Reunion with Snake, arrival of Jasonic, and death of Piggy (2001–2006) After Eric Forrest left the band, his insurance company attempted to sue the band for the injuries he sustained in the crash, as he was in the care of the band at the time. Forrest was seriously injured in a car accident in Germany in 1998, and that incarnation of Voivod never regained the momentum they lost during his rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the band recorded four albums as a trio in the mid-to-late 1990s with new member Eric Forrest, nicknamed "E-Force", handling both vocals and bass guitar. Jean-Yves co-founded The Holy Body Tattoo an avant-garde modern dance company based in Vancouver BC and also wrote extensively all the music for it, as well as other electronic music projects, while Denis Belanger isolated himself and eventually started a new project, Union Made. Two of the four founding members (bassist Jean-Yves Thériault and vocalist Denis Bélanger) left Voivod in the early 1990s. Departures of Blacky and Snake, and Eric Forrest-era (1991–2000) Albums like Dimension Hatröss are dominated by unexpected time signatures and both Piggy and Blacky's liberal use of dissonant, unconventional minor chords. Much of the band's sound comes from guitarist Piggy's use of dissonant chords, usually played in the high register of the guitar, combined with Blacky's bass tone and chords as well, used extensively on Nothingface. Other covers include Pink Floyd's " The Nile Song" on their 1993 album The Outer Limits and " 21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson on Phobos. Voivod was one of the first thrash bands from Canada to gain popularity outside of their country's borders, reaching the peak of their global popularity with the 1989 album Nothingface which featured a cover version of Pink Floyd's " Astronomy Domine". Drawing more heavily on hardcore punk than metal influences by this point, Voivod began evolving without the aid of increasing speed and storytelling on the following Dimension Hatross. Killing Technology (1987) began the band's evolution in earnest, with the character from Voivod's album covers (drawn by drummer Away and named "Korgull" on 1986's Rrröööaaarrr) significantly being depicted in a spaceship. Influenced equally by the new wave of British heavy metal, the burgeoning hardcore punk scene and 1970s progressive rock, Voivod forged a distinctive brand of heavy music that often relied on lyrical themes such as Reagan-era Cold War politics, post-apocalyptic literature and science fiction. Voivod was formed in 1982 in Jonquière, Quebec. From left to right: Away, Piggy, Blacky and Snake. The original Voivod line-up in a 1986 promotional photo. Voivod's most recent studio album, Synchro Anarchy, was released in February 2022. In 2019, Voivod's fourteenth studio album, The Wake, won the Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year. The band won the "Visionary" award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. The band found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album Nothingface (1989), which is Voivod's only album to enter the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 114. Since 1982, when it was co-founded by guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, Voivod have released fifteen studio albums, as well as one EP, one live album, two compilations, seven demos and one DVD featuring a live concert. Voivod is also credited as one of the "big four" Canadian thrash metal bands, along with Sacrifice, Razor and Annihilator, and they have been credited for helping pioneer the subgenre of "technical thrash metal". 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. Voivod's musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. Their current line-up includes Langevin, Bélanger, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (guitar) and Dominic "Rocky" Laroche (bass). The band has had numerous members changes throughout its 41-year career, with Langevin as the only consistent member. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger, guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin and bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault. Voivod is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec (now Saguenay, Quebec).
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