Nothingface (Voivod album)

Nothingface
Studio album by
Voivod
ReleasedOctober 13, 1989 (1989-10-13)[1]
Recorded1989
StudioVictor Studio (Montreal, Canada)
GenreThrash metal, progressive metal
Length44:27
Label
ProducerGlen Robinson, Steve Sinclair
Voivod chronology
Dimension Hatröss
(1988) 		Nothingface
(1989) 		Angel Rat
(1991)

Nothingface is the fifth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Voivod. It was released by Mechanic/MCA Records on 1989. The album marked a change for the band, expanding their music into a more progressive rock/metal sound.[2] Several riffs are heavily influenced by Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", specifically the centre section of "Pre-Ignition".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[4]
NME9/10[5]
Rock Hard9.5/10[6]
Sputnikmusic5/5[7]

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.[8] A music video made for the album's third track, a cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine", received airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball.

In 2005, Nothingface was ranked number 350 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[9] Loudwire named the album at number 23 in their list "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time".[10] Kerrang! described the album as a "prog-thrash masterpiece".[11]

Track listing

All music written by Denis D'Amour, Jean-Yves Thériault and Michel Langevin, all lyrics by Denis Bélanger, except "Astronomy Domine" written by Syd Barrett.

No.TitleLength
1."The Unknown Knows"5:56
2."Nothingface"4:14
3."Astronomy Domine" (Pink Floyd cover)5:30
4."Missing Sequences"5:49
5."X-Ray Mirror"4:28
6."Inner Combustion"3:48
7."Pre-Ignition"5:11
8."Into My Hypercube"5:03
9."Sub-Effect"4:29

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
Production
  • Glen Robinson – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Benoit Lavallée, Rob Sutton – assistant engineers
  • Steve Sinclair – executive producer

References

  1. ^ "Voivod - Nothingface". Metal Storm. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  2. ^ Prato, Greg (September 10, 2005). "Voivod's Denis D'Amour, 45". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 37. p. 96.
  3. ^ Prato, Greg. "Nothingface - Voivod | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 401. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  5. ^ Staggers, Harley (November 18, 1989). "Voivod – Nothingface". NME: 35.
  6. ^ Stratmann, Holger (1989). "Review Album: Voivod – Nothing Face". Rock Hard (in German). No. 35. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  7. ^ "Review: Voivod - Nothingface". Sputnikmusic. September 7, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  8. ^ "Voivod Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  9. ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 70. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  10. ^ Hill, John (August 2, 2017). "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Law, Sam (June 24, 2021). "The 50 best albums from 1991". Kerrang!. Retrieved July 19, 2021.