Progressive thrash-metal progenitors Voivod, who burst into the thrash world 13 releases and almost a quarter century ago with 1984's War And Pain, have announced the completion of their next album, Katorz, due out in late spring on The End Records. This is the first album in their 23-year career where guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, who passed away last August unexpectedly from complications of advanced colon cancer, was not present in the studio during production. The record was made anyway, despite his absence, from the numerous tracks D'Amour had recorded to his laptop on Protools before his death. Last November, as the band began working on this album, drummer Michael "Away" Langevin said of the late guitarist, "we will do our best to make a great record that Piggy would be proud of." The album is also the second to feature bassist Jason Newsted (formerly of Metallica) in the mix, who joined in 2001 for Voivod's self-titled album. The band, who have been through countless line-up changes and now a devastating loss, are still clutching at cosmic prog-thrash with the same fervor as they did in the early '80s. Artwork by drummer Langevin, who has done all of their art since their inception, and a track list are soon to come in the next few weeks. www.voivod.com www.theendrecords.com
