Picture, if you will, the very concept of music. At its core, it is merely arrangements of sound that some may find pleasing. To the listener, however, music transcends what it is composed of to stimulate the listener's mind and even his soul at times. Each piece of music, in its own way, creates a world, some glimpse of another plane within the human mind, some more so than others. Diotima, the third album by New York progressive metal band Krallice, is one such work; each song a piece of the darkly serene world that the work as a whole creates, one of chaos, yet beauty amongst its ruins.
The intro track "-" (This review may be pretentious as hell, but even I can't justify that title) is brief, but sets the scene efficiently, where tremolo picking and blast beats combine to weave a dark tapestry. It gives way to a solemn guitar riff, which itself crossfades into the feedback of Inhume. There are few moments like this on the album, the other two such moments occurring on the title track and Telluric Rings, but these moments are a stark reminder that despite the beauty of the landscape, its jagged mountains and foreboding gloom still render these lands hostile and uninviting. Krallice are not a band known for being "evil" or "brutal", but the atmospheres evoked by these passages are quite dark indeed, and would work well if reworked into a black metal album. (Note: I don't consider Krallice to be black metal, despite their classification as such. If an artist uses the techniques of surrealism in addition to his own skills and vision, the painting is not exclusively a surrealist work.) Despite the overall solemnity of the album, there are still plenty of points at which some hint of celestial essence can be seen, as moonlight penetrating the clouds. The riff at 5:26 on Inhume, which is repeated shortly after, is an example of this, as is the first climax of Telluric Rings at 6:41.
A work of art is only as quality as its artist, and on that front Krallice certainly deliver. The twin vocalists, Mick Barr and Nick McMaster, complement the surrounding music perfectly, and, while some may find Barr's higher-pitched vocals grating, the album takes more of a focus on McMaster's growls, which are the deepest they've been throughout their discography on this record. The dual guitarwork of Barr and Colin Marston always strikes a balance between flashy and reserved, with solos used sparingly. Special mention goes to McMaster on bass duty; his playing does not mirror either of the guitars, but cuts its own path to augment the surroundings, often to the effect that lesser bands try to accomplish with over-the-top keyboards or orchestras. His work is the subtle undercurrent to the rest of the band's waves.
The album holds plenty of stand-out moments, but the most interesting of which to my ears is the track "Litany of Regrets". The production is compressed heavily, not to produce a lower sound quality overall, but to create a sort of motion to the song based around the bass drum pedal. The song keeps a consistent up-beat tempo throughout, which combined with the aforementioned compression, lends the track a sort of hypnotic quality. The music itself is heavily focused on repetition, with occasional theme changes, but ultimately returning to the central riff. "Litany of Regrets" is essentially the modern metal realization of an ancient shamanic trance ritual, a theme with the lyrics touch upon as well: "And the anchorite dreams/He dreams a shaman carving blood unto/Darkened cavern ribs/While shadows dance/To the ecstatic rhythms/Of the Pacan/He dreams of pages of gossamer and spider web/Whose words will not survive their altercation back to dust." The repetition may easily be seen as a weakness, but it fits the concept quite well. The album ends with another example of one of the things Krallice does best; taking a moment and building upon it until it envelops the listener. While not as bombastic as the last minutes of "Monolith of Possession" (from their previous album, Dimensional Bleedthrough), the outro of "Dust and Light" is a more than satisfying conclusion to Diotima, providing a fitting end to the sonic journey through forgotten lands.
In conclusion, Diotima must be viewed as a whole work, not on a song-by-song basis. It, like all Krallice albums, is not to be viewed on merits of its status as "metal", although to the patient listener, it has more than enough moments to satisfy those listeners as well. It crafts a world within the listener's mind, and then guides him on a journey, bearing witness to both beauty and savagery. If you are a fan of music as an artistic medium, or simply like quality progressive metal, Krallice is certainly a band to check out, with Diotima as another shining example of their status as craftsmen of sonic landscapes.
NON-PRETENTIOUS VERSION:
Krallice are clearly skilled musicians, with plenty of guitarwork to keep metalheads interested, if they can bear a bit of repetition in "Litany of Regrets" and each song blending together to create a whole instead of simply crafting memorable songs with hooks, choruses, etc. It's worth a listen to see if it's your thing, certainly, but I can't guarantee the appeal of it to a standard metal audience.
WHY DID I DECIDE TO DO THIS. IT BURNS. I WOULD HONESTLY RATHER HAVE WEASELS RIP MY FLESH THAN LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM AGAIN.
But alas, I must review this... "album" out of self-hatred and because I said I would in the last AS post. So, without further ado...
First, let me get this out of the way to appease naysayers (if there are even any who try to defend this album): I did listen to this whole album. TWICE. When I put myself through these albums I always put aside any preexisting notion of album quality, listen with a fresh mind, and try to find the best of it. But, both listens turned up empty. You heard me right. There is not a SINGLE REDEEMING QUALITY to this album. NONE WHATSOEVER.
The production is alright, I guess. I mean, it's overproduced and clipped to hell because "METAL IS LOUD \m/", but at least you can hear the instruments well enough, except for the bass, but this is Metallica after all. The concept could have worked if done by a group of musicians competent enough to actually pull it off convincingly. The album is based off of a series of controversial plays by the German playwright Frank Wedekind, and that in itself is loaded with potential! The stories are certainly dark and gritty, making it ripe for a metal concept album, and the play aspect makes it fitting for lengthy, progressive epics, recurring motifs, and other such thing. Hell, if this album were done by, say, Opeth, it'd be a masterpiece!
I can never not find a use for this picture.
But here's the thing: Metallica, with their collaboration with Lou Reed, are trying to be something they aren't. They're a thrash metal band, first and foremost (and a suffocatingly generic one at that); they simply aren't suited to the lengthy compositions that this type of subject material calls for. Before the album released, there was some possibility that Lou Reed, in all of his polarizing weirdness, might be able to bring the album past mediocrity, and if it did turn out to be shit, it'd certainly be spectacularly shitty. But, unfortunately, it seems like the bulk of the music was done by Metallica. Lou Reed's biggest contribution to this release is vocals. I know he's Lou Reed and he's supposed to be polarizing and avant-garde and all of that type of stuff, but here, he simply sounds like an old man, and that, combined with the lyrical content of the album, raises the album to new heights of disturbing mental imagery. Take the first track, Brandenburg Gate, and envision this: C-major tuned acoustic chords start the track off, and it all sounds swell, maybe even exciting, when SUDDENLY YOU GET AN OLD MAN STATING THAT "I WOULD CUT MY LEGS AND TITS OFF WHEN I THINK OF BORIS KARLOFF AND KINSKI"
And that's among the least cringeworthy of Lou Reed's vocal sections.
For me, it's not the lyrical content itself, I mean it's certainly unnerving, but there's a difference between unnerving to get across the intended concept, and then there's creepy-perverted old dude unnerving. Maybe if these lines were done by a guest female singer or something, it'd be much improved. But nope, we're stuck with Lou Reed and James Hetfield doing this. With James Hetfield's backing vocals repeating "Small-town giiiiiiirrrrllll!" amidst Lou Reed's creepy old-dude vocals, you'd think that this was an elaborate joke on the fans. And let's not even delve into Hetfield's now-infamous outburst of "I am the table!" on The View. Special mention goes to Little
Dog, the second track of disc two, for being pure, unadulterated WHAT
THE FUCK IS THIS WHY IS THIS EVEN A THING.
