[kj] OT Piggy RIP

[Christof hamille]

This sucks

VOIVOD Guitarist DENIS 'PIGGY' D'AMOUR Dead Of Colon Cancer - Aug. 27, 2005
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.