Voivod - Nothingface (1989)^{Release ID: 1156}

Once again, this Voivod album takes quite a few listens to get under your skin. But just the like the two preceding it (Killing Technology and Dimension Hatross), once it manages to sink in, there's no escaping its charm. The bands evolution continued with Nothingface, moving away from the bizarre, punky thrash they started with, moving gradually towards a bizarre, punky, thrashy, progressive, psychedelic rock style that they made their own. Confused? So was I!

As always, the two major things of note on this album are Piggy's and Snake's vocals. Piggy had such a unique style of playing that was extremely creative and controlled by no real metal boundaries. There are no shredding or chunky riffs, just fascinating little segments one after another that connect with you on about the 4th or 5th listen. Snake's vocals have lost all the edge to them by now, with only the cleanliness remaining. If I'd heard these vocals in another band, I'd probably think they were terrible. But in Voivod, they are strangely perfect and suit all the alien shenanigans going on around them.

Overall, I think this album is not quite as good as Dimension Hatross but on par with Killing Technology. I am yet to experience any other Voivod releases but will certainly endeavour to do so at the nearest opportunity.

As someone who much prefers Voivod’s true Thrash days, this is a hard album for me to rate. What Voivod were doing in their career with this and their previous album was pretty much unprecedented. No one had really combined Tech Thrash Prog Metal with weirdo avant-garde intricacies yet. Hell, there were barely any normal Prog Metal bands at the time. Voivod were already living in the 2000’s by the time they recorded Nothingface.

And yes, it is as interesting as it’s made out to be. Everything about it is odd in a very well done and endearing way. Never too odd to make it unapproachable (it was actually by far their catchiest album upon release) but always packing enough surprises to keep in interesting. The songs stand out with memorable riffs and some surprisingly catchy hooks, but they are all so odd that you never really get them memorized. There’s always something new to catch.

The weaknesses here are that there are a lot of start-stop tactics that just fracture the listening experience. They seem to change tempos and rhythms with the purpose of jolting you. Since they go for a much more melodic sound here, it’s really not enjoyable to be jolted and thrown when getting into some of the fantastic melodies and rhythms they lay down. Missing Sequences is a prime example of this; most of the song features speedy drumming and some of their best lead guitarwork to date, with some fantastic harmonized riffs. And then there are segments where everything just stops, ripping you from the trance they had crafted. Maybe to some this is an extra interest factor, but it takes away a lot for me.

Snake is also much better at doing harsh yells than singing. Another point their true Thrash days have over this.

Testing out some progressive thrash metal in the second part of my Ultimate Metal Family Tree band challenge, I've just reached Voivod's diverse technical progressive metal album Nothingface. That's right, I said "progressive metal"! The sound would inspire many bands like Dream Theater. It's in Loudwire's "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time" and longtime Voivod fans consider that album one of the band's top 3. It might not be available on CD nowadays, but there are other ways to listen.

The album has songs that each fall in one of two different categories; catchy and appreciable or technical and complex. I like both categories, so let's see if they're in balance or if this album is gonna be just an unequal mess...

The first song "The Unknown Knows" starts with a short intro as you floating into the dreamy atmosphere in waves of space and time before touching down on the moon of heaviness. The song itself is progressive and heavy with an amazing chorus like no other. That song has the most detail I've heard from a sci-fi progressive metal band, more than another band can put in an album. The best track here is the title track. The catchy lyrics fit Snake's vocals better than in the earlier thrashier albums. There is some increased atmosphere more than the earlier chaos that lacks control. You can't forget mentioning the cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine", sounding darker than the original. Call it "space metal" if you will, but there's still some prog-rock in that song, which might be why this album's in the Hall of Judgement. An out of this world classic!

The chord barrage and nebular grooves in "Missing Sequences" is a bit like Rush on steroids. "X-Ray Mirror" is so strangely bizarre, and it's not just the title. You have to take time to discover and understand all those changing details. hearing the band concentrate too much on the technical concept, but you'll be grasp it as more listens go by. "Inner Combustion" is a better progressive hit, which of course isn't as heavy as early Meshuggah but gives early Meshuggah the progressive kick to the thrash.

Next song "Pre-Ignition" is an uneasy song to flow through, but once again you'll get used to it eventually. It is technical and creative, but it does need a little more flow though. Then there's a more memorable approach in the catchy chorus of "Into My Hypercube" ("Transient illusion, clairvoyant suspension, translucid condition, principal connection"). And finally, there are some aggressive intricacies in the closing "Sub-Effect". See? There's still a bit of heavy aggression in this album. Voivod still has their metal in this progressive sound!

All in all, Nothingface marks a big turn for the band into their progressive metal era. More of their progressive elements would be more evident in subsequent albums such as Angel Rat, but this album is a grand definition of progressive metal/rock!

Favorites: "The Unknown Knows", "Nothingface", "Astronomy Domine", "Inner Combustion", "Into My Hypercube"

It’s quite alarming to think that my relationship with the unusual Canadian metal institution known as Voivod is now pushing out past the three decade mark but their 1989 album “Nothingface” was where it all stems from. I can vividly still recall my first encounter with the band. It was through a late-night radio program around that 1989/90 period & the song in particular was the opening track “The Unknown Knows”. I’d read a little bit about Voivod through articles in metal magazines but this particular track didn’t sound like any metal I’d heard before & I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it at first. But I used to tape all of these underground radio programs as they were only on once a week & I’d give them repeat listens for the next seven days. I’d even keep the best songs on mix tapes that I’d make up. Needless to say that there was something about that song that kept me coming back even though it took me well outside of my comfort zone & I think that sums up the “Nothingface” album in a way too. 