And then there's the repetition. Oh, GODS, the repetition. On the fourth track, Mistress Dread, the first riff is an almost decent Metallica-caliber one, finally kicking the album into the long-awaited thrash metal experience that Metallica are known for! ...And then it keeps going. And going. For the rest of the song. Which also happens to be seven-minutes long. Later, the second-disc song Dragon seems to show some promise with the building-up of the central riff and the increasing heaviness and speed, but again, it's the same riff being repeated for 11 minutes, UNINTERRUPTED. It's literally the only riff in the song! There's verse-chorus-verse song structure with some repetition, and then there's second-wave black metal repetition, AND THEN THERE'S THIS. Sure, the repetition might not be as bad if the riffs were some really great ones, but these are among the most simplistic and generic riffs that Metallica has ever released. (Even by Metallica standards!) That, combined with Lou Reed's aforementioned creepy-old-guy vocals already negates 95% of anything this album had going for it. Case-in-point, the final track, Junior Dad. It's twenty minutes long, and at least ten of those minutes consist of a strings section playing the exact same chords. The orchestra apparently does perform throughout the album, but I barely noticed it, and it's a damn shame that they were consigned to THIS.
It's boring. It's pointless. It's poorly-executed. It's Lulu, the much-maligned collaboration between Metallica and Lou Reed, and rightfully so as I have borne witness to. Some concepts are better left to memory, for the sake of mankind. I'd say it deserves to be heard just for how much of an atrocity it is, but hearing this entire album is a fate I would wish on no man. If you want experimental Metallica, check the Load albums. If you want Metallica with an orchestra, check the S&M live performance. Spare your sanity and forget that this album exists.
I'm beginning a new segment here on this blog, because why the hell not. In this new segment, Audio Sadism, I put myself through the most despised albums for your personal entertainment, maybe discovering something of merit in them along the way! Or it can just be godawful and I can hate myself more for listening to it, it could go either way. The first album that I'll be reviewing for this segment is the infamous St. Anger by Metallica. There've been a lot of hefty claims against this album made, like how Lars Ulrich's snare drum sounds like a trash can, the songs are the worst that Metallica have done, the production is terrible, and so on. So I put myself through this album, and here's what I think of it.
Yes, I have to agree that the snare drum
sounds awful and can be more than enough to ruin the feel of some songs.
Lars' drumming ranges from typical Lars to almost exceptionally
mediocre, such as the reoccurring Lars-ism to do a punky thrash beat
with only one bass drum per bar. The riffs are often mediocre (St. Anger's
entire structure flows around a generic descending chord structure),
the lyrics are typical angsty-teenager tripe, and the whole thing seems
shoddily put-together. I mean, this is Metallica, so of course it's not
gonna be about proggy song structures or poetic lyrics or anything like
that. The focus of any Metallica album is the thrashy aggression, right?
Well, I guess there are some decent thrash moments on the album, but in
the face of more extreme metal genres and bands, it pales in
comparison, even to the older Metallica albums.
To give it some credit,
there's a few decent cuts on the album (Personal favorites are Frantic,
The Unnamed Feeling, Dirty Window, and All Within My Hands), and I can
get that they may have been going for a more raw-sounding album. Some
songs like Invisible Kid drag on and repeat far too many times, which
really disrupts the flow of the album, or at least what little flow it
seems to have. It would have been a much better thrash album had the
band not focused on dragging things out to attempt complex song
structures and focused on the most important thing in any Metallica
album, which is the thrashy aggression. It's not terrible as everyone
claims it to be, but it's certainly not a great album by any stretch of
the imagination. I'd only recommend it if you're a die-hard Metallica
fan and desperate for every scrap of metal that you can find.
So there you have it. St. Anger, while mid-range at best, it never really goes to the levels of piss-poor that everyone claims it does. Hell, it's certainly not as bad as a certain... OTHER Metallica album. (That one's next, as soon as I can find the spiritual strength to put myself through that abomination again and put my disgust into words.)
I have been absolutely obsessed with this album for the last month now. I don't know exactly what the circumstances were for my love of Nattens Madrigal, be they mood, certain subjects of interest to me at the time, etc. But no matter the the reason, I immediately took to it and never let go. Although Nattens Madrigal is a 90s Norwegian black metal album, it is anything but simplistic, far surpassing bands like Burzum and Darkthrone to create a complex and musical album behind the walls of noise.
Ulver are a highly... polarizing band, to say the least. After their
first three albums, each in a different style but all influence in some
aspect or another by the 90s Norwegian Black Metal scene, they decided
to leave their roots behind and start making avant-garde, industrial,
electronica, dark ambient, 60s psychedelica, and other such genres. The
discrepancy between the band's eras has caused much conflict among
Ulver's fanbase. While I enjoy each of their albums, a special place in
my library (and heart) is reserved for Nattens Madrigal - Aatte hymne
til ulven i manden (or, in English, The Madrigal of Night - Eight Hymns
To The Wolf In Man). And yes, that relatively lengthy title describes
perfectly the contents of the music.
If you ask any random
metalhead about Nattens Madrigal, chances are the first thing to come to
mind is the production. The production here is almost indescribably raw
and harsh, and I cannot deny that to the unseasoned ear, it will take
quite a bit of getting used to. It may very well be a turn-off for some
people. But that is not to say that the production quality is completely
pointless, as I find it to be an extension of the atmosphere and
musical content contained within. Despite the harsh, lo-fi sound,
surprisingly, there is one aspect found here that almost no other black
metal album ever provides: Beauty. The riffs are harsh, yet quite
musical, with sections covering the gamut of human (or otherwise)
emotions. Yet another aspect is the lyrical concept. The album is a tale
of a man's transformation into a werewolf at the hands of Satan, and
the events which transpire that mark his unholy gift as both blessing
and curse. Although the lyrics themselves are written entirely in a
Norwegian dialect, there are also English translations, which reveal the
lyrics for what they truly are; some of the most haunting, almost
romantic lyrics in all of black metal. The music reflects the story
perfectly, with both unspeakable violence and haunting melody where
called for.
In this manner, Nattens Madrigal stands as a
testament to dichotomies. Nature's beauty and its relentless harshness.
The wolf's majestic yet animalistic behavior. Human love and hate. Death
as a part of life, and life as a part of death. No matter what your
thoughts are on the music itself, it is without a doubt an experience
that will stick with you for quite a while. Its morbid-yet-alluring
atmosphere and poetic lyricism propel Nattens Madrigal beyond being
simply "a black metal album" and into the realm of music as an art form.
I absolutely recommend the album to any metalhead, as well as anyone
interested in the concept of music as an art form, fans of Norwegian
Gothic poetry, and those unconvinced of black metal's legitimacy as
"music".
Standout tracks:
Hymne I - Of Wolf And Fear
Hymne III - Of Wolf And Hatred
Hymne VI - Of Wolf And Passion
Hymne VIII - Of Wolf And The Night
WE ARRRE THE SOOOONS OF WIIIIINTER AND STAAAAAAAAAARS
10000000000/5
Oh, fine, I'll do an actual review.
