Whenever a trend is hot, you can be certain that numerous clone artists will jump on the bandwagon instead of having the guts to do their own thing. Rap-metal was extremely popular when the 21st century arrived and, not surprisingly, a glut of sound-alike bands tried to cash in by emulating
Korn,
Limp Bizkit, or
Kid Rock. But, thankfully,
Nothingface isn't one of them. The Washington, DC, residents steer clear of rap-metal on 2000's
Violence, which finds
Nothingface moving to TVT after recording for DCide and Mayhem in the late '90s. There is no rapping on this CD -- there are no guest appearances by
Eminem,
Old Dirty Bastard,
Lil' Kim, or
DMX, and
Nothingface doesn't sample anyone's hip-hop beats. Instead, the combo strives for freshness and originality, providing a compelling blend of melody and brute force.
Violence is hardly the first alternative metal release that manages to be melodic and blistering at the same time, but
Nothingface does bring together a variety of influences in a fresh-sounding way. On dark, angry tracks like "Everlasting Godstopper" and "For All the Sin,"
Nothingface successfully combines
Pantera's sledgehammer brutality with the melodic grunge (or post-grunge) of
Nirvana,
the Stone Temple Pilots, and
Bush. One minute, lead vocalist
Matt Holt is growling like a death metaller -- and the next minute, he is as accessible as
Pearl Jam's
Eddie Vedder. Much to the band's credit, all of these contrasts seem perfectly logical on
Violence, which is among the most memorable and interesting alternative metal releases of 2000. ~ Alex Henderson