The legendary Voivod teamed up with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra for Symphonique, reimagining classic Voivod material with full orchestral arrangements. I spoke with drummer Michel “Away” Langevin about the ambitious project, along with other subjects ranging from the status of a new album to touring to A.I. to the recent book about Voivod.
Chad Bowar: What inspired you to do a show and record with an orchestra?
Michel “Away” Langevin: It was the Montreal Symphony Orchestra that reached out, it must have been three years ago. The musician playing solo bassoon in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra is a metal fan and he loves Voivod and he saw an article, an interview with me, and he brought the project to the director of the orchestra and they reached out and we were blown away. I came back from touring with Voivod and I had a message on my answering machine saying that the symphony orchestra was looking for me, so it was pretty exciting. And then we built the show for a couple of years, and then we played early last year two shows in Montreal with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, then right after we were offered to do the same in Quebec City with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and that’s the performance that we recorded for this release.
How did you decide on which songs to play, and were they the same songs for Montreal and Quebec?
Yes, it’s exactly the same show because the Quebec Symphony Orchestra rented the charts from the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. We’re doing the show again early next year in our hometown where we formed in 1983 with the local orchestra, so it’s going to be the exact same show because between tours and recording a new album, we can’t afford to start from scratch. It took a couple of years for the orchestrator to figure the arrangements and for us to figure the order of the songs. We picked the songs that we thought could be a good match with an orchestra, songs that were more on the prog rock style with many movements.
Some songs already had an influence from modern composers like Bartok, Shostakovich, Penderecki, and this is more the Nothingface period, and we also wanted to try out the Syd Barrett song “Astronomy Domine” by Pink Floyd with an orchestra. It turned out really good. We skipped the real thrashy stuff, although we picked “War and Pain” from the first album, because we thought it could become a very scary military march with an orchestra. Once we picked the songs we tried to think about an order that would feel like it was like a sci-fi movie soundtrack, that’s what we were aiming for.
What input did you have on the arrangements?
I was mainly involved with the graphics that were going to be animated for the screen behind the stage, but I did give a couple of cues to the orchestrator. I mentioned the early cyberpunk movies like Mad Max, Blade Runner, Terminator, and also mentioned the old Planet of the Apes movies, because they had some avant-garde music in the soundtrack, and I think he really understood what we were aiming for. Chewy, the guitar player, was really involved with the arranger. He teaches jazz at college and has a lot of notions. He charted the songs and gave the charts to the arranger, which was a good head start. He was giving us ideas, Chewy was giving us ideas, like maybe the band could stop there, the orchestra could keep going, and Snake could sing along with the orchestra, or the orchestra can do the intro and the band don’t have to, and then we’ll jump in right there, so there were a lot of exchanges of ideas.
We also worked very closely with Dina Gilbert, she’s the conductor, and so we had to figure a way where we could have all of these breaks everywhere, and specific spots where she could look at me, and I was watching her gestures a lot. All combined it did take two years until we rehearsed with the orchestra, but only the day before the first show in Montreal. Once we got the demos from the arranger, we went into a studio to play the songs with the demos, which were like samples of orchestra, of violins and brass, and so it’s a good thing, because there were many new arrangements, and we’re used to playing certain songs a specific way. We had to think them over, and I had to be very focused during the shows, because as a drummer I could not afford to skip one beat or one bar, otherwise the whole orchestra would get lost. It was a wonderful experience, but a bit stressful in the end, but I love challenges.
You’re used to being on stage with just a few other guys. What was it being with all those other people?
it was wonderful to watch the orchestra. The first show I was really focused on Dina, who was conducting, and then the second show I was more relaxed, could watch the orchestra, check the screen in the back, the crowd. By show number three I had it down, but I might have been a bit too relaxed, because I made one mistake, but you can’t really hear on the album. So it was a very different setup for me, because I was playing in a glass cage, and I’m not used to that, and also we couldn’t have monitors, so we all had in-ears with belt packs to control everything, and iPads with the LEDs.
So I had to get used to it, and actually when we’re going to do it again early next year, I might change things there and there, because I can still improve the situation. It’s a brand new experience. But I must say that after hearing the album, I felt like a professional after 43 years. Like, wow, we actually did that! It feels like a dream, really. At first, all the musicians have a microphone, so everybody is mic’d for the recording. There are a lot of leaks from instruments to other instruments, so at first it sounded like a blurry mess, but I’m really impressed with the results. Francis Perron, who has done the albums with us for the past 11 years, did a great job at mixing everything, and I can hear every musician from the orchestra and every member of Voivod as well. It’s quite amazing.
Does this inspire you to maybe want to incorporate some orchestration on the new album?