Wintersun, for those of you who aren't already in the know, is a Finnish melodic extreme metal project started by Jari Mäenpää (formerly of Ensiferum) in 2003, with the first Wintersun album being released in 2004. This album was, and still is, one particularly prime cut of metal, defying the label of melodic death metal to incorporate elements of power, folk, neo-classical, black, and even progressive metal, all while having its own sound and songwriting qualities. After this, the band played some live tours, and went to record the next album, tentatively titled Time. However, during the process of the recording, everything that could possibly go wrong did. Production issues. Growing ambitions. Lineup changes. Jari's own battle with tuberculosis. Touring. So, after almost nine years of development, the first half of Wintersun's magnum opus-to-be, Time, was released to the public (at least in America, it released in Europe three days prior) on October 22, 2012 (which is five days ago at the time of this review). So, after all the hype, not to mention the long-ass production time, is Time I an auditory masterpiece or the Duke Nukem Forever of metal?
The first thing to be noticed about the album is its length. Obviously, from the name Time I, it implies that there'd be a Time II, and this album is effectively one half of a larger album. The second thing is the differences in sound. On this album, Jari utilizes a far more epic-sounding orchestra, complete with choir. The composition of the parts used in the song is, quite frankly, some of the best orchestral elements used in a metal album. It could be labeled as a real orchestra and choir, and it'd be completely believable. A lot of the melodies used in the album also have a bit of influence from Japanese folk music. There are only five tracks (plus a hidden track of the band members fooling around in the studio), two of which are instrumental interludes, so there are, in effect, only three real songs on the album. However, two of the songs are longer than 10 minutes, with the third approaching 9 minutes. It's a textbook example of quality over quantity, because every single song on this album is amazing. Yes, even the shorter interludes. When Time Fades Away ranks pretty damn high on my list of "Most Epic Album Intros", and it can certainly be admired of its own musicality, rather than just being a great intro. This fades into Sons of Winter and Stars, a 14-minute behemoth of a track that is also comprised of four sections, much like Starchild from the first Wintersun album. Jari is a hell of a songwriter, and it shows. The third section, in particular, shows how much his songwriting has evolved since the first album, with it being a soft, acoustic section that is extraordinarily well-executed for this type of album, and fits perfectly within the context of the song. The third track, Land of Snow and Sorrow, is essentially Death and the Healing, Part 2, but showcasing Jari's much-improved clean singing. His vocals do a stellar job of conveying the emotion of the surrounding music, which, after repeated listens, is among some of the best Wintersun songs composed thus far, IMO. After that, Darkness and Frost serves as a segue between the previous track and Time, the 11-minute title track of the not-quite-double-album. Darkness and Frost has an entrancing quality to it, with its backmasked acoustic background which builds into an epic orchestral arrangement, complete with what sounds like an army chanting in the background by its conclusion. Time rounds off the album, with another consistently excellent orchestration, a beautiful chorus melody, its shifting, almost progressive structure, and the only real guitar solo on the album. The song, and the album, ends on a musical cliffhanger for the next album, ending with a dark, almost ambient synth/orchestra piece that leaves the listener wanting more.
The album, as a whole, can be seen as both an album on its own, and half of a larger album. Some may be disappointed by the focus on the orchestral-qualities of the music and reduced amount of guitar heroics compared to the first album, but you can't argue with the results. Time I is, without a doubt, one of the best albums of the year, and that is really saying something considering both the lack of good metal albums this year and the quality of the music provided here. Again, quality over quantity. And once Time II releases (currently set to 2013, but god knows how many times it'll be delayed if this half is any indication), there'll be plenty of the latter as well. This album needs to be experienced by every self-proclaimed metalhead,
or anyone with good taste in songwriting, or melody that also happens to
have an epic-beyond-epic orchestral backing. Hell, even people without a
liking for metal would probably love the interludes, at least. Simply put, the music is amazing, and once the second half releases, Time will most likely be Wintersun's magnum opus, and one of the best metal albums of the 21st century.
So, to paraphrase the opening sentiment:
WE ARRRE THE SOOOONS OF WIIIIINTER AND STAAAAAAAAAARS
What's that, you say? You say that Parts 3 through 5 aren't done yet? Well, you see, there's a simple explanation.
I'm a time traveler.
Like this, but with more black coffee and metaphorical cheeseburgers.
About a month ago, Epicloud released, the fifth entry to Devin's Devin Townsend Project album series. As a tribute to this, I've decided to skip ahead in my admittedly-neglected series and review the four of the five albums consisting of the "story-arc" of the Devin Townsend Project (the name and logo are being kept for branding purposes, and because it'd be a shame to get rid of such a bitchin' logo).
LOOK AT IT.
LOOK AT IT.
LOOK AT IT.
Strap yourselves in, because it's gonna be a wild ride through Devy-land. Our first stop:
KI
Why don't you hop in the TARDEV and go on a little time-traveling ride with me? It'll be a relatively short one. I promise. Open the door for me, would you? BAM. It's 2007, and Devin Townsend has just announced his intentions to retire from the public eye after releasing the kick-ass metal sci-fi satire opera, Ziltoid the Omniscient. This announcement comes hot on the heels of his disbanding Strapping Young Lad due to a lack of motivation to continue the project any further. He claims that he will continue to produce more solo albums, and intends to do some stuff that's just as heavy as SYL. Now hop on back in the TARDEV, there's a good chap. Get that door for me again? Thanks. It's now 2009, Devin's back from his hiatus and recording albums again under the moniker of Devin Townsend Project, with a whole new group of band members and a shiny new logo to boot.
WE GET IT, STOP ALREADY
According to Devin, the project will be a series of four albums, each with a different musical style and different band members (in the future, this will prove to be inverted due to Ryan Van Poederooyen's involvement in pretty much everything). The first album, Ki, will "set the stage" for the entire project. Even though Devin's pretty much detailed all but the most obvious aspects at this point, nobody really knows what to expect. Will it be as heavy as SYL? Will it be another ambient album? Will it be the reformation of Ocean Machine? Well, the correct answer, as we know back in our home time period of 2012, is D: None of the above. Ki, which was released on May 25, 2009 was revealed to be a mellow, acoustic album with elements of progressive, ambient, blues, and funk, all interspersed with the occasional outbursts of HOLY SHIT METAL. The Devin Townsend Project, for this album, consisted of the man himself, Duris Maxwell on drums (formerly known as Ted Lewis if you're a blues fan), Jean Savoie on bass, Che Dorval on backing vocals, and Dave Young on keyboard/piano.
The fact that Ki turned out to go in this particular direction was somewhat out of left field, but not entirely unexpected. It was common knowledge at the time that Devin was having a hell of a struggle with drug addiction. Thankfully, he managed to face his issues head on, go to rehab, shave the Legendary Skullet of Power (R.I.P.), and begin a journey of self-discovery through music. Of course, it was predicted that after this purge, none of his musical output would be as heavy or as chaotic as songs written before, like the Alien album. But few could have expected Ki to be as mellow and progressive as it was.
