Devin Townsend

Devin Townsend - Synchestra:

By now, if we know something about Devin Townsend's personality, it's easy to understand why he needed to record an album such as Synchestra. While creating the misanthropic and chaotic mad trip that is SYL's Alien it was expected that the man felt his positive side overwhelmed in such negativity. So in addition, Devin wrote an album that would serve as Alien's absolute counterpoint: where one was about disruption, confrontation and alienation this one's about harmony, belonging and synchronicity (thus the title). So much that the entire thing was later described as being one single song with various parts, reinforcing that sense of unity and all things as part of a cheerful whole.

In all honesty the first songs totally confirm that "one song record" concept: Let It Roll is a soft lullaby that invites us and one can hardly notice the passage to Hypergeek, an equally acoustic arrangement that suddenly blasts into a intense yet really shiny thundering double kick barrage. Triumph is the first proper song by itself and starts building memento as Dev shares how he must abandon some of negative habits and frame of mind in order to harmonize himself with the world. Proof of that urge of harmony is Steve Vai's participation with whom he already came top terms by now. Baby Song follows, a nursery rhyme with some great guitar lines that blatantly deals with Devin's wife ongoing pregnancy. A theme that was already focused on Alien's Possessions under an expected grim and twisted form, is now seen as something natural and positive that makes us relatable to our own kind. And although the lyrics reveal a man's worry about being an absent father due to his way of life, in the end Dev embraces his future roll of parenting. All of the sudden an Hammond keyboard and a tambourine start to build an absolutely hilarious Polka among Gremlin like giggles and so Vampolka gains form as the perfect intro to Vampira, a cheesy horror fim inspired tune with funny and ingenious melodies and some really well cut heavier parts (like the one there's a blatant appropriation of some chords of Metallica's Seek And Destroy). Even being up to the neck with intended cheesiness I must admit this tune sounds immensely great.

Mental Tan recovers a way more serious approach and serves as a launching pod to the enormous Gaia, an absolutely gorgeous composition featuring some cryptic lyrics (but surely relating to the ancient Greeks notion of the earth as an whole) that surely will delight every Devin die hard fan. Pixilliate's next, throwing us in a 8 plus minute monster that while moving through various mood, always seems to maintain the listener absolutely immersed in its aura while a mantra against self centering resounds. As Judgement progresses we are thrown back to the earliest years of Devin's solo project since the song brings back that wall of sound factor in unparalleled doses when compared with the rest of the songs. I believe that's not a coincidence since the song seems to portrait Devin's messiah complex during that time of his life. A Simple Lullaby is a bombastic yet melodic 7 minute long immersive almost instrumental track that alternate various moods, cradling us unto the brief yet beautiful prog like Sunset. Notes To Africa is an excellent, mystical and energetic theme that features an immensely well thought inclusion of a snippet from Alien's Love, "rectifying" the previous twisted take on such important matters This works only to reinforce more how this record is the absolute opposite of SYL's 2005 effort, and it should be (quoting the lyrics): "Know from what you've learned/ It came from Africa... Know the chosen ones/ They come from everywhere" a smart reference to our genetic lineage to enforce the notion that we're all the same and part of a single entity. The album ends with Sunshine And Happiness a title more than suitable for a poppy and happy closer.

Synchestra is a curious album. It seems odd sometimes and due to it one may get a bit lost here and there. Nevertheless it features some really great songs and nothing here seems to be out of place. It can be a bit overwhelming and stagnant at times but it's part of its somehow "Zen-like" subject. In the end it turned out to be a well needed come to terms and catharsis from Alien. It would also turn out to be the last Devin Townsend Band album. After this Dev would still record the comedy like Ziltoid The Omniscient and would shock the world announcing he would retire for a while to take care of his familiar life (by then he was already a father). Until his hypothetical return, Synchestra accomplishes while checking all the quality parameters of Devin Townsend's previous releases. And that alone is more than enough. (8.5)

Must Listen:
Triumph, Vampira, Gaia, Judgement, Notes From Africa
 
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Okay, here's the crap meme I promised 3 days ago on the 1,000,000 replies thread: (LOUDNESS WARNING)

Alien is Devin's most insane record, I don't think there's much arguing here. Only Deconstruction and Infinity (and the rest of SYL) come close.

Anyways, I was listening to Watershed (Opeth) the other day, but after The Lotus Eater I had an urge to listen to Thalamus. And after ending, the song compelled me to follow up with Zen, and that's probably where the album ends for a lot of people. But I saw the title of the next song and stayed seated for the next 12 minutes...

I tell you, Alien doesn't lack crazy songs, but Info Dump is such a crazy journey and it's a crime seemingly nobody cares for it. For the first 5 minutes, I sit anxiously waiting for that first silencing drop. It frightens me every time. Then it begins to pick up noise, and I'm not sure if I want to raise the volume or lower the volume. I soon realize the correct answer because it gets real loud real fucking quick. And it bombards your ears with those drops (featured in the video). It sounds like reality is shattering. It's so noisy it makes you go insane. And then ends in a comical scream.

It's the perfect ending to such an album and it amazes me how a noise track can deliver the same ideas as the songs, and on an exponentially stronger level.
 
Typical Townsend crazy stuff in the vein of some of the quarantine project stuff. But I strongly believe this is just for fun. And this has as much to do with City as my family doctor has to do with Josef Mengele. :D :D :D :D
 
Finally sat down to watch my copy of Order of Magnitude and holy shit does this sound good. Easily his best live album, and that’s not easy considering his recent live output: By a Thread, Retinal Circus, Z2 Live, and Ocean Machine Live in Plovdiv.
 
