Nothingface

About

Nothingface is the fifth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. It was released by Mechanic/MCA Records on 1989. The album marked a change for the band, expanding their music into a more progressive rock/metal sound. Several riffs are heavily influenced by Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", specifically the centre section of "Pre-Ignition". A music video made for the album's third track, a cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine", received airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. The sound on Nothingface is rooted in progressive rock, and incorporates elements of thrash metal and space rock. Vocal melody is heavily emphasized on the album. Greg Prato of AllMusic stated that "although the album's roots are in progressive rock, the group knows when to lay off the virtuosic overkill and play it straight." Eduardo Rivadavia of Loudwire said the band "reinvigorated the late ‘80s thrash scene with exciting new dimension, like Snake’s cybernetic voice, Blacky’s vine-like ba, Away’s clinical percussion, and Piggy’s melodic sensibility and jazz-like guitar work." The album's lyrics explore themes such as science fiction, and have been described as "paint unsettling picture." According to Rivadavia: "Canada’s Voivod flirted with technology – albeit the cartoonish, apocalyptic variety – from day one, before embracing it, and finally conquering it with Nothingface." Nothingface is Voivod's most successful album to date, and their only album to enter the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at number 114. In 2005, Nothingface was ranked number 350 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. Loudwire named the album at number 23 in their list "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time".Kerrang! described the album as a "prog-thrash masterpiece". Greg Prato of AllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half-stars out of five, saying: "Arguably the best of the Denis Belanger-era Voivod album, Nothingface is highly recommended to just about any aficionado of twisted, original heavy metal or prog rock. Jason Newsted, of Metallica has praised Voivod as one of his favorite metal bands on numerous occasion, and after hearing Nothingface, it's easy to understand why." Snake (Denis Bélanger) – vocals Piggy (Denis D'Amour) – guitar Blacky (Jean-Yves Thériault) – bass .

via Last.fm

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