January 29, 2025
Voivod and the OSM dazzle Montreal on opening night
Epic; a word used so often that it has lost its actual meaning. Yet there is no better way to describe the coming together of the mighty Voivod and the OSM – the Montreal Symphony Orchestra – to create one giant presence. That, is what the sold out of crowd at Place Des Arts’ Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier witnessed tonight.
Honestly, I haven’t been so excited for a concert like I was for tonight in many years. How amusing, to see a heavy metal band on the stage at such a grandiose amphitheater as Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, To see how far this genre of music has come – from court cases attempting to band the genre to acceptance on this level, is truly astonishing.
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Sure – I did see Apocalyptica on this stage, playing the music of Metallica on cellos, and while that was fantastic, this is far bigger, far more intricate and special. This is the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the OSM, playing the music of a metal band from Jonquière, of all places, Jonquière tabarnac! I don’t know if there’s anything bigger than this for a metal band. This is like reaching the outer limits and it was always going to be Voivod that obtained this level of majesty.
I lost track of the number of standing ovations the musicians on stage were given tonight at five, and there more than likely could have been more as I was swept away in a sea of amazement for much of the evening.
People of all ages sat nestled together with one common attribute; the love of Voivod. I’d like to think that some were fans of the OSM that had come out tonight to see what all the hoopla was about – and were introduced to the realm of Voivod in this way. For some reason, that would tickle me. Children and senior citizens alike sat in awe, gawping at the stage in bewilderment. To me, it seemed like a dream; was I really witnessing something so majestic, on this scale, in a this room? I was. And it was wonderful.
Not only were my ears treated to this incredible combination of metal that I have known and cherished for decades, but it was being played with an incredible array of musicians who truly fleshed out their arrangements into mind-melting, grandiose pieces. My eyes, meanwhile, were treated to animated films that went along with the music, and based off the wonderfully bizarre artwork of drummer Away (who just released a new book of his artwork in last December, by the way, called Altered Horizons).
At times, it felt as if listening to the score from an upcoming Star Wars film (just please don’t let Disney have anything to do with it – they’ve already ruined every they’ve touched in the last decade or so. Rotten bastards. Anyway, where was I?) – in the sense that, by design, the two combined entities, alongside the impressive albeit overly AI infused visual portion of the show, came together to create a science-fiction-esque experience.
Given that the band practically manifested tonight’s entertainment into being through words in an interview, that spread like wildfire until it reached the right ears and became this amazing reality, I’ll mention that one of the few dreams of the collective band that haven’t yet become reality, is that they really want to score a film. Is anybody out there hearing this? You know what to do. Maybe bring the OSM along for the ride, too.
The Montreal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dina Gilbert, had up to seventy musicians on stage with the four lads from Voivod, who combined to play twelve re-worked Voivod pieces through a set that flew by way too rapidly. Those two tracks were as follows: Experiment, Holographic Thinking, The Unknown Knows, The End Of Dormancy, Into My Hypercube, Forgotten In Space, Cosmic Drama, Pre-Ignition, Nuclear War, Fall, Tribal Convictions, and an incredible encore cover of Pink Floyd’s Astronomy Domine.
If I have one gripe about this wonderful night, it’s that I wanted more volume. I wanted the music to be so loud that it pounded deep into my chest. To feel it as much as hear it. I wanted to feel every bow that sliced along its strings in my soul. Every note ricochet through my skull.
Surely, Voivod didn’t miss the chance to record this incredible night from the soundboards. Surely, certainly, there must be a live album to come from this – hopefully a blu ray too, for the fans world wide that weren’t able to witness it along with us lucky bunch. And when that happens (this is pure speculation, by the way, there’s no insider information here), I’ll punch my home sound system up to eleven and then my body will rattle under this massive weight of sound waves.
This really needs to be heard multiple times to truly grasp just how fleshed out their pieces were and I hope there are plans to make that a reality down the line. So much planning and plotting obviously went into this work, to the point that it existing for just two nights would be a crime. This needs to be heard, to be studied and scrutinized over years of listening sessions.
Read More:
>> Voivod : Rebel Robots at Fantasia Festival 2024
>> Voivod : We Are Connected at Fantasia Festival 2024
>> Voivod “Synchro Anarchy” Review
Voivod and the OSM will come together again tonight at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and do it all over again, for those lucky enough to be there in person. Seldom have I felt that a concert was like living a historic moment, yet that is exactly what last night was. A moment I won’t soon forget. An I was there when moment. I can’t even being to fathom how it felt for the band members, or for the members of the OSM.
A few tickets, somehow, are still available for tonight. Be there. You won’t regret it for a nanosecond.