Ki is, in essence, a complete musical relation of Devin's life at that point. Yeah, the album's concept is nice, and fittingly pretentious for any sort of prog, but is the music itself any good? Oh, it's a musical journey, and not just if your name is Devin Townsend, but for all listeners.
It begins with a very mellow, beautiful but melancholy instrumental track named A Monday, if the track title helps you envision the atmosphere the song's going for any clearer. This segues into Coast, a bit more upbeat track (and the album's one music video). Coast has a bit of a build to it as far as atmosphere and effects go, culminating with an acoustic chord progression repeating and wait is that an electric guitar coming into focus, oh mY GOD THIS IS HEAVY AS SHI- and it's gone, an acoustic guitar's solitary (very reverb-y, as the acoustics tend to be on a lot of the album) lick interrupting the chaos, bringing an aspect of peace back to the record. The recurring motif of mellow, acoustic vibes being interrupted by bouts of chaos is one of the musical themes of the album. Disruptr (sic) continues the trend of proggy acoustics, building up to another heavy section, but this time it maintains its composure, stopping itself before it loses control. Atmospheres get thicker, reverbs get reverbier, it seems to be doing fine UNTIL- The metal comes in at the full force only hinted at during the ending of Coast, yelling at us (or is it itself?) to "BE A GODDAMN MAN, BOY", until it has an emotional breakdown and returns to the melancholy vibe of A Monday. From there, it builds itself back up, slowly but surely, until it almost throws itself over the edge again, stopping itself suddenly before it does so. The next track, Gato, is a bit more upbeat, and repeats the same theme of acoustics building up into chaos, it losing itself, and building itself back up again, but this time with a few new compositional tricks up its sleeve. I know that it seems like a lot of the tracks so far are the same, but each manages to have its own identity, and is instantly recognizable, even to the casual listener.
The next track is Terminal, another entirely acoustic track, which seems to be the point during the album where it just stops and recollects itself, looking back on past events. Terminal is pretty simplistic as far as the guitar goes, and somewhat mellow, but not quite as obviously melancholy as A Monday. The entire point of this song is the atmosphere, which it brings in spades in the form of a somewhat-hard-to-describe fashion. If I had to describe it, I'd say it was like the combination of a busy airport and a hospital waiting room, both of which happen to bring separate meanings to the title. After this, the album begins anew its seemingly-downward spiral with Heaven's End (named Heaven Send everywhere you look, but the former is the official title according to Devin). Heaven's End is where the album really starts to just give up on itself, not just lyrically but also musically. After the first few minutes of acoustic build, the album starts going into full-on chaos mode for extended amounts of time, repeatedly, even featuring the one real electric guitar solo on the album. Right after it ends, the band talks amongst itself, and IT DIVES RIGHT BACK IN, with another repetition of the chorus section. This segues right into Ain't Never Gonna Win, a jam between the band that sounds mellow, but very funk-inspired, even featuring Devin doing scat vocals at times. The transition between the two tracks seems jarring from the description, but it really does fit rather well. This is followed up by Winter, another simplistic, reverb-y acoustic track focusing on atmosphere rather than musical showmanship. Winter, atmospherically, is moodier than Terminal, and even A Monday, but not as outright melancholic as the latter. It's somewhat upbeat, but dark.
To begin the final third of the album, a train's whistle blows. All aboard! It's time for Trainfire, the most chaotic track on the album. Rather than going for the mellow prog acoustics of the last few tracks, Trainfire starts with... 60s-era Rock 'n' Roll? It sounds like Devin covering a long-lost Elvis Presley song, but then the chorus comes and everything just goes haywire, delving into the most chaotic metal outburst seen on the album. To the listener's surprise, the punishment subsides, leaving only the drums, an acoustic guitar, and Che Dorval's vocals, heard here for the last time on the album. The apparent "muse" of the album fades away, and it is left with only itself to finish its journey. The next track, Lady Helen, is another melancholic song, the first non-interlude track in the album to be entirely acoustic, without collapsing in on itself in a wave of metal. There is also a piano part on this song that adds to its nostalgic quality. The track ends with an almost hopeful section, a reminder to keep its "eyes forward" as it nears its conclusion. The track then becomes an acoustic jam backed entirely by ambience and atmospheric noises with no drums in sort, which then fades into the title track, Ki. Ki is the happiest track on the album, showing that the album has, in a way, made peace with itself, becoming accepting of what it is, for better or for worse. After a few minutes of happy acoustics, it begins a series of sweep-picked arpeggios, as an electric guitar begins to build in the background. But this time, it is not of chaos or mania that the guitar stems from, but rather, ecstasy, in a moment of epiphany. When it reaches full blast, it is heavy, but content, representing the revelation of self-acceptance hinted at earlier. Then... it stops, leading into Quiet Riot, which musically is an acoustic version of the chorus of Cum On Feel The Noize by the band that the song is named after, with different lyrics. A change of pace, sure, but a fitting end to the musical and emotional journey that is Ki. Or... is it? After two minutes of silence, the track Demon League starts up, another short acoustic, atmospherical piece. It is brooding, but, unlike the other tracks with their melancholic air about them, simply unsure of itself. Demon League is a statement of uncertainty and "Where do we go from here?", leaving the rest of the project ambiguous.
That is, until November 17, 2009, on which the second installment of the project was released...
ADDICTED
Ki was musically and conceptually pretty heavy, so to follow it up, Addicted was released, as a sort of delicious dessert after the large meal that preceded it. Addicted is, at its heart, a heavy metal album with an almost pop sensibility to it, not even close to extreme metal like Strapping Young Lad, but not quite hard rock either. This time around, the DTP consisted of Devin, Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums, Brian Waddell on bass, and Anneke Van Giersbergen, formerly of the Swedish prog-rock group The Gathering, on backing vocals, although she gets some prominent solo time over the course of the album. The theme of Addicted is that of celebration, of focusing on the here and now, through the best and worst of times, living life to its fullest, and all of that type of stuff. Seeing as how Addicted is much easier to listen to casually and is more accessible to the general listener, there is no need for a detailed track-by-track analysis here, but the album as a whole has some very consistent themes. As stated before, the album has an air of celebration about it, and even when it's at its heaviest, it continues to revel in the overwhelming joy of life and love. Each track is a standout here, with their own song structures and feels. Addicted! is a heavy-ish song with a driving beat and a shouted chorus, while Supercrush! (a personal favorite of mine and Jama7301's) is almost epic in scope, with Anneke's spine-tinglingly beautiful verses alternating with Devin's soaring choruses. Hyperdrive!, originally a track off of Ziltoid the Omniscient, was remade for this album, with Anneke handling the entire vocal track. This version is slightly more upbeat, and at the end, one small but crucial lyrical change is made when what originally ended the track with "She loves me not" cuts out before the "not" on the remake. In my opinion, both have their own strengths, but technically, the version on Addicted is the superior one. Numbered! is another track that entices shivers from the listener due to the sheer beauty of its chord progressions and one particularly effective bridge section. The album ends with Awake!!, the verse riff of which strongly resembles a riff that a band like Pantera would play (a fact that Devin knowingly pokes fun at, saying "Walk on home, booooyyy!" at one point). This gives way to another haunting chorus driven home by Anneke's vocals, and a bridge with Devin shouting of the importance of living in the now over some chugging. After the first half of the song, the track is slowly but surely deconstructed piece by piece, until all that is left is a repeated clip of Anneke singing that "All the world's a stage" and an ambient pad. Even Anneke's vocals fade away in the end, leaving only Devin, ruminating "And I saw that maybe... there was nothing more?". This ends the album as the ambient pad takes two minutes to fade out, leaving another ambiguous ending for the next installment.
