Things started slowly sliding downhill for them after, their next album being poorly received, 1991's Angel Rat. 'Grunge' was taking hold, with bands such as their former opening act, Soundgarden, enjoying a rise to stardom. Blacky left the band just before Angel Rat's release. 1993 saw the release of The Outer Limits album. Following the subsequent tour, Snake quit Voivod. The former Liquid Indian man, Eric "E-Force" Forrest replaced Blacky and Snake in one fell swoop on bass and lead vocals, and would stay with the band for two albums, 1995's Negatron and 1997's Phobos. 2000 saw an EP (Kronik) and live album (Lives), and in 2001 a car accident invalidated E-Force with a broken back. The group was put on hiatus, until eventually the decision was made to reform the band with Snake. Voivod fan Jason Newsted, fresh from Metallica, filled the vacant bass slot. This version of the band would go on to release 2003's self-titled album, Voivod.
Guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour sadly died on 25th August 2005 from colon cancer aged 45. After his diagnosis he spent the last 2 months of his life recording ideas & guitar parts for several albums worth of new songs. After his death the rest of the band completed work on Voivod's 14th album, Katorz, released in July 2006 and Infini in 2009.
By July 2010, Voivod had been writing and recording new music (including Dan Mongrain on guitar). On July 4, 2012, Voivod announced the title of their thirteenth studio album, Target Earth, which was released on January 22, 2013. Target Earth has a more progressive sound than some of their last few albums, and is a return to a more "classic" Voivod sound that can be heard on Dimension Hatross and Nothingface. All the music was written by Blacky and Chewy, while Snake focused on lyrics, and Away took care of the artwork.
On July 10, 2014, it was reported that Blacky had left Voivod again. It was announced that he was forced out of the band. For months he requested meetings regarding the band business and artistic affairs, but was denied such talks by one of the other members. In late January 2015 the band released the new single "We Are Connected" which is the lead track from the 7-inch split vinyl disc with the band At the Gates. It is the first music to feature new bassist Dominic "Rocky" Laroche. They also released a new, five-track EP, entitled Post Society, featuring two new tracks and a cover of Hawkwind's "Silver Machine", on February 26, 2016.
As early as February 2015, Voivod began work on their fourteenth studio album, which was to be released in 2016 but later pushed back to 2017. The band was expected to begin recording the album in August 2017. In June 2017, Langevin told Rock Sverige that the songwriting was almost completed with an estimated release for early 2018. He also said that the album would probably be a double-album on vinyl due to the songs being "really long and progressive", describing them as "seven or eight minutes long songs" and with it being a concept album as well. In November 2017, the Voivod members began recording another album, titled The Wake, which was released in September 2018. The master tapes for Voivod's MCA-era albums were long thought to have been destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire; this was later disputed by Blacky, who revealed in late 2019 that the master tapes for Nothingface, Angel Rat and The Outer Limits were located in a facility in Pennsylvania, after persistently questioning Universal staff, and claimed that they are now in his possession.
Voivod's fifteenth studio album, Synchro Anarchy, will be released on February 11, 2022.
Current members
Michel Langevin (Away) – drums (1982–present)
Denis Bélanger (Snake) – vocals (1982–1994, 2002–present)
Mongrain (Chewy) – guitar (2008–present)
Dominic Laroche (Rocky) – bass (2014–present)
Panorama
Voivod Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Deep in blue neon
A dead end for today
Under skyways worn
Concrete from far below
Rising up above
Surrounded by shadows
All are strangers alike
All riding the blind
The purple of blind
The purple of their eyes
In reverie unwind
Circling sub-city
A rainbow appears
To calm down the fury
To calm all the fears
This random occurrence
Is only a sign
Of the incoherence
In the clockwork mind
A symphony of our time
Recalling the past
People in a decline
Denying the vibrations we're made of somber drama
Rolling down hill
Panorama
All is so still
Anyway, anyhow
Anyhow, anyway
End of all reason
Is what I go through
Yes, it is what I go through
Slip-sliding nation
Is what they must do
Yes, it is what they must do
Over the greying landscape
Under a deadened sky
Sitting on a mountain
I will stand aside
As I am a witness
I turn a blind eye
I am feeling helpless
But it passes by
Is this a modern legend?
