Away: The Driving Force of Modern Metal

Away is the stage name of Canadian musician and producer David Lemaire, best known as the founding drummer and creative visionary behind the progressive metal band Voivod. Hailing from Jonquière, Quebec, Lemaire has shaped the band's unique sonic identity for over four decades, blending thrash, progressive, and industrial elements into a critically acclaimed body of work. His tenure with Voivod includes their landmark 1989 album "Nothingface," which cracked the Billboard 200 and remains a cornerstone of avant-garde metal.

Early career

David "Away" Lemaire co-founded Voivod in 1982 in the remote mining town of Jonquière, Quebec. His artistic vision extended beyond drumming, as he crafted the band's distinctive sci-fi aesthetic through his detailed comic book-style artwork for all their album covers and merchandise. The band's early independent releases, like 1984's "War and Pain" on Metal Blade Records, established a raw, punk-inflected thrash sound and a dedicated underground following.

Breakthrough

Voivod's artistic and commercial breakthrough arrived with their fifth studio album, "Nothingface," released on Mechanic/MCA Records in 1989. The album was a radical departure, featuring complex song structures and a cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine," which received substantial rotation on MTV. This ambitious shift propelled "Nothingface" to number 114 on the Billboard 200, a significant feat for an experimental metal act at the time, and it has since been certified Gold in Canada.

Key tracks

Astronomy Domine — This Pink Floyd cover introduced Voivod to a broader audience through MTV and remains a staple of their live performances.

Jack Luminous — A nearly 12-minute epic from 1993's "The Outer Limits," it showcases Away's intricate drum patterns and the band's progressive ambitions.

Forgotten in Space — A key track from the "Nothingface" album, it perfectly encapsulates the band's shift towards more textured, atmospheric metal.

We Are Connected — From 2018's "The Wake," this song highlights Away's enduring, powerful drumming style in the band's later, acclaimed era.

The band navigated the tragic death of guitarist Piggy in 2005, with Away's steadfast leadership ensuring Voivod's continuation. Later albums like 2013's "Target Earth" and 2018's "The Wake" saw critical resurgence, earning Juno Award nominations for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year. Away's collaborations extend beyond Voivod, including work with artists like Gorguts and Ghetto Blaster, and he remains a respected graphic artist for the metal community.

Fans of Away's work in Voivod often appreciate the boundary-pushing approaches of Meshuggah for their shared love of complex, rhythmic innovation. Neurosis explores similarly heavy, atmospheric, and conceptually deep musical territories. The Canadian progressive thrash scene also includes peers like Annihilator, known for technical guitar prowess. Listeners drawn to conceptual sci-fi themes might also explore Voivod, the primary project where Away's artistic vision is fully realized.

The innovative metal of Away and Voivod is a regular feature on specialty radio programming across North America and Europe. Dedicated metal shows on college radio, independent music radio stations, and online rock radio streams frequently program their classic and new material, recognizing their lasting influence on the genre.

The music of Away and his pioneering band Voivod can be heard on multiple radio stations featured on our website. Listeners can discover their vast catalog, from early thrash to progressive masterpieces, by tuning into the metal and hard rock stations available on onairium.com.