VOIVOD Release ‘The End Of Dormancy’ EP (July 10th, 2020)

VOIVOD Release ‘The End Of Dormancy’ EP
July 10th, 2020

Jonquière, Québec, Canada-based metal band Voivod issued three-song limited edition 12-inch vinyl and digital EP The End Of Dormancy on July 10th, 2020 through Century Media Records.

The EP features a special “Metal Section” version of the track ‘The End Of Dormancy’ (from September 2018 album The Wake) with added trumpets, saxophone and trombones. The B-side contains live versions of the songs ‘The End Of Dormancy’ and the ‘The Unknown Knows’ recorded at the 2019 Montréal Jazz Fest.

Directed by Syl Disjonk, a music video for ‘The End Of Dormancy (Metal Section)’ can be viewed below.

Speaking about the new interpretation of the song and the video, guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain said: “I initially wrote the opening riff of the song on tour, outside, behind a club in Germany on a sunny day and recorded right away. It had that Quartal Harmony over a pedal point that to me evoke soundtracks of classic roman movies when you hear the brass (Lituus, Cornu and other instruments). It has a military and solemn vibe to it. When In 2019 we had the honour to be invited to play the Montréal International Jazz Festival, we all thought we could do something special in the context. I had the Idea to do a brass arrangement and add in an extra open improvised sax solo section which doesn’t exist in the studio version.

“I started to write and was able to finish the arrangement in time for the rehearsal but it was sooo much work that I could only do one song. We hired top players of the Montréal scene, they were very excited to be part of it. It’s not every day that a brass section plays with a metal band so it was as exciting for them as it was for us! We had one rehearsal and it worked perfectly! Then we played the show and the crowd went totally nuts!!! You can hear it on the live version: It was a great moment for everyone and we had a real blast! The live version is also on the EP, but will not be on the upcoming live album Lost Machine, since that was recorded during a different show…

“When the video idea of that song came up, I thought, we could record the brass over the studio version and make the video version unique, and share this version with the rest of the world, giving something special to the fans and immortalize the brass arrangement at the same time. So, I just cut out the improvised section that was in the live arrangement and we could time a studio session with all the same guys.

“Francis Perron (RadicArt Studio), who recorded and mixed The Wake, brought his gear and recorded it, then remixed the song. It was an amazing experience, a great challenge for me to write each parts and conduct it. I don’t do that often, so it was a lot of work and I’m very happy with the result, it adds that extra empire, military, roman paddle boat war feel like in the old Ben Hur movie, with the acceleration of the music and intense and stressful emotions that fits the song lyrics perfectly. I’m so proud and happy to play in Voivod, as we can try this kind of madness projects and everybody in the band gets excited and motivated to do new things. It’s so fulfilling. I hope this feeling transpires into the music and that the signal gets to the receiver’s frequency!”

Vocalist Denis “Snake” Bélanger, who acted as screenwriter for the video clip, added: “I must say that we had some hesitations regarding the timing of release for this very special video clip. The shoot took place in November 2019 and the scenario is pure science-fiction, but we were concerned the imagery might be insensitive in these pandemic times. In the end, we decided to proceed as planned. Speaking of sci-fi, the documentary called The Creeping Garden had a big influence on me and was a great source of inspirations for the concept. A must watch. The slime moulds are amazing creatures and will use ingeniosity to survive. And so are humans… we’ll get through this!”

The track listing is as follows:

Side A

01. ‘The End Of Dormancy (Metal Section)’

Side B

01. ‘The End Of Dormancy (Live Montréal Jazz Fest 2019)’
02. ‘The Unknown Knows (Live Montréal Jazz Fest 2019)’

Voivod’s line-up is as follows:

Denis “Snake” Bélanger (vocals)
Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain (guitar)
Dominique “Rocky” Laroche (bass)
Michel “Away” Langevin (drums)

Fourteenth studio record The Wake was released in September 2018 via Century Media.

Promotional photograph by Wayne Archibald.

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