Voivod had begun life as a rough & ready speed metal outfit in the early 80’s with their influences ranging from Motorhead & Venom to hardcore punk with a little progressive rock thrown in for good measure. I didn’t mind their first two albums but things really started to take off when they began expanding on their prog rock influences & in doing so they created the critically acclaimed & seminal “Dimension Hatross” album in 1988; a record that had a particularly large impact on me personally. But 1989’s “Nothingface saw Voivod’s transition being completed with the band finally having reached a sound that was completely on the other side of the musical spectrum from where they first began. 

The production job on “Nothingface” is exceptional. Music this complex & dissonant requires a level of audio quality to be fully appreciated & producer Glen Robinson has done an excellent job at representing the nuances of what Voivod were trying to achieve here. Piggy’s dissonant guitar riffs are always beautifully defined while bassist Blacky offers just the right balance of grit & clarity whilst filling out the bottom end & front man Snake sits in a nice little niche all of his own. The overall balance & separation is excellent throughout & it’s hard not to compare it to the noisy mess that made up Voivod’s 1986 sophomore effort “Rrröööaaarrr”.  

Voivod have always been affiliated with the thrash metal movement but I have to admit that I’ve never been comfortable with that association to be honest. Their first two records hardly contained a single thrash riff & I’m much happier to describe them as dirty speed metal from a theoretical point of view. Those speed metal roots would become progressively more diluted with each effort though & “Nothingface” represents somewhat of a climax in the band’s musical & artistic development. Snake’s vocals take a cleaner & slightly quirky direction as he’s now completely dropped the abrasive edge of his early days.  He still sounds a little bit wacky though. Kinda like he could be a combination of Faith No More’s Chuck Mosley & Mike Patton. His delivery won’t be for everyone but I think he suits the unusual sound that Voivod were pushing at this stage in their career. Guitarist Piggy has always had a unique & noticeably dissonant sound built on Motorhead & punk rock but his ability to take that into new & progressive territory without ever sounding like he’s losing control is a real highlight. His guitar solos are perhaps more sporadic than in the past but when they have their time in the sun they generally offer something fresh & interesting from a melodic point of view. I could argue that Piggy’s ALWAYS been the highlight of Voivod’s sound but that would be down-playing his band-mates a little more than I’m comfortable with. And besides, the performance of bassist Blacky is nothing short of phenomenal here as he’s stepped out into waters that are generally reserved for the elite musicians of the prog rock spectrum. Particularly Chris Squire of Yes. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s Blacky’s contribution that leaves the most lasting impression on me here. 

Most fans would readily admit that “Nothingface” was the least metal & most light-weight album that Voivod had released to the time but I’m gonna go one step further & suggest that what we have here is no longer a metal release at all. It fits much more comfortably alongside the great works of King Crimson, Rush & Yes than it does the elite progressive metal releases. For starters, the guitar sound & style is completely devoid of palm-muting & the tone is much more akin to that of punk rock. The tempos are substantially more laid back than the band’s more ferocious earlier works & there’s nothing too intimidating about the overall atmosphere. There’s also a weird & adventurous feel to the music that I relate to bands like Mr Bungle (who were more than likely influenced by this record) & a less obvious but still apparent alternative element that makes me think of a band like Jane’s Addiction. It’s exhilarating stuff really & even though I don’t find any of this material to be genuinely classic, even the weaker tracks keep you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what strange direction Voivod will take off to next. There’s a lot of talk on the internet about how ridiculously complex & technical “Nothingface” is too but that’s not exactly true when you put it into a prog rock context. The changes don’t sound forced & I never feel that the band are simply throwing out technicality for the sake of impressing despite the clear abundance of skill on offer. But what this added complexity does when combined with the quirky vocal approach is make Voivod's product less accessible & despite being a noticeably lighter Voivod record, there’s no suggestion that “Nothingface” is a sell-out. It’s still an extremely challenging record as you won’t find any hit singles amongst this lot.  

A lot of the album’s marketing has been focused around the cover version of Pink Floyd but people need to remember that “Astronomy Domine” was taken from Floyd’s more psychedelic debut album rather than their radio-friendly mid-70’s to mid-80’s heyday & it’s a very good example of the cover version too. Some people seem to think that it interrupts the flow of the album but I disagree. If you forget that it’s a cover & simply listen to the music then I find that it works in the overall context of the tracklisting & is in fact one of the highlights of what is a very consistent album. There isn’t a weak track included although I have to admit that I don’t see a genuine classic here either & the high quality fades a little over the last three tracks which are still quite interesting but lack the hooks of the earlier material. 

Overall, “Nothingface” is more of an intriguing record than a classic one in my opinion. It may not be a match for Voivod’s genuinely amazing “Dimension Hatross” album from the previous year but it’s certainly a worthy addition to any collection & I rate it comfortably more highly than the band’s early speed metal works. 

For fans of: Rush, Yes, Mr. Bungle