Voivod formed in Jonquière, Quebec, in 1982 and started out as a speed metal act. Over the following decade the Voivod band moved well beyond that start: AllMusic’s biography describes thrash crossed with dissonant progressive rock, shifting time signatures and home-made sound effects, all wrapped in science-fiction concepts. This guide follows the Canadians from their first Metal Blade album to the records of the last few years.

The short version

The founding line-up was singer Denis “Snake” Bélanger, guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour, bassist Jean-Yves “Blacky” Thériault and drummer Michel “Away” Langevin. Their debut “War and Pain” came out on Metal Blade in 1984, and three albums for Noise Records followed between 1986 and 1988. A deal with Mechanic/MCA brought “Nothingface” (1989), which became their most successful release. The 1990s brought line-up changes and a trio phase; in the 2000s the band regrouped with Jason Newsted, formerly of Metallica, on bass. Langevin, who also draws the band’s artwork, is the only member to have played in every line-up, and the most recent studio album in this guide is “Synchro Anarchy” (2022).

Jonquière, 1982: from speed metal to Korgull

Wikipedia traces the band’s early influences to three very different places: the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, hardcore punk and the progressive rock of the 1970s. Their lyrics drew on Cold War politics, post-apocalyptic fiction and science fiction. “War and Pain” was recorded in June 1984 at a studio in Laterrière, now part of Saguenay, and released by Metal Blade that September. “Rrröööaaarrr” followed on Noise in March 1986; AllMusic’s Greg Prato hears it as faster and more Slayer-like than the debut, and a step backwards rather than forwards.

The change began with “Killing Technology” (April 1987), which Wikipedia describes as the first Voivod record to bring progressive rock elements into their thrash. Like its successor, it was recorded at Music Lab in West Berlin. “Dimension Hatröss” (June 1988) is a concept album built around the band’s mascot, the cyborg Korgull, drawn by Langevin. Prato considers it their first fully realised album, and Wikipedia notes that Rolling Stone placed it at No. 78 in a 2017 ranking of metal albums.

Nothingface and the major-label years

“Nothingface”, released on 13 October 1989, was their first album for Mechanic/MCA. It includes a cover of Syd Barrett’s “Astronomy Domine” from Pink Floyd’s debut, and according to AllMusic the band toured it alongside Soundgarden and Faith No More. Prato’s review calls it “arguably the best of the Denis Belanger-era Voivod albums” and, per Wikipedia, Loudwire later ranked it among the top progressive metal albums of all time.

“Angel Rat” (November 1991) moved in another direction. Wikipedia describes a more alternative metal sound than before, and AllMusic’s Thom Jurek counts it among their most misunderstood records. By then Thériault had left. “The Outer Limits” (1993) was made with session bassist Pierre St-Jean; it covers Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song” and contains “Jack Luminous”, which runs 17 minutes 26 seconds on the original MCA CD and is the band’s longest track.

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Album by album

Fifteen studio albums, from “War and Pain” (1984) to “Synchro Anarchy” (2022). “Morgöth Tales” (2023), a set of re-recorded older songs, is not part of this list. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

Michel Langevin is the constant: drummer on every album and the artist behind the covers. Bélanger left after “The Outer Limits”, and Eric Forrest took over vocals and bass for the trio records “Negatron” (1995) and “Phobos” (1997), the second of which closes with a cover of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man”. Forrest’s time in the band ended in 2001. After a brief split that year, Bélanger returned, and Jason Newsted, credited as Jasonic, joined on bass in 2002 and played on “Voivod” (2003).

Denis D’Amour died in 2005. “Katorz” (2006) and “Infini” (2009), both with Newsted on bass, were completed around guitar parts D’Amour had already recorded. Thériault was back in the band by 2008, and Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain was playing guitar with them that year; “Target Earth” (2013) is Mongrain’s first studio album with Voivod. Thériault left again in 2014 and Dominique “Rocky” Laroche took over the bass. The line-up of Bélanger, Mongrain, Laroche and Langevin recorded both “The Wake” (2018) and “Synchro Anarchy”.

Where to start

Start with “Nothingface” (1989): in AllMusic’s words their most commercially successful record, the one with the Pink Floyd cover, and the album Prato recommends to listeners of heavy metal or progressive rock alike. Then go back one step to “Dimension Hatröss” (1988), the Korgull concept album that Prato sees as the point where the band came fully into focus.

For the modern Voivod, try “The Wake” (2018), a concept album that won Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year at the 2019 Juno Awards. Jurek’s AllMusic review hears the thrash and punk roots still in place, now joined by ideas taken from modern classical composers.

Why they matter

Wikipedia counts Voivod among the bands that laid the ground for technical thrash, alongside Coroner, Watchtower and Mekong Delta, and lists Tool, Meshuggah, Mastodon and Soundgarden among the acts that have cited them as an influence. Their reach shows in the awards too: “The Wake” and “Synchro Anarchy” both won the Juno for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year, and the band received the Visionary award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. In 2018 Loudwire, as reported on Wikipedia, described them as the leading space metal band of the day.

More than forty years on they are still finding new settings: in June 2026 they released “Symphonique”, a live album recorded with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. I cover the North American side of this story in my book Beyond the Atlantic.

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