A big shame for groove metal fans today as we learn that Matt Holt, ex-Nothingface singer, passed away on April 15th. While he was estranged from some of his former band mates, the particulars of that don’t outweigh that he was a big talent and rocked hard on some killer albums.
I remember my old band DIVEST was really influenced by the group’s Violence album, a ferocious record top to bottom and full of difficult screams and cool harmonized melodic passages that influenced some of my own style along with Alice In Chains. As a singer I def admired the range of Holt and that even people who only liked screaming couldn’t dismiss him because he could also really scream his head off. Glad I got to see them rip it live once opening for Pantera. I still think “Bleeder” fucking rules. RIP.