Voivod's Denis "Piggy" D'Amour dies of advanced colon cancer

[Jean-Pierre]

VOIVOD guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour passed away Friday night (August 26) at approximately 11:45 p.m. due to complications from advanced colon cancer — so advanced that the disease had spread to his liver. D'Amour slipped into a coma Thursday night and died less than 24 hours later in the palliative care unit of a Montreal hospital, surrounded by family and friends. He was 45 years old.

Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil reported yesterday that D'Amour — who was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier in the summer — first entered the hospital for a routine operation, but several complications led his doctors to suspect more problems. Then the grim verdict was revealed: the cancer, already too advanced, was inoperable.

Only two months ago, D'Amour was in the studio working on the 14th album from the Canadian thrash-metal pioneers VOIVOD. More than two dozen tracks are believed to have been demoed for the CD, for which the group recently inked a deal with The End Records. However, the band were forced to put studio work on hold while bassist Jason Newsted (ex-METALLICA) was treated for tendonitis.

In a recent interview with Billboard.com, Newsted spoke about the material slated to appear on the group's next CD. "It's the most complete demos I've ever been involved in," he said. "[VOIVOD singer] Snake has already chosen his effects — exact timing of milliseconds for delay. We've had a long time to develop the demos, so there's about 23 or 25 songs that are absolutely listenable right now."

Newsted was a huge fan of VOIVOD before he was invited to join and he remains a great admirer to this day. "They created something a long, long time ago that may have been emulated many, many times since — but nobody can do it like the original," he offered.

Prior to his hospitalization, D'Amour laid down guitar tracks for a reunion CD from the legendary AUT'CHOSE, a '70s band from Montreal. That album is expected to surface next summer.

This sucks a great deal. Piggy was one of the most insane guitarists to ever exist, and his dissonant, spastic Metal contributions wont be forgotten by me or many others.

 

[BlackMetalTyrant]

Damn that sucks, I was just reading an old guitar world article with him in it.

 

[Guthrum]

Wow, another one drops like a fly. R.I.P.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Holy shit. Who's next?!

 

[T.I.E.]

a great artist died and left us with so many nu-dickheads & uninspired kvnts...

 

[Ironbird666]

That's pretty fucked up. Piggy was one of the most creative guitarists in metal. He will be missed for sure.

 

[Life Sucks]

I can't say I've heard much Voivod, but that sucks. RIP

 

[T.I.E.]

I can't say I've heard much Voivod, but that sucks. RIP

try Dimension Hätross (master of weird progressive thrash)
and Nothingface (their masterpiece and a very progressive yet no so thrashy album)

VoiVod were great if only because they gave us the opportunity to hear Jason's bass for the first time since Flotsam & Jetsam...
...and Piggy was a genius on unconventional guitar playing !

now he's jamming in heaven

 

[anonymousnick2001]

Aw, man! Not another one!

RIP

 

[Blaphbee]

Yeah, with any luck, a wide spread case of AIDS will devastate the scene and wipe out every last pathetic band, and leave you morons exposed as utterly useless consumer parasites who need metal's frame of reference to feel like you have a useful place in the world.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

As usual, you are detached from the situation, entirely lost as far as the proper perspective goes and are passing off nonsense as high-horse objectivity. I was expecting you in this thread around post #5 but hoped (foolishly) that you had learned better. I hate that I have sunk and responded to your hopelessly predictable post, a response that you were expecting, no doubt. And the merry-go-round turns again.

*sigh*

RIP Piggy

 

[polarity3]

Yeah, with any luck, a wide spread case of AIDS will devastate the scene and wipe out every last pathetic band, and leave you morons exposed as utterly useless consumer parasites who need metal's frame of reference to feel like you have a useful place in the world.

i thought anus liked voivod

 

[T.I.E.]

c'mon... you must know that... they only like themselves...

 

[10293847]

I didn't know that Blaphbee was the official ANUS Spokesman. That website does praise Dimension Hatross, by the way.

Thanks for the tunes Piggy, RIP.

 

[skeptik]

Emotions = weakness

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

DEATHS OF LATE:

-Koji Tano (of MSBR, got many people into noise and was super-influential)
-Robert Moog (invented the Moog synthesizer and revolutionized experimental music as a whole)
-Luc Ferrari (big influence to all avant-garde/experimental musicians, composer)
-Doc (Vader's drummer)
-Piggy

WHY. This shit is retarded.

 

[Jean-Pierre]

i thought anus liked voivod

 

[skeptik]

Guys, guess what...Quorthon died.

 

[Brentford Bob]

Very sad news.

One of the few bands to actually try something different.

 

[TehLeperAffinity]

Guys, guess what...Quorthon died.