Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (September 24, 1959 – August 26, 2005) was a Canadian guitarist. He was a member of the heavy metal band Voivod from its inception in 1982 until his death in 2005. D'Amour's approach to music was anarchic and experimental rather than strict and theoretical. He was trained in classical violin as a child. He was influenced by progressive rock artists such as

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and Rush.

Death

In the summer of 2005, D'Amour was diagnosed with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. Subsequently, a routine operation was scheduled though several complications led doctors to suspect further problems. The cancer had extensively progressed, rendering any operation non-viable. D'Amour slipped into a coma in the palliative care unit of a Montreal hospital on August 25, 2005, surrounded in his final hours by family and friends. The guitarist died the next day at approximately 11:45pm. The documentary '' Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'', featuring an interview with D'Amour, was released on September 7, 2005. Piggy's final recordings appear on two of Voivod's albums '' Katorz'' and '' Infini'', released in 2006 and 2009 respectively.

Equipment

Guitars

* Ibanez Universe *

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...

Gibson Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body with ...

*Liberatore custom made guitar *F4c guitar

Amps

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

JCM 800 Head 2203 *

JCM 800 Head 2210 *

Series 9000 Preamp *

Series 9100 Dual MonoBlock

Effects/pedals

* Digitech IPS 33 *

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

SPX-90 II *

BOSS Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

SD-1 Super Overdrive *

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

DM-1100 Digital Delay

Discography

Voivod albums: *''

War & Pain ''War and Pain'' is the debut studio album from Canadian heavy metal band Voivod, released on August 10, 1984 through Metal Blade Records. According to a 1986 TV interview with the band, it sold over 40,000 copies within 2 years of its release. ...

'' 1984 (

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

) *''

Rrröööaaarrr ''Rrröööaaarrr'' is the second studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. It was released in 1986 on Noise Records. Estimated sales are more than 40,000 copies, worldwide. In a 2012 interview with Michael Dodd of Get Your Rock Out, voc ...

'' 1986 (

Noise Records Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased any ...

) *''

Killing Technology ''Killing Technology'' is the third studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. It was released in 1987 on Noise Records and was the first to combine elements of progressive rock in the band's thrash metal sound. According to interviews c ...

'' 1987 (Noise Records) *''

Dimension Hatröss ''Dimension Hatröss'' is the fourth studio album by the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. It was released in 1988 on Noise Records and is a concept album which narrates the exploits of Voivod’s mascot cyborg Korgull. The cover concept and ar ...

'' 1988 (Noise Records) *'' Nothingface'' 1989 (Mechanic /

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

) *''

Angel Rat ''Angel Rat'' is the sixth studio album released by Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. Produced by Terry Brown of Rush fame, it was released in 1991 by Mechanic/MCA Records and is the follow-up to their critically acclaimed release, 1989's '' ...

'' 1991 (Mechanic Records) / MCA Records) *'' The Outer Limits'' 1993 (Mechanic / MCA Records) *'' Negatron'' 1995 (Hypnotic Records) *'' Phobos'' 1998 ( Slipdisc Hypnotic Records) *''

Kronik KroniK (also stylized as Kroniꓘ) was an American professional wrestling tag team in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), composed of Brian Adams and Bryan Clark in the e ...

'' 1998 (Slipdisc Hypnotic Records) *'' Voivod Lives'' 2000 (Metal Blade Records) *'' Voivod'' 2003 ( Chophouse Records /

Surfdog Records Surfdog Records is an record label, music publishing company, merchandising company, and marketing company based in Encinitas, California. Its roster includes artists of the rock, punk, swing, rockabilly, reggae, lounge, and alternative genre ...

) *'' Katorz'' 2006 (

The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specializes in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of helping ...

) *'' Infini'' 2009 (Relapse Records) **Note: According to interviews with the surviving members of Voivod, D'Amour's recordings from 2004 appear on both '' Katorz'' and '' Infini''. 1959 births 2005 deaths Progressive metal guitarists Lead guitarists Deaths from colorectal cancer Canadian heavy metal guitarists Musicians from Quebec Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Deaths from cancer in Quebec 20th-century Canadian guitarists Voivod (band) members 20th-century Canadian male musicians {{Canada-guitarist-stub