Voivod has announced a new 12" EP titled The End of Dormancy due out July 10. The EP features a special "Metal Section" version of the title track, which you can check out above. The "Metal Version" is the same track from the 2018 album The Wake with the addition of trumpets, saxophone and trombones.
Here's what guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain had to say about the new version
"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 honor to be invited to play the Montreal 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 Montreal 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 part 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."
Pre-order The End of Dormancy here.