Now that the celebration is over, it's time for the project to go into full steam, facing its issues head-on. After an almost two-year wait, the final two installments of the Project, Deconstruction and Ghost, were released on June 20, 2011.
DECONSTRUCTION
This is it. This is the one that most of Devin's fans were anticipating since the announcement of the DTP. An epic progressive metal album, backed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, an Amsterdam choir, and a large selection of guest musicians from the metal scene (Devin Townsend and Mikael Akerfeldt? Sign me up!) The DTP itself consisted of The Dev pulling triple duty on guitars, vocals, and bass, and Ryan Van Poederooyen and Dirk Verbeuren alternating on drums. The album also featured a rather lengthy list of guest vocalists from various metal bands, all of which have relatively small roles, so don't be scared of Devin having a minimized presence on the album.
The album begins with Praise The Lowered, which at first glance seems like an Addicted B-Side, albeit slightly darker in tone. Then... IT HITS. Electric guitars build in the background in a manner not unlike some tracks on Ki, and a brief moment of buzzing noise accompanied by Devin shouting to "SMOKE THAT FUCKING... WEED, BOY", followed by one of the heaviest singular moments in the album, accompanied by Paul Kuhr of November's Doom growling in the background amidst the choir. After a minute or so of sheer unadulterated chaos, it fades away, leaving only an electronic pad, during which an almost militaristic drum pattern fades in, signaling the beginning of Stand. Most of the song follows the aforementioned marching drums, with the exception of a muted almost ambient section near the middle. The guitars are palm-muted for the first verses, after the first of which a sample of an army marching is set to the rhythm of the drums. Then, after Devin asking if the listener is ready, the guitars come in full-blast as Devin does some shouted vocal lines before going into an amplified version of the verse riff, this time with the choir chanting and Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth doing some background growls. Then, after an absolutely immense chorus of "STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND", a guitar solo is played, followed by a few seconds of marching chaos, and suddenly... silence. Devin does an almost whispered vocal passage among some background noises before the guitars fade back in, doing a breakdown with an interesting time-signature before going back into "STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND". After a repetition of the chorus section, the almost 10-minute track comes to a close to some objects whirring about, followed by Devin screaming, signaling the beginning of Juular, the album's one (official) single.
Juular is a very fast-paced track with a frantic but contained drum pattern maintained throughout the track. Devin's verses here are very sing-alongy, but in a demented way. I've seen people online comparing this track to what would happen if Tim Burton started doing metal, and I'm obliged to agree with that statement. After two verses, growling vocals from the character of Juular are done by none other than Ihsahn (of Emperor and his own solo project). According to Devin, the concept of this song within the album is that of the protagonist's encounter with a religious zealot, living an ascetic lifestyle of blowing into a jug for all eternity in atonement for his sins. Ihsahn plays the part rather well, even if it's a bit out of left field for anyone familiar with his solo work. The orchestra and choir on this track just keep building through the duration, culminating during the last minute of the track when everything descends into madness, the bridge riff progression is repeated once more, and it fades away, leaving only the beginnings of a twinkling keyboard in its wake. This keyboard gives rise to Planet of the Apes, another 10-minute piece. The first half of the song seems to be both a parody and a tribute to djent, one of the newer sub-subgenres to be popularized in the scene by bands such as Meshuggah and Periphery. What seals the deal is near the second quarter of the song, when Devin shouts "While we all have lots of bands who influence still, we all rip off Meshuggah!" The orchestra does a stellar performance on this track in particular, especially during the second half. After the djent section comes to an end, the song seems to chill out a bit, going into an almost-but-not-quite happy-sounding section before diving right back into the djent-inspired heaviness, with Tommy Giles Rogers from Between The Buried And Me doing some kickass growling vocals over top. After a repetition of this and a descending picking passage with the choir singing "Jesus, Jihad, Jesus, Jihad...", the song goes into a somewhat surreal passage with the drums going at full speed ahead, just as in Juular, but with only a sole guitar doing some tremolo picking and Devin singing. This goes into the recurring lyrical motif that "One is all collective, tungsten body, glowing mind" as the orchestra kicks into gear with some of the best work on the album. There's even a techno-synth at one point. The song nears its end when Devin, ever the sarcastic, interrupts the choir by yelling "WANK" before playing a solo that is, indeed, masturbatory, but purposefully so. After a few more repetitions of the "One is all collective" line, the song ends.
Directly after Planet of the Apes comes to a halt, in comes Sumeria, the promo-single-of-sorts that leaked on a radio station before the album released. This song, while not as outright djent as its predecessor, does somewhat follow in the same vein in a shorter amount of time. Much of the middle section is based around a certain breakdown with the vocal stylings of Joe Duplantier (Gojira). The choir is showcased as well, especially during the pre-chorus and chorus. After the last repetition of the pre-chorus, the song abruptly ends with a xylophone melody and Paul Masvidal of Cynic singing. This brief section is the only respite from the chaos in the entire album. Next comes the album's centerpiece track, a monumental progressive metal track, dare I say, one of the most over-the-top songs in the entire genre, but also an acknowledgement of just how damn wanky the prog metal genre can be. A song of this nature can only have one title worthy of its glory, and that title is... The Mighty Masturbator.
The Mighty Masturbator begins simply enough, with a minute or so of a single acoustic guitar and Devin singing, as the orchestra begins to fade in. Then... BAM. The orchesta, choir, and the rest of the band come in full blast, with a call-back to the bridge section of Numbered! off of Addicted, albeit heavier, crazier, and with extended lyrics. After a few like-minded riffs (including one absolutely bad-ass section, "Now, comes the time, where the night speaks to me..." etc.) before fading out to the sounds of a man... relieving himself as another character begins ranting on his abilities to save the world, complete with his "saving-the-world-boots" before a bat-shit insane complex series of arpeggios begins, with Devin now singing as the Save-The-World character. After a repetition, the guitars fade into the background and the choir begins to scat, lending an almost carnival atmosphere to the section before returning to the main structure. After a few other arpeggios, Devin's vocals are interrupted by a man who may or may not be Ziltoid the Omniscient reciting the values of Pi, but getting stuck at the second digit. This goes into a weird-ass ambient electronic section which gives way to AN ALIEN RAVE WITH THE LEADER OF THE RAVE RANTING ABOUT ACCEPTANCE INTO THE INTERGALACTIC COMMUNITY. HOLY SHIT. This goes into a vaugely-raveish section with the remaining people chanting "Give it up... your world... give it up... your world, world, world, world" that is as catchy as it is jarring, especially with a little off-timing beeping rhythm that Devin put in the section maybe to screw with the listeners, I don't know. But it works. After a minute or so, Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan) starts ranting about how the people PRAISE GAAAAAHHHHHDDD, which after a countered section from Devin, a section which I would not mind listening to if it alone as as long as this whole middle section) before Greg switches to WE PRAISE OURSELVEEEEESSSSSSSSSS, countered by another, slightly different vocal section from Devin, and then the entire thing just goes even more bat-shit insane than it already is, with the orchestra and instrumental lines taking a turn for the sinister as Greg brings the middle section home with a cry of WE PRAISE SAAAAAAATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN before Greg retreats from the conflict, their one shot at salvation now completely destroyed. This fades out... and is interrupted by Devin, doing vocals for the leader of humanity now, urging his followers to follow him into the stars. This whole section is really proggy, switching between 4/4 and 5/4 timesigs on a dime, sometimes with a mini-guitar solo interjected for good measure, switching back to Greg for 30 seconds or so, before rounding it up with... ZILTOID THE OMNISCIENT. After a heavy guitar section that seems to be building up to something heavy as a really heavy thing, it goes into... CARNIVAL MUSIC.Well, not quite, it's a remake of The Infinite Waltz section off of Procession from the Christeen + 4 Demos EP with a full orchestra and choir, with Ziltoid nonsensically ranting over it all "See the man with seventeen testicles! Two for one! Indeed!" before proclaiming his status as The Mightyyyyyy Masturbatoooorrrrr! This behemoth of a masterpiece ends with one final and quite lengthy AMEN from the choir and orchestra.
