Claude Grégoire

From unlikely origins in northern Québec at the height of the Cold War, Voïvod’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi aesthetic, fuelled by a youthful obsession with their instruments, took them from underground success to sharing dates and tours with Iron Maiden, Rush, and Metallica. Despite adversity, and perhaps by cosmic intervention or just serendipity, Voïvod found guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain; subsequently, the band re-ignited their engines and laid a course back to Morgöth via numerous live shows around the world, a comeback album in Target Earth, singles, EPs, and finally, the late-career triumph, The Wake. In 2019, Voïvod were recognized by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences with a Juno Award for best hard rock/metal album of the year for The Wake.

In October 2010, three American friends decided to play a prank on a girl and to share that via a live stream on their website, pranxxxter.com. But the prank got completely out of hand, with these confrontational recordings as evidence. The plan was as follows: one of them would have a so-called romantic dinner with a girl in a villa filled with cameras. Strange twists in the plot were planned in advance for the evening, such as snacks of dog food. The lady would be tormented to the utmost and her date would have to prevent her running away. The sidekicks checked all this through their camera system in the cellar and provided a commentary on the evening. These virtually undamaged images, partly shot with a hand-held camera and intercepted by the police as evidence, show virtually in real time how an apparently innocent joke can get completely out of hand. Don’t try this at home, kids.