NOTHINGFACE

Honestly, if you'd have asked me what was going on in the progressive metal scene during the 80s, I'd have probably responded "What progressive metal scene?" without a moment's hesitation. Oh, well sure, there's Queensrÿche and their magnum opus "Operation: Mindcrime" which came out in the late 80s, and a handful of other worthy releases... but certainly nothing like this. Listening to "Nothingface" makes an album like "Operation: Mindcrime" sound like little more than a hair metal band's attempt at a concept album, rather than something truly progressive.

Voivod definitely has a lot to offer fans of thrash metal and punk, while also adding their own unique style of progressive metal into the mix. To this day I have not heard anything quite like it. This album is full of inventive guitar riffs, sudden tempo changes, and other such technical wizardry that fans of prog love so much. And holy damn, it's even got a fantastic cover of "Astronomy Domine", but don't let that be your main motivator for picking up the album, as all of the original songs on this album are more than worth your while.

And for the record, I love "Operation: Mindcrime", and I apologize for comparing the band to a hair metal outfit. :P