From this point on, the album goes into completely chaotic and unpredictable mode, starting off with Pandemic. Pandemic is another short track, almost like Juular on a cocktail of cocaine and amphetamines. Floor Jansen (After Forever, ReVamp) does some vocals on this track which are just stellar. On the twenty seconds or so of her total time on the song, those twenty seconds are probably the best seconds of the song. The rule on this track is EARRAPE and MINDRAPE at the same time. Seriously, it's that dense. At one point it even goes into a ridiculous solo, not ridiculous in its technicality, but in its melody and its time signature of godknowswhat/8 before going into a techical solo. The song ends once the intro is reprised, just as chaotic and blastbeat-y as ever. Suddenly, the delicious sounds of a man with diarrhea flows forth from the listener's headphones, signaling the arrival of Deconstruction, the 9-minute title track and the song that got your humble narrator into the wacky world of Devland. There is simply no other way to describe this track other than gloriously bat-shit insane. From the random outbursts from the choir about SEX, POVERTY, MONEY, and an awesomely-misemphasized HAPPINESS (you'll know what I mean when you hear it), to Oderus Urungus of GWAR's speech on the purpose of life, said in almost-Ziltoidian fashion, to the endless waves of guitar sweeps and other forms of madness/wankery that accent and follow it. Eventually, this gives way to Devin's realization that... "GOOD LORD, IT'S A CHEESEBURGER! A DOUBLE!", which results in the orchestra and choir singing hymns about said cheeseburger, which is said to hold the secrets of the universe between its buns. All of this proves to be simply too much, however, as Devin exclaims "But I don't eat the cheeseburgers, guys, I'm a vegi-ma-tarian" before the batshit insanity of the last few minutes returns in full blast, with Devin ranting on the left sound channel about everything imaginable while a sped-up conversation clip plays in the right, effectively producing an overload on the unwary listener, all while Frederik Thordendal of Meshuggah does his guest solo. After this, everything fades out, only to slowly build up again, but this time, the crescendo is triumphant and euphoric in nature, with Devy breaking out his high vocals in breathtaking fashion. The true statement of the song, and indeed the album, is revealed: "Take your time, enjoy the ride". As climactic as this statement and everything preceding it may seem, this is not the end. During the fade-out, Devin exclaims "Let's finish this!", marking the final song on the record, Poltergeist. Of all the songs on the record, Poltergeist is one of the most straight-forward tracks, behind Juular. The first half of the song is an ever-shifting structure, including the choir and orchestra in top form as glorious metalized insanity is distilled to a more pure form as Devin shouts about how "Everybody wants to be the next one to bow... you'd let your mother fall on dowwwwwn!" After the first minute, the song takes a more traditional structure of verse-chorus-verse, with the chorus being a singular chant of "DIEEEEEEE, POLTERGEIST!!" and "GIVE UNTO ME!!!!! WAIT-", perhaps a signal that Devin is not quite ready to destroy this particular aspect of himself yet. The second half of the song is more epic and orchestra-focused, with the choir doing one of their more memorable vocal lines in the album, first a stand-alone verse, before Devin kicks in, shouting about "There's glory to the brave!" and the choir goes full chord-accent mode. The final seconds of the song are Devin making one final exclamation: "STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!". And with that, the album ends.
This is the average listener's brain after their first listen to this album.
So, that's Deconstruction, possibly the heaviest and most epic of Devin's career, surpassing even Strapping Young Lad in its chaos and grandeur. After this behemoth of an album, one may be wondering what the hell kind of demented madness Devin saved up for last, the partner album, so to speak, of Deconstruction, seeing that both albums were released on the same day, June 20, 2011. Well, loyal Devheads were in for a treat as they bore witness to what is up for debate as an EVEN HEAVIER offering, picking up right where Poltergeist left off, in the shitstorm of internal struggle and euphoric revelation, augmented by Ziltoid and god knows what other guest musicians. Fans everywhere would find the epic, balls-out, no-holds-barred conclusion of the Devin Townsend Project in...
GHOST
Right up there with Carcass and *insert underground Goregrind act here* for br00tvlest album cover ever.
Clearly, the only way that Devin could go from the metal mania that was Deconstruction was to start playing Raw Black Metal! So get your hymnes to Satanas that you ripped off some website, light those Party City black candles, and put on your Dimmu Borgir or whatever shitty cheese-black shirt you own, because you're about be blown straight to Norway at midnight during a blizzard faster than you can say Nattens Madr-
Wait a minute, this doesn't sound kvlt at all! It sounds like... *shudders*... NEW-AGE!
Welp, that is EXACTLY what this is. Pretty unexpected, huh?
After an album like Deconstruction, it makes sense to give the listener some breathing room in the DTP, some source of light to counter the darkness. Seeing that Deconstruction and Ghost released on the same day, it actually works really well. Decon and Ghost comprise one whole of the conclusion of the Devin Townsend Project. In case you have a short-term memory, let's recap: By the end of Deconstruction, the protagonist-that-is-totally-not-a-stand-in-for-Devin-himself had finally found a decent reason that existence is: That there is no reason that affects us in any way, and all we can truly do is enjoy the ride for all it's worth. He tries to destroy his ingrained darker spirit, the poltergeist of the angst and trauma that brought forth Strapping Young Lad and all of his mental anguish contained therein, only to be held back by his consciousness (the repeated shouts of "Wait" during the chorus), and when he is finally about to slay this demon that has haunted him for so long, the album ends on a cliffhanger. Ghost, in case you aren't able to put two and two together, is the continuation of this story, just not in the way you were likely expecting. Instead of the chaos marking the frantic internal struggles and battles with personal demons, Ghost marks the state of being completely at peace, content, and accepting of oneself, regardless of any personality flaws apparent. The final statement of the album "Might as well marry the ghost", sums it up perfectly. Instead of slaying the poltergeist that Devin has hunted for so long, he realizes that, for better or for worse, it is a part of him, and he cannot bring himself to strike out this aspect of his personality for good. He marries it, so to speak, accepting that it is one aspect of himself, one part comprising the whole, and without that part, he would be incomplete. In this way, Ghost is the true conclusion to the life-story detailed throughout the DTP.
