''Nothingface'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. It was released by Mechanic/

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

on 1989. The album marked a change for the band, expanding their music into a more

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

sound. Several riffs are heavily influenced by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

's "

The Rite of Spring , image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg , image_size = 350px , caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of ' , composer = Igor Stravinsky , based_on ...

", specifically the centre section of "Pre-Ignition".

Critical reception

''Nothingface'' is Voivod's most successful album to date, and their only album to enter the ''Billboard'' 200 charts, where it peaked at number 114. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

made for the album's third track, a cover of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

's "

Astronomy Domine "Astronomy Domine" (alternative "Astronomy Dominé") is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. The song, written and composed by the original vocalist/guitarist Syd Barrett, is the opening track on their debut album, ''The Piper at the Ga ...

", received airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more ob ...

''. In 2005, ''Nothingface'' was ranked number 350 in ''

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdrawn. ...

'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' named the album at number 23 in their list "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time". ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

'' described the album as a "prog-

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

masterpiece".

Track listing

All music written by Denis D'Amour,

Jean-Yves Thériault Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault (, born 15 December 1962) is the former bassist for Canadian thrash/progressive metal band Voivod. He co-founded the band and appeared on the first six albums – ''War and Pain'', ''Rrröööaaarrr'', ''Killing T ...

and

Michel Langevin Michel "Away" Langevin (born May 30, 1963) is a founding member and drummer of Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. He has been a constant member of the band since its formation in 1982. Langevin is credited with the creation of the mythology of ...

, all lyrics by

Denis Bélanger Denis "Snake" Bélanger (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of heavy metal band Voivod. Early life Bélanger grew up in Jonquière, Quebec. Career Bélanger joined Michel Langevin, D ...

, except "Astronomy Domine" written by

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

. Note: The original version combined the intro track and "The Unknown Knows" into one track. On later versions, both tracks were separated, with the intro track being either the first track or a pre-gap hidden track, which is followed by "The Unknown Knows".

Personnel

;Voivod *Snake (

) – vocals *Piggy ( Denis D'Amour) – guitar *Blacky (

) – bass *Away (

) – drums, artwork ;Production *Glen Robinson – producer, engineer, mixing *Benoit Lavallée, Rob Sutton – assistant engineers *Steve Sinclair – executive producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nothingface (Album) 1989 albums Voivod (band) albums MCA Records albums Noise Records albums