Here it is. I've no Italian language skills, so Babelfish helped me a little, plus italian is somewhat similar to portuguese, so I could do some adaptation. Any correction is appreciated!Here it is:
COMPLETE INTERVIEW ON "FLASH" 171 (APRIL 2003)
Voivod seems to have found again the scowl and the passion of their beginning... credit goes to Jason Newsted who, after the end of his experience with Metallica, wanted to join what always has been his favourite group!
Interview:
The last five years have been busy ones for you... The incident with Eric and your "nearly dissolution", then the rebirth of the band... Can we make a short brief on this difficult period?
(Langevin)"After 'Phobos' we have made lots of touring with frontman Eric in the band, we also did 'Kronik', a collection of b-side, unreleased songs, and live ones, these taken from a concert in Berlin during the 'Negatron' tour. The problems began while touring to 'Phobos': when in Germany we have had a terrible car accident in which Eric neared death. After a long rehabilitation, he returned to the group but, some time after, by the end of the tour, Eric decided to leave... at that point we were almost done as group. Then things began to change, we have re-established contacts with Snake, then after a short period of time, unexpectedly, he returned to the band. Soon after the rejoining of Snake I received a telephone call from Jason: one incredible coincidence! We talked about the problems that led him to finally leave Metallica, about how things were going, the return of Snake... and by the end of the conversation he offered himself to be our new bassist! From then on all the things have gone very well, the sessions with Jason, the tests, the recordings of the new album... and here we are back in track!".
Jason, what made you join Voivod?
(Newsted)"I have always admired their will to renew themselves, to make original music and really living the music they propose. Moreover, Michel has always intrigued me a lot also as person... I can listen to him for hours when he speaks about his dreams and his points of view on the world and music. We first met by the end of Eighties, in San Francisco, in a local concert. We knew each other for years, but we never had the possibility to talk personally. Before that, I first heard of them thanks to one of the boys at Metal Blade, who at the time produced a series of compilations entitled 'Metal Massacre', the very first recordings for both Metallica and Flotsam & Jetsam. Later on, Voivod and Flots remained in that same label and therefore a friendly rivalry arose among us. Later on, half the Nineties, Away and Piggy came to my studio, the Chophouse. At that occasion we began to play and to compose in more serious way and from then we made a promise to ourselves, to record something together".
In the past months it could be read both on the Internet and in the reviews about a return of yours to a more rock and direct sound, after the heavyness and experimentation of both "Negatron" and "Phobos"... I define "Voivod" as a heavier version of "Angel Rat", do you agree with that?
(Langevin)"Yes, that can be a good definition. It's not that I renounce the harder things on 'Negatron' or 'Phobos', but there were various factors that led us to return to the sound of 'Angel Rat'... Actually we didn't want to copy the atmosphere or the songs, we were just aiming for that same feeling. On the dynamic and 'direct' aspect from all the songs from 'Voivod', it must also be said that a lot of credit for it has to be given to Jason, his rude and distorted bass successfully gives heaviness and groove to every song... We are very enthusiastic about it!".
How do you deal with your classic experimental attitude, having now a renewed sense of melody and a will to be direct and "in your face"?
(Langevin)"It's an absolutely natural thing... I believe the secret is just not thinking of how to behave yourself in order to reach an objective of sorts, just let the music flow and leave the songs to adjust by themselves. Conjugating the hardness of metal with the melody of prog and the psychedelia always has been our main attempt; the single fact that in our career we have recorded covers of King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Venom (respectively "21st Century Schizoid Man", "Astronomy Domine" and "In League With Satan"), testifies the musical importance of these three aspects in the sound of Voivod. When we were teenagers we listened to Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols, but also Van Der Graaf Generator and King Crimson, therefore this idea to mix heavyness and psichedelia comes from far away. Then they were the arrivals of Venom, Discharge, G.B.H. and Motorhead... Therefore we also had to accelerate the rhythms in order to catch up our attempt. The basic problem at that time was technical: the only one who had technical skills in order to face the more complicated things was Piggy, me and the others we were not technically up to his level, therefore it took us some extra years to put our ideas into the music properly".
Lyric level, you have always tried to be original, be it when you narrated violent battles such as in yours first discs, be it in the abstract intimismo of albums like "Nothingface" and "Angel Rat"...
(Langevin)"Well, this time my role in the writing of the lyrics has been less important than in the past for two factors: first the return of Snake to the band, he has given an enormous contribution, and moreover the collaboration of Jason, indeed an optimal composer. For the rest, we say that from my part I have done research from the usual sources, such as fantasy and Internet... The 'Voivod' is now decidedly launched in a rather futuristic ambient".
Are there any specifications in order to speak about a "Canadian way to play metal", even a way of yours in order to be distinctive from the giant American bands?
(Langevin)"I do not know if, of all ways to play metal, there is a Canadian one, but surely in many Canadian bands a particular approach can be found. Rush, for instance, in my opinion they are a true myth, one of the first bands of our country to gain recognition world wide... They're our National glory".
(Stefano Giusti)
posted May 12, 2003 09:13
posted May 13, 2003 05:07
posted May 13, 2003 09:55
