NOTHINGFACE

Powerful metal music with an incongruously "nice" vocalist--he sounds too New Wave/post-punk--like he hasn't moved out of the 1980s and barely out of the late 70s. And the music itself occupies more of the high end of the octaval spectrum, making it not nearly as dark or heavy metal as I expected--more like new-wave punk or post- punk.

1. "Intro / The Unknown Knows" (5:55) Great opening. Vocal more like The Clash or The Ambitious Lovers.(8.5/10)

2. "Nothingface" (4:14) more of an avant vocal with a mezzo metal sound palate. (8.75/10)

3. "Astronomy Domine" (Pink Floyd cover) (5:30) suitably metallized. I don't really know (or like) the original) so this is a nice improvement. The best sounding song on the album so far. (9/10)

4. "Missing Sequences" (5:50) opens with a sinister musical and vocal display, until a shift at 0:45 takes it into more technically proficient punk territory. Weird chordal and tempo shifts beneath the singer's constant delivery. Too many shifts. It's as if many riffs and cut from other songs or ideas got all spliced together for this one. Weird, but kind of cool and clever. (8.75/10)

5. "X-Ray Mirror" (4:28) opens a little Crimsonian before turning more tech-metal. Vocally, I'm reminded of Bowie, Zappa, Peter Hammill, and Arto Lindsay. Nice guitar work throughout. (9/10)

6. "Inner Combustion" (3:48) IMHO, the Peter Hammill-like vocal doesn't really fit with the music. Arto Lindsay stylings in the second half. It's as if the band of musicians and the vocalist are operating in two different universes. (8/10)

7. "Pre-Ignition" (5:12) the most complexly constructed and cleverly executed song on the album, for once the lyrics are paled by the work of the musicians. (8.75/10)

8. "Into My Hypercube" (5:04) opens with a soft, gentle sonic palette--even the whispery vocal--until 0:35 when full power distortion is engaged and the vocalist restores his grit. Kind of a cool BLUE 'YSTER CULT Secret Treaties vibe to this one. (8.75/10)

9. "Sub-Effect" (4:30) not sure why, but I think this is my favorite song on the album. I think it's the melody and fitting shifts. (9/10)

Total Time: 44:31

I imagine people who like intelligent lyrics set to thin-walled guitar-bass-and-drums metal would love this.

B/four stars; an excellent heavier contribution to Prog World--especially as it's coming from the 1980s!