I think that the three shows with the orchestras really had an influence on what we are writing right now and recording. We are writing and recording a new album. We can only do three songs at a time between tours, but I think it’s going to sound even more like a dystopian movie soundtrack than expected. So it’s a cool thing.
Is the new album planned to be a 2027 release?
I believe so, but it might have to be end of 2027, I think. In the meantime, people will be able to enjoy the live symphonic album.
You have some touring coming up, including the UK and Ireland. How difficult is it to come up with a set list?
Even if we pick one song from every album, it’s too many. So we try to do a survey, like an overview of our career, but focusing on different periods and lineups. But for this year, we refreshed the set list a lot. A bunch of songs we hadn’t played in decades, so it’s pretty exciting. For the upcoming tour in June, we have festivals, and we’re also going to play across the UK and Ireland. We put together three set lists that we’re going to alternate every night. And many people into Voivod are following us around, so it’s cool for them, and it’s also cool for us and refreshing, so it’s exciting.
After all these years, is there anywhere that you still haven’t been to that you’d like to play live?
Over the years, many places opened to metal. We haven’t been to India, many places in Asia, many places in South America. It was so exciting in the early ’90s when we were finally able to go to the eastern bloc of Europe. So every year we discover new places on earth, and it’s pretty exciting. It’s actually pretty addicting to go around the world and play Voivod music in front of our old friends, new friends, their kids now.
And so it’s pretty fun, and it’s what always brought me back to music when we had forced breaks, like the unfortunate passing of Denis D’Amour, the original guitar player, in 2005, or the accident in Germany in 1998 where we had to stop for a year. I always get antsy, and I always want to go back on the road because I love traveling. I make a drawing every night to express my day, the architecture in every city, and take a lot of photos. So I’m pretty excited because we have a pretty long stretch coming up in June, July and August all across Europe, so I can’t wait.
You do all the artwork for the albums. What’s your opinion on the use of AI.?
I’m okay with that, in the sense that, let’s say for the projections for the symphonic concerts, I supplied a lot of art that was animated by different artists that used different mediums, and so some used 2D traditional animations, some used 3D CGI, some used AI, and it’s all fantastic tools to me. I started doing digital art, I did drawings in ’84 with Apple II, and then in ’86, I bought a Commodore Amiga, so I’m used to get used to the evolution of things. If the AI is fed with my art, I’m okay with it, because I always dreamed of having my little characters animated, so now it’s a tool that’s really quick, and it’s getting quicker every week. But I wouldn’t use AI for a front cover. I prefer to do digital art with my iPad and a digital pen.
On the road I draw with a real pen on a piece of paper. But I studied science at university, I didn’t study art. So I don’t have the notions of perspective and all that, so quite often I will ask AI to give me an example of, let’s say you want to draw somebody running towards you, it’s kind of hard, and so sometimes I will ask for an example, and I take it from there. But I learned to get satisfied very quickly with what is submitted to me, because we know now that it takes a lot of water to cool down the data centers and all that, so I won’t generate like 100 drawings to have an example of perspective. It’s quite a debate, it’s controversial, but I always try to adapt with technology, because you ain’t gonna win that fight.
I really enjoyed the recent book Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse Of Voivod by Jeff Wagner. What was your reaction when you saw the finished product?
As it was being written, I had to proofread it, so I saw the whole thing going and I was very involved with the whole process. I was impressed when I received the copies, how thick it is, and it’s more than 500 pages, but it does cover a few decades. I’m very, very happy with it. It’s pretty cool, because there are so many projects in the works with us right now. We have a video game coming out called Nuclear Warrior as well, based on end of the ’80s, early ’90s style of video games, and it’s coming out this year. The documentary is coming out very soon as well. And then, of course, we are writing and recording the new album, so, yeah, it never stops.
In addition to your art and your music, do you have time for any other interests and hobbies?
I don’t have much spare time. The drums keep me in shape, but I also like to use this system where you have a key, and you grab a bicycle at a station, and you put it back at another station. It’s called Big C here in Montreal, and I do that a lot. Beautiful bicycle path by the St. Lawrence River, so that keeps me in shape. I used to be involved with a lot of musical projects, and I used to do a lot of art for other bands, but we’ve been getting more and more popular the last couple of years with Voivod, and we got super busy all of a sudden, so I really concentrate my time on Voivod these days.
When we started 43 years ago, I thought I’d be in the band for a couple of years, and I would be a scientist. And then the first album came out in ’84, War and Pain. It had a very good impact, and I thought, all right, maybe I can try music. And now I’m going to turn 63 very soon, and I’m busier than ever.
(interview published June 4, 2026)
