NOTHINGFACE

Now this is on of the more unique albums I've heard. I was intrigued by the claim that Voivod incorporated progressive elements into thrash metal. That is certainly the way to describe "Nothingface". It truly bridges the gap between prog and thrash. I was expecting thrash that perhaps stop and go, with clean elements, different time signatures, etc. However, that was not really the case. This is a true merger of thrash metal and prog.

This album has lots of double bass as is fairly fast paced, (with pretty thrashy sections throughout). However, it certainly pushes the boundaries of thrash metal. The bass is heavier than the guitar, (and the bass work is amazing on this album) the guitar is fairly high pitched and solo's are quite melodic and groovy. Of course there is the stop/go feel and technicality that we love in prog metal.

One of my favorite things about Voivod, and is heard almost exclusively on this album, is how there almost no tremolo picking used. Instead Denis D'Amour (Piggy) uses chords. These are often played on the higher end of the guitar, giving the album a really frantic feeling that I just love.

All the instruments on this album are amazing. The guitar work is unique and superb, the bass is wonderful and the drumming is pretty technical. The composition of the songs are great, and as mentioned before the frantic feeling guitar work really fits with thrash metal.

The only real downside to this album are the vocals. They are good, and I actually enjoy them pretty well. However, I found them a bit difficult at times. Every song on the album is good, and there are no real slow parts, (the one upside to being rooted in thrash I suppose is that songs are not long enough to grow old or have down parts).

While it is difficult to do, I can not give this album five stars. While I would say it is certainly a masterpiece, it just does not give me the feeling of a five star album. There is no weak song but "Into my Hypercube" and "Sub Effect" are a little on the weak side. Also, the Pink Floyd cover is well done but in my opinion, it is the weakest song on the album and some parts drag a little. While this is not Voivod's doing per se, it is a weak part in the chain. A great album that I would highly recommend for anyone. Four Stars