Rolling Stone recently caught up with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and former bassist Jason Newsted to pick their brains about the 1988 / '89 Damaged Justice tour. Following is an excerpt from the story.

For Newsted, who’d entered the band at its darkest period, that tour was a dream come true. 

“There was negative things that were sensationalized over the years,” he says, possibly referring to the hazing he underwent when he joined or the way his playing was turned down on Justice, “but there was so much more positive, happy, camaraderie and brotherhood. Nobody wanted to be the weak link in the group. Everybody wanted to kick ass as a unit. It was so very dreamy. I didn’t sleep. That’s when my insomnia started. I’m still 30 years into insomnia now.”

By the time the group was ready to mount the U.S. leg of the Damaged Justice tour in November, they were a well-oiled machine. And they had a big stage to play on, one equipped with a larger-than-life replica of Lady Justice, which would explode and collapse at the end of “… And Justice for All.” All they needed were audiences. 

“We used Indianapolis as a yardstick or a temperature gauge,” Ulrich says. “We put the first leg on sale and we were playing a few of the bigger cities and then Indianapolis was, like, fifth or something in the schedule. The tickets went on sale in Indianapolis and I can’t remember if we sold it out but we ended up doing 13 or 14,000 people, which for a band of our kind in 1988 was an insane victory. If we were cool in Indianapolis, we were cool almost anywhere.”

Read the complete story here.

In a new interview with music writer Joel Gausten, Voivod drummer Michel “Away” Langevin discusses the band's upcoming 14th album The Wake, the band's time with former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and some of the highlights of their nearly 36-year career. An excerpt from the chat appears below:

Joel: One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about Voivod is that no two albums have ever really been the same. Do you go into a recording project with a general creative goal in terms of sound and direction, or is it a matter of this whole thing just naturally evolving year after year?

Away: "It’s really natural, actually. We never really sit down and try to overthink where we are heading towards, because we know that in the end, we’re going to be in some parallel universe anyway. We really want to write the music that we want we play, so sometimes it’s not in sync with what’s going on in the mainstream at all. Even if we sometimes try to do something more melodic, it’s still too weird for mainstream radio. We are resigned to really do what we want."

Joel: You just mentioned Voivod being “weird.” I think bands have a choice in their careers. They can either go strictly commercial or they can attempt to do something different. Obviously, Voivod have always followed that latter path, and you’ve been at this a very long time. What has been the key to sustaining this band all these years in an industry that isn’t always welcoming of output that doesn’t instantly appeal to the masses?

Away: "Sometimes, these are tough choices or crossroads where you really have to persevere. I think a key to longevity is probably to try to be original and unique. In the end, it really pays off. You get respect, and people show up at our shows. Especially lately, we’ve had a momentum, and we also sort of jumped into the classic thrash metal resurgence a few years ago. I think the key is really to be yourself. If you try to adapt to what’s going on, by the time you write the song and record it and it comes out, you’re already out of step and a bit late. If I would give any advice, it would to try to be yourself and also try to be unique. It pays in long run."

Joel: It has been 15 years since the self-titled album and the beginning of the Jason Newsted era of Voivod. Looking back now, how do you feel that era ultimately impacted the greater history of the band?

Away: "When Jason joined the band, it drew a lot of attention to us. It definitely helped us to get attention outside of the underground thrash metal media. When Jason joined Ozzy at the same time, all of a sudden we’re touring with Ozzy and doing the Ozzfest and all that. Jason really did help the band. From then on, it’s been steady in terms of media attention for Voivod. We had a lower profile in the ’90s at one point. Jason was such a warrior to have done that, because he was playing with us live, then he’d go to the dressing room and go back again on stage and play more than two hours with Ozzy for the whole summer of 2003. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was quite impressive and a lesson in perseverance for sure."

Read the complete interview here.