history.”
Belalcázar has a proven record of delivering quality productions to millions of metal fans around the world, most recently the critically acclaimed Chuck Schuldiner documentary “Death By Metal”.
VOIVOD celebrated 40 eventful years of existence in 2023 with a special anniversary studio album titled “Morgöth Tales”, which was released on July 21 via Century Media Records. The LP’s last released single is “Fix My Heart (2023 Version)”, accompanied by a video directed by Above The Void.
Watch “Fix My Heart (2023 Version)” below.
VOIVOD guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain comments on the new single: “It’s always the highlight of our live show when the audience claps with big smiles all round. To me it’s about keeping hope and focus towards a better future, moving on, leaving the past behind and exploring new worlds within. ‘I’m not afraid to live’.”
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 drummer Michel “Away” Langevin commented: “‘Morgöth Tales’ covers 40 years of space exploration.
“It was really exciting for us to revisit a more obscure part of the VOIVOD catalogue, from thrash-punk to prog-metal.
“The title track is a new song, which we started writing on the tour bus and hotels during the OPETH European tour in November/December 2022. It has the vibe of the experimental music we are doing nowadays, with a new twist I think. We also had the great thrill of getting Eric (Forrest) and Jason (Newsted) involved on this album.
“I hope you’ll dig it. Chewy, Rocky, Snake and I certainly had a blast recording it. All aboard and ready for take-off!”
“Morgöth Tales” track listing:
01. Condemned To The Gallows(2023 Version) (originally on “Metal Massacre V” compilation, 1984)
02. Thrashing Rage (2023 Version) (originally on “Rrröööaaarrr”, 1986)
03. Killing Technology (2023 Version) (originally on “Killing Technology”, 1987)
04. Macrosolutions To Megaproblems (2023 Version) (originally on “Dimension Hatröss”, 1988)
05. Pre-Ignition (2023 Version) (originally on “Nothingface”, 1989)
06. Nuage Fractal (2023 Version) (originally on “Angel Rat”, 1991)
07. Fix My Heart (2023 Version) (originally on “The Outer Limits”, 1993)
08. Rise (2023 Version, feat. Eric Forrest) (originally on “Phobos”, 1997)
09. Rebel Robot (2023 Version, feat. Jason Newsted) (originally on “Voivod”, 2003)
10. Morgöth Tales (New Song)
Snake previously spoke about “Morgöth Tales” in a recent interview with Agoraphobic News. He said: “It was a really fun thing to do. It was like a time capsule, going back in time to revisit these old songs, especially one in particular, which was first song we ever recorded (‘Condemned To The Gallows’); that was for ‘Metal Massacre V’ (1984) on Metal Blade Records back in the day, before our first album. And the funny thing about it was there was no lyric sheet in the compilation itself. It was us, including many other bands. And the way it was recorded, it was really hard to figure out the lyrics; I couldn’t remember what I was singing. So we’re looking everywhere on the Internet, if someone has it or whatever. And it was nowhere to be found. And then I said to myself, ‘Maybe mom has it in the attic somewhere.’ And then I called my sister: ‘Can you check at mom’s place? Maybe she put it somewhere.’ And she went, and my mom classified — everything is in order with mom. And she was, like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I have it. File number six.’ And then she pulls out the only copy of the lyrics in the world of that song.’ And we were, like, ‘Yeah!’ ‘Cause music for the song was already recorded. And we were, like, ‘Oh my God. What are we gonna do?'”
Circling back to the upcoming 40th-anniversary album, Snake said that it will contain a song “not from every album, but mostly the period from ‘Rrröööaaarrr’, ‘Killing Technology’, ‘Dimension Hatröss’, ‘Nothingface’; we revisit one song from each album. And it’s in a chronological order. So it’s very fun. It was fun to do.”
He added: “It was really — like I said — like a time capsule, going back. And I’m trying to sing these songs like I used to.”
VOIVOD‘s 15th studio album, “Synchro Anarchy”, was released in February 2022 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2018’s “The Wake” was produced by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio and features cover artwork created by drummer Michel Langevin (a.k.a. Away).
VOIVOD – Europe Tour:June 14, 2023 – Amersfoort (The Netherlands) – FlourJune 15, 2023 – Wasquehal / Lille (France) – The Black LabJune 17, 2023 – Clisson (France) – HellfestJune 18, 2023 – Dessel (Belgium) – Graspop Metal MeetingJune 22-24, 2023 – Oslo (Norway) – Tons of Rock Festival
Aug. 3-5, 2023 – Wacken (Germany) – Wacken Open Air
Aug. 9, 2023 Stockholm (Sweden) – Nalen Klubb
Aug. 11-12, 2023 – Helsinki (Finland) – Helsinki Metal Festival
Other VOIVOD dates for 2023:
July 13, 2023 – Trois Rivieres, QC (Canada) – Expo Agricole de Trois-Rivières
Sept. 8-10, 2023 – São Paulo (Brazil) – Septembro Negro Festival
Sept. 15, 2023 – Quebec City, QC (Canada) – Envol et Macadam Festival
Sept. 22, 2023 – Gaspé, QC (Canada) – Centre de Création Diffusion de Gaspé
Sept. 23, 2023 – Rimouski, QC (Canada) – Salle Desjardins-Telus
And more international dates to be announced soon…
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