Two nights only (Jan 29-30, 2025) at the world famous Place Des Arts Centre (Wilfrid Pelletier Hall), It's Voivod meets The Montreal Symphony Orchestra for the first time, conducted by Dina Gilbert. It's Progressive Thrash, meets Class. Today we talk opening night.
Review and Photo's By Jimmy Kay for The Metal Voice
Unless stated otherwise
Voivod, hailing from Jonquière, Quebec 43 years ago now based in Greater Montreal, with the present line-up consisting of guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (2008–present), bassist Dominic "Rocky" Laroche (2014–present) and co-founders vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger and, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin. The band found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album Nothingface (1989). However nothing has stopped this band's upwards global momentum in the past decade and a testament to this are accolades such as the band winning the "Visionary" award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. In 2019, Voivod's fourteenth studio album, The Wake, winning the Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year and in 2023 another Juno for Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year' Category For 'Synchro Anarchy'
The band musically has never stopped evolving, changing and mutating, always putting the band musical challenges first and foremost and their fans joining them on their ride. The constant pivoting of the band also led them premiering their long anticipated documentary last year entitled WE ARE CONNECTED at the Fantasia Festival documenting the band's journey to the present times. (more to come on that)
So this is where we are today, Voivod taking on yet another musical challenge of fusing their world, with the classical world.
I will be honest when the idea came out that Vovoid would do a symphonic performance I may have paused for a second saying, wha?? But as the idea settled it all seemed so clear, welcoming and exciting. The band's music may sound punky, alternative and thrashy to the layman but when you peel away the layers of Voivod music the core is intricate, progressive, epic and precise. Which is exactly what Classical music is as well.
Classical music and rock/ hard rock/metal does have a long history together from sixties to early seventies with the Beatles, The Doors, Deep Purple, the Moody Blues to the new millennium with Metallica, Blind Guardian and Kiss. So Symphonic Voivod makes perfect sense in 2025.
On with the show. The band performed to a packed Wilfrid Pelletier theater (1700 plus) with a 70 plus piece orchestra. No moshing from the audience but you can see the metalheads in the audience doing these tiny headbanging gestures locked into their hypercubes. To add to the audience's senses there was also a huge back screen, displaying spectacular space-like themed video throughout the whole performance derived from drummer Away's brilliant Artwork. The background video fit in so perfectly into the whole presentation. Huge congrats.
Side note, when you walk into the music hall you are given a wonderful designed booklet (tonight's menu, program) with credits, interviews and all the people involved.
Back to the show. Voivod's bassist Rocky and drummer Away were the backbone to last night's performance they were both locked in keeping it all together between orchestra and metal, no easy feat. Watching Away side stage left was a show on it's own, watching him play with feel and technique was jaw dropping and which goes to show you, drummers don't need a double bass to be considered A class.
A nod to guitarist Chewy who was the point man pre-show, who helped create the blueprint in morphing the band into a symphonic sound and his guitar work on stage truly showed he is easily in the top 10 class of today's metal guitarist, in the world. Singer Snake also rose to the occasion and delivered a top notch vocal performance with the added pressure of delivering the goods without hiding behind the typical guitar distortion frequencies as he is accustomed too. Meanwhile conductor Dina Gilbert did an extraordinary job in keeping it all together getting the best out of her symphonic squad and making it all jell. You could feel and see her enthusiasm as she bopped up and down to the heaviness. She may have been headbanging for a few moments. (just saying)
The shows was about 70 minutes long and the whole setlist was brilliant and covered pretty much the whole spectrum of the Voivod Catalog including some deeper cuts. But here are some of my favorite moments.
'The End of Dormancy' the Chewy era (The Wake 2018) which Voivod performed at the Jazz fest a few years back. At the Jazz fest the song was a great uplift but the MSO (Montreal Symphonic Orchestra) version brought this song to yet another level. It was heavy thumping big brassy jazzy metal.
Tribal Convictions (Dimension Hatröss 1988) and Nuclear War (War and Pain) going old school, two of the bands classic more metal songs. A flawless delivery as the MSO punctuated the thrash moments in all the right places. And the background video enhancing the brutality. It felt like a grandiose war scene in a movie of some sort.
Forgotten in Space (Killing Technology 1987) when you listen to the original song pre-symphony you don't even stop to consider it would make the prefect choice as it is thrashy punky and heavy but it worked. Once again the orchestra punctuating and adding more of a dynamic intensity to the song.
And of course the bands go to closer, their classic 80's Hit cover of Pink Floyd Astronomy Domine (Nothingface 1989). The song meshed perfectly with the orchestra bringing out even a more of the already spacy feel which brought the audience to their feet.
My final thoughts on the experience, let me use a cliche IT WAS OFF THE CHARTS. SENSORY OVERLOAD. Metallica and Kiss symphonic performances do not even come close to what Voivod has done here. Voivod has set the bar very high. The work and care that was put behind the music, the orchestration and the visual effects truly blows one's mind and should win some of award for this...if there are any.
My advice, you need to put away the smartphone for the night and enjoy. This show is a must and cannot be missed if you love Voivod and or Symphonic Rock you must witness.
Set list
This is a once in a lifetime moment, last chance Jan 30, 2025.
Buy tickets here, two night only
Chewy doing a live shout out from Place Des Arts
Interview Here on The Metal Voice
Regarding how the collaboration with the Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal came about, VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin told The Metal Voice: "Oh my God, I think we've been dreaming about that forever. But it came through a strange chain of circumstances, where I did an interview for the magazine L'Itinéraire, for homeless people selling magazines on the street, and then I did an interview with one of the journalists for the magazine, and it ended up being published online by La Presse. And then the people directing the orchestra, the organization, they were made aware of that by one of the musicians from the orchestra, which is a metal dude and he's a fan."
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