Review by Ben for Voivod - Nothingface (1989)

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.