Maybe a fairy tale
Just a future requiem
Cutting along the fiction that we're
Made of
The song "Panorama" by Voivod presents a dark and bleak image of an urban landscape, described as "an alley deep in blue neon," "a dead end for today," and "surrounded by shadows." The setting is characterized by its concrete structures and its lack of vegetation or any sense of natural life, hence the lyric "a garden without gods." The people within this setting are all strangers, lost and blind, with the "purple of their eyes" connoting a degree of drug use or disillusionment. However, amidst this hopelessness, a rainbow appears, suggesting a fleeting moment of beauty and hope.
The lyrics then become more introspective, with the singer observing the decline of society and feeling helpless to change it, despite feeling like a witness to it all. The line "end of all reason" suggests a feeling of despair and hopelessness, while the "slip-sliding nation" could refer to people being trapped in a cycle of negativity and degradation. The singer is sitting on a mountain, physically removed from the urban environment, but still feeling connected to the chaos below.
Overall, the song can be seen as a critique of modern society, particularly in terms of its urbanization, isolation, and lack of spirituality. The rainbow represents a moment of beauty and possibility in an otherwise bleak world, but ultimately, the singer feels powerless to effect any real change.
Line by Line Meaning
Walking down an alley
Beginning a journey in a dark & gloomy place
Deep in blue neon
Surrounded by artificiality & modernity
A dead end for today
Faced with limitations in the present moment
Under skyways worn
In a landscape marked by use & decay
Concrete from far below
The foundation upon which we stand
Rising up above
Built upon but reaching beyond
Surrounded by shadows
Haunted by the unknown
Garden without gods
A place that lacks divine intervention
All are strangers alike
In a shared state of unfamiliarity
All riding the blind
Guiding themselves with limited vision
The purple of blind
A metaphorical color to describe this blindness
The purple of their eyes
A physical manifestation of this blindness
In reverie unwind
Relaxing into a daydreaming state
Circling sub-city
Surrounding & weaving through the urban environment
A rainbow appears
A moment of beauty & hope amidst the chaos
To calm down the fury
To ease the tumultuous energy
To calm all the fears
To alleviate the anxieties
This random occurrence
A coincidence that exists with no explanation
Is only a sign
A symbol pointing to something greater
Of the incoherence
A lack of clarity or consistency
In the clockwork mind
Within a complex, yet predictable system
A symphony of our time
A composition that reflects our era
Recalling the past
Echoing memories from earlier generations
People in a decline
Society in a state of regression
Denying the vibrations we're made of somber drama
Rejecting the emotional resonance that makes us human
Rolling down hill
Moving towards an inevitable outcome
Panorama
A fully encompassing view
All is so still
A moment of calmness & stillness
Anyway, anyhow
Regardless of the circumstances
Anyhow, anyway
In an empowering, almost defiant way
End of all reason
The impending conclusion of logical thought
Is what I go through
What I am experiencing
Slip-sliding nation
A society in a state of decline
Is what they must do
What is necessary to continue moving forward
Over the greying landscape
Across a deteriorating environment
Under a deadened sky
Beneath a lifeless horizon
Sitting on a mountain
Observing from a place of tranquility
I will stand aside
Maintaining a neutral perspective
As I am a witness
Viewing from a place of non-participation
I turn a blind eye
Choosing to intentionally ignore what I observe
I am feeling helpless
Experiencing a sense of powerlessness
But it passes by
The feeling is fleeting and temporary
Is this a modern legend?
A question of whether this story is significant enough to become a legend
Maybe a fairy tale
A hypothetical suggestion that this story could become a myth
Just a future requiem
A prediction of this event's eventual obsolescence
Cutting along the fiction that we're
Separating fact from falsehood
Made of
Comprising of a particular substance or quality
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind