The temptation to just label this as utter shit and to end the review right there is an overwhelming one, but seeing as how much I raved about Voivod's first album, a bit of explanation is probably in order...

I'd like to think of myself as fairly open-minded when it comes to music, but this is just too out there for me. Voivod WERE one hell of a great death/thrash band on their first two releases, and as much as I didn't care for their 3rd album, I gave them credit for trying to push the boundaries of metal - but by the time of "Nothingface", they had pushed the boundaries so far out that this has absolutely no relevance to their past or metal in general. "Nothingface", in my opinion, is a complete load of rubbish - not because it's badly played (unless you consider squeaky/jangly jazz-like guitar progressions coupled with nasally melodramatic vocals to be "bad"), not because it's badly produced, and not because it's amateurish or incohesive - but because it lacks anything along the lines of real emotion... this seems to me to be nothing more than an exercise in being avantegard. I'm all for being avantegard mind you, but it's not a be all and end all - it's merely a means to an end. Unfortunately Voivod seem to think it's and end unto itself.

I really don't have anything else to say about this release - it's just not my cup of tea, and the only reason I'm bothering with it to begin with is because at one point, Voivod were a great band. Some of you might find this album to be worthwhile (such as the drug fiends amongst you - I've noticed that the only people I really know who dig later Voivod are all rampant drug consumers who like to "bake out" to this type of thing), but I feel pretty confidant in giving this the thumbs down as far as most LARM readers are concern...

© 1999 chorazaim