This album also marks a journey full-circle musically, as before Devin became a teenager and got into Def Leppard and other 80s metal bands, he was a big fan of new-age music, in particular, the 60s duo Emerald Web. So, what better way to represent a full-circle of this type than to return to the roots? For this album, Devin got flautist Kat Epple (of the aforementioned Emerald Web) to do what she does best, and it really shows. Kat focuses not on technicalities, but on the atmospheres and soundscapes created with her sound, as any true new-age performer would do. Her flute adds an almost ethereal sound to Devin's already-beautiful song arrangements. Devin utilizes padded synths, acoustic guitars, and his own vocal styles to flesh out the songs, and, even though this is new-age, it's new-age done Devy style, so don't expect anything short of Devin's full producing capabilities used as a force for atmosphere and beauty rather than sheer chaos. To put a head on the whole full-circle motif, the last track, As You Were, ends with a reprise of A Monday from Ki, albeit in a much more atmospheric and less melancholy fashion.
Ghost, much like Addicted, is a singular musical statement brought to fruition through an entire album. Instead of the song-by-song story progression done by Ki and Deconstruction, Ghost is content to simply be, reveling in the newfound peace of mind and joy. Although the album is not without its darker moments (Dark Matters), the majority and whole of Ghost is an ethereal, almost nostalgic trip through the sunshine of peace and love, and if you have any sort of a soul at all, you will almost definitely be left with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside after the album is done.
Thus ends the Devin Townsend Project cycle. Over the course of four albums, the series takes listeners to joyous celebrations, dark abysses, and everywhere in between. Every single album is a testament to Devin's musical ability and versatility (not to mention his skill as a producer!), able to evoke the emotions that the music tries to convey almost effortlessly. The Devin Townsend Project, although not widely-known at all, unfortunately, is sure to go down in history as one of the greatest music album cycles of the 21st century, and certainly the greatest thus far.
Editor's Note: Epicloud, while retaining the branding of the Devin Townsend Project, is not truly an entry into the main story-arc. Devin has also stated that Epicloud will be the last album under the DTP moniker, with Casualties of Cool and Ziltoid 2 being released under Devin Townsend. My review of Epicloud and Epiclouder will comprise Artist Showcase: Part 7, but I should probably return to my normal time period and do parts 3-5 first.
So, in the last part of this artist showcase, we began with the really early releases of varying quality, but it was in 1997 that Devin began the endless flow of amazing albums that persists to this day. It all began with...
STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - CITY
It was after the release of Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing that Devin began getting offers to tour, which obviously required a few other people to perform in the band, because performing live as a one-man project is hard, y'know?
Take it from Varg, it's best to not even bother.
After the touring, the lineup that Devin had brought together somehow stuck, and it ended up being the permanent lineup for Strapping Young Lad. This lineup included Jed Simon returning on guitar (naturally), Byron Stroud, formerly of a little-known band named Caustic Thought, on bass duty, and Gene Hoglan, previously playing for Death and Death Angel, on drums.
AKA The Human Drum Machine. C'mon, try to tell me that that's all natural fat after years of playing some of the best and most technical metal drumming ever.
With City, SYL took the industrial influence from HaaRHT and went all out with it, even going as far as to cover a Cop Shoot Cop song, while still maintaining the signature GLORIOUS EARRAPE sound that they were becoming known for. City was released on February 11th, 1997, and to this day has a reputation as one of the best industrial metal albums ever. It was SYL's most industrial release, while also being their most thrashy. It would also be arguably their most popular release, due in part to the music video produced for Detox, and many songs from it becoming concert staples. To this day, you'd be hard-pressed to find any extreme metal album rivaling the sheer chaos and extremity of City.
The beat starts here.
Never has there been a song title that so accurately reflected the listener's response.
After releasing such a magnificent slab of ear-bleeding madness, one'd probably be left wondering "Where do they go from here? How could Devin possibly top himself now?"
Well...
OCEAN MACHINE - BIOMECH
This album is where the Great Divide between Strapping Young Lad fans and Devin Townsend fans began. Ocean Machine was a short-lived project, much like Punky Bruster, that made one album and promptly vanished. Fronted by Devin, as per the norm, Ocean Machine had JR Harder (from the aforementioned Punky Bruster) on bass and Marty Chapman (who seems to have dropped off the face of the music industry after this album) on drums. While nowhere near as brutal or technical as Strapping Young Lad, Devin maintained the attention to detail, utilizing the Wall of Sound technique in an entirely different manner. Some of Devin's best songwriting throughout his career can be seen on this album, with the music forming a loose concept of life, death, and someplace in between. Some songs are upbeat and almost poppy (how Life never became a #1 Single still escapes me), while others are moodier and more epic in scope (the ending trifecta of songs, but more on that in a moment). Some of the songs lead into each other, and some have intro tracks of their own to segue between the last track and the next. Near the end of the album, it hits you. The Holy Trinity of Ocean Machine: Funeral, Bastard, and The Death Of Music. Each of these three tracks is around ten minutes in length, and each flows into the next, creating a trilogy of sorts.
Funeral starts things off in an upbeat-ish manner. While not quite as upbeat as Life, Funeral maintains the enchanting, almost dream-like quality of the album. That track alone is a musical journey, but the trilogy still has two songs to go. Next up comes Bastard, a track separated into two parts, according to the booklet. The first half revolves around a riff much darker than that of its predecessor, evoking the atmosphere of a rainy night in the city. The second half almost seems like a light at the end of a tunnel, and just when things start to really get going, it fades into The Death of Music, a 12 minute ambient opus, driven almost entirely by a basic computerized beat, various samples, and Devin's vocals. Devin's vocal performance on this track needs to be heard to be believed, showcasing all of his abilities and creating the most emotionally-resonant track on the album. Although it sounds repetitive from this description, the song is just so all-encompassing that one is drawn into its atmosphere, transferring itself to the listener by its end.
After The Death Of Music ends, an (originally) hidden track, Things Beyond Things begins to close off the album. Things Beyond Things is a simple song, written around a basic set of chords and Devin's vocals. It's a great way to close off the experience that is Ocean Machine - Biomech, ending the album with a peaceful rumination on the events of the album, ending with the statement that "these things inside are all just things". The journey is at an end, and all is well... or is it?
Ocean Machine is one of the greatest non-70s-prog-style Prog Rock albums ever released in my humble opinion. This is just one of those albums that words don't do justice to at all, and needs to be experienced in full to realize the magnitude of it all.
And so we cover another small, but VERY important chunk of Devin Townsend's discography. As is apparent, Devin's road to musical greatness truly kicks off at this point in his career, setting the stage for DOZENS OF ALBUMS, EACH MORE GLORIOUS THAN THE LAST AHHHHHH
Devin Townsend. Where do I begin? This is a musician who's been all over the place throughout his increasingly-large discography, and no matter which genre of music he attempts next, he performs it with the same perfectionist quality and attention-to-detail that'd be expected of the masters of the genre. So, let's start from the very beginning.
NOTE: Even though Devin Townsend has had many guest appearances and helped out with other albums in small ways, this Artist Showcase will focus only on the ones that the Dev had a major role in, and will be listed in chronological order. Sorry, no love for Front Line Assembly in this post!
STEVE VAI - SEX & RELIGION
So, when Devin first began his initial foray into the music industry, he was but a strapping young lad (I MADE A FUNNEH) of the tender age of 21.
He was awfully ambitious for his age.
Devin performed all of the lead vocals on the album, and does an astonishingly good job at it as well, with his work on this album being home to some of the highest notes on his recorded vocal range to date. On some songs, like Touching Tongues, he showcases a bit of Freddy Mercury influence, and on others, he embarks on a style wholly his own. Though not flawless, Devin's vocal delivery on this album is stellar, and a promising hint on the rest of his vocal work to come.
STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - HEAVY AS A REALLY HEAVY THING
Disillusioned by his experiences with the music industry when he was with Vai, and his constant rejection from various record labels during his short-lived stint as the guitarist for a British hard rock group known as The Wildhearts, Devin decided to turn his anger into a productive outlet, and formed an extreme metal project named Strapping Young Lad. Heavily inspired by extreme and industrial metal (more specifically, Fear Factory's debut cut Soul Of A New Machine, which blended industrial and death metal), Devin set out to record this album, not for any perks for himself, but solely as an elaborate joke at the expense of the music industry, one of the album's prime targets lyrically. Although the album was the product of sheer angst and anger, it never took itself too seriously, beginning a trend of subtle (and not-so-subtle) self-referential humour that would persist throughout the project, and even through Devin's solo material. The album was mostly a solo effort, but was performed with the aid of Adrian White of Front Line Assembly on drums, and Jed Simon on backing guitars. Jed Simon would remain a part of Strapping Young Lad throughout the project's lifespan.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WILL EVER SEE
This album also marked the beginning of Devin's trademark wall of sound production, inspired by Frank Zappa, but with his own over-the-top flair to it, and with an almost perfectionist quality to it. Each background noise, every frequency had its own special place within the song structure, a trait which would carry through even today. The album lives up to its name, as the songs are unceasingly brutal, aside from a few entirely tongue-in-cheek sections, such as the bonus track, which at first glance seems to be too happy for its own good... One problem with the album, however, is that it was very much an album to be taken as a whole, focusing on the general intensity and sentiment of the album as a whole, rather than individual songs, although the album did have a few hits. Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing is one of the more underrated releases in Devin's catalogue, some would argue rightfully so, including Devin himself, but the sentiment remains as relevant as ever, especially in today's world of cookie-cutter pop artists and exploitation.
PUNKY BRUSTER - COOKED ON PHONICS
With a band name and album title like that, you can tell that this is going to be the darkest Devin Townsend work yet.
Punky Brüster was a one-off project helmed by Devin and brought to fruition with the help of Adrian White, fresh off of his previous work on HaaRHT, and John Harder on bass. Continuing the trend of jokes at the expense of the music industry, Cooked on Phonics tells the tale of the death metal band Cryptic Coroner, from South-Central Poland, who decide to sell out and become a punk band. The entire album was a jab at sell-outs, the very nature of selling out, and the general absurdity of the music industry. The music was played in a typical, almost parody-ish punk style, with the story being told through the lyrics, and occasionally through a narrator. Much like Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing, the album was much more about the general concept rather than the individual songs. Punky Brüster is another oft-overlooked entry into the Devin Townsend discography.
Welp, that wraps it up for this first entry in the Devin Townsend Artist Showcase. The next part will kick off with the section of Devin's catalogue where the real gems start showing up. Good times!
Alright, so I'm going to take a small break from game related updates to post some album reviews!
I'm going to start by posting a short review of a few albums by That Handsome Devil.
Part 1 of the reviews will contain the following albums: That Handsome Devil EP (2006)
Part 2 will cover their first full album, A City Dressed In Dynamite (2008).
Part 3 will contain a review of Enlightenment's For Suckers EP (2009) and The Heart Goes To Heaven, The Head Goes To Hell (2011).
That Handsome Devil
Godforbid invites you to take a trip with him.
Tracklist
Standing Room In Heaven
Yada Yada
Sleep It Off
Elephant Bones
Dating Tips
Miss America
James Dean
The album starts off with a very somber sound. The slow, rhythmic upright bass almost lulls you into a trance as the guitar and drums are used intermittently until the vocals kick in. Instantly, you're transported to a dingy bar where the live act is capturing the mood of the room. This song is how THD establishes their big band influence ever so slightly. The tempo fluctuates gradually from slow to an almost moderate pace, while almost never breaking that trance it establishes early. During each of the slower portions of the song, you can still find that hypnotic bass riff droning in the background, providing a base for the rest of the melody to be built upon. In what will become true THD fashion, they end the song with an audio clip that has some slight relation to the song, this time being a phone operator answering a call to heaven.
Immediately you're presented with an upbeat drum beat that welcomes you to Yada Yada. From here, you can definitely hear some of Godforbid's, the lead singer, unique vocal stylings in the way he slides from note to note. The Big Band influence is still here as you hear horns in the background during the verse. The chorus kicks up the energy another notch as the guitars pick up. Honestly, I can't figure out a proper interpretation for this track. It's a short track that's a lot of fun rhythmically though.
The energy keeps up as the scat styled intro of Sleep It Off rolls in. The trumpets provide accents ever few lines, but the really interesting part comes when the strings pick up in the chorus. During this time, violins provide a contrast to the upbeat sounds the verses provide. Also, the verses seem to hide some kazoos... so there's that. It's funny to me how upbeat they make a song about someone drowning their sorrows in alcohol. The way I hear the song is that someone gets near-blackout drunk trying to forget something that had happened.
Then we break into the Surf Rock inspired Elephant Bones, which most people will know from Guitar Hero 2. The verse of the song is very chilled and relaxing with the sparse guitar and it's warbly tone. The simple bass line is the driving force of the non-lyrical sounds during the verses. Then when the chorus rolls around, we're met with a more distorted version of the beach themed guitar tones. The song wraps up with a sound clip that would be at home in a 1950's commercial or talk show. This is the first time they use such a clip to close out their tracks.
Speaking of Talk Shows, Dating Tips starts off like a fanfare from a talk show. Then it rolls into a lackidasical beat that Godforbid raps slowly over. Simply put, Dating Tips is all about relationship advice. The validity of the track's advice is up to to interpretation, so use your own discretion. This is a song that simply has to be heard to believed.
The tone shifts back to melancholic as Miss America starts, almost as if to cause a mood whiplash. The keyboard is almost haunting at times in it's use during the verses. The song highlights how messed up life can be, despite appearances of normality. Most of the things mentioned in the song are things that are very real and could happen to people around you. Someone taking an anti-depressant, but then having it make their condition worse? That's a very real situation that some people face.
Then we start James Dean, another song that covers a heavy topic: money and fame. It's a hard song for me to cover honestly, since it's about wanting to die young in order to be remembered.
So that wraps up the first installment of this album review for That Handsome Devil. Part 2 will roll out sometime in the near future.