Finally sat down to watch my copy of Order of Magnitude and holy shit does this sound good. Easily his best live album, and that’s not easy considering his recent live output: By a Thread, Retinal Circus, Z2 Live, and Ocean Machine Live in Plovdiv.
Yes it does... but I still prefer the Plovdiv and RAH concerts.
 
So Devin is releasing 2 new albums next week and there's not a single snippet, let alone a full song released ahead of full album release... Weird.
 
Well, he has released a "Making of Puzzle" series on YouTube, which is a good listen. I'm quite excited despite it being a more ambient sort of thing, it seems it's his most ambitious project yet...
 
Didn’t realize the albums were coming out next week. Promotion seems weak.
 
Snuggles is fully ambient, Puzzle is 20% metal 80% ambient, 100% random nonsense without any sense or form.
 
Carrying on with the reviews I'll put the four piece section of Ki, Addicted, Deconstruction and Ghost on the same bill (due to reasons soon to be addressed). Here we go:

Ki: After a brief hiatus in order to spend more time with his newborn and family Devin spent a little less time thinking about music but his creative vein was still pumping. In the meantime cannabis and boose were completely out of his life and for the first time he was creating music 100% sober. The release was a crap load of tunes that he soon divided in 4 really distinct groups and each one would be an album once he came back to action with a new band under the name of Devin Townsend Project. The first was Ki and boy did it surprised people. Overall this is easily the album where Dev relied more on clean guitars to date. While quite distanced from metal there's still a fair amount of prog here as well as a lot of blues and folk. But the great difference resides in the fact that, unlike the rest of the catalogue up till its release, Ki is subtle, stuttering. Where once grandeur, multiple layers and delays ruled, now a much more in your face, down to earth feel to it anchors the whole record. Not that it's completely soft or soothing... TBH it's quite the opposite sometimes. Gato, Heaven Send and Diruptr are musical see saws between self restraint and contained frustration filled with tension. Trainfire brings some traditional Devin traits in multiple layers and delays but it is completely built upon a folk base that grows into a blast of anxiety only to calm down again at the end. And even regarding the softest tunes like Coast or Winter there's some sort of unsettling feel to it. I truly believe this album represents the sort of catharsis the composer was going through. And the fact that the last four tracks are quite soothing and comfortable, like all the stress disappearing makes all the sense under that scope. Ki is a hard nut to break yet I believe there's at least a couple of gems here that will delight you. 7.5/10

Addicted:
Have I already said how I absolutely love it when Devin delivers his metal upon a full pop platform? Well I do but the man wanted to show Addicted would be kind of a return to some old traits so both the title track and Universe In A Ball are kinda more into the Prog metal boundaries one would expect from early albums (and both really good songs). But it's when the shamelessly poppy Bend It Like Bender hits the speakers that this thing gets going. And only this guy can make me adore something that is somewhat influenced by the Venga Boys, featuring one monster of a chorus brilliantly sang by ex The Gathering Anneke Van Giersbergen. Supercrush comes chugging and its pompous Devin trademark entrance (that happens to be the chorus) gives way perfectly to some fantastic Abba like sang verses (once again I'm pretty far from being an Abba fan). Plus it features one monster of a bridge where heaviness and melody share the same space in fantastic fashion... man I love this tune! Hyperdrive is a reinterpretation of a Ziltoid's song here sang once again by Anneke and IMO an upgrade regarding the original. Resolve is yet another heavy pop track (with some dissonance!) really uplifting, especially when it comes to its gorgeous uptempo chorus. The overall pop feel to it carries on till the ultra catchy yet full of energy closer Awake either be it through the utterly radio hit love song Ih Ah or something more in line with the Heavy Metal rumble meets Abba in Numbered. As far as I'm concerned this album is an absolute lesson on how complex simplicity is. And once you learn how to solve this conundrum perhaps you may get a record as fantastic as Addicted. 9/10

Deconstruction:
Let me begin by saying Devin did some really heavy, psychotic and brain melting stuff in the past (mainly regarding SYL) and I never felt uneasy with none of it. But IMO Deconstruction is on a league of its own and is Townsend's only release under his name I struggle to listen to due to its dense and schizo nature. Yes, Juular, Sumeria and Planet Of The Apes are really cool and are a bit less corrosive and overwhelming than the majority of the songs here. And don't get me wrong... musically speaking besides being really heavy and complex this is an Extreme Prog Metal fan's wet dream: just check the all star parade of contributors regarding the genre (with names such as Paul Masvidal, Frederik Thordendal, Mikael Akerfeldt, Greg Pucciato, Floor Jansen, Ihsahn or Joe Dupantier). Overall, and despite its musical genius and being heavy as a black hole, Deconstruction is funny at its core, an intentional parody of itself (just check the hilarious concept of the album at i.e. Wikipedia), really far from the destructive aura of SYL. And if you're into the genre it's almost assured you will find lots of goodies to sink your teeth in on this bad boy. Nevertheless I must stress how I always found the sonority of the album (and once again despite the musical quality) to be bleak as hell and each time I try to give them a try it feels like I just ran the marathon under water. 7/10

Ghost:
As a contrast the final album is composed mainly by acoustic and sometimes borderline chill out tunes, recurring to several soft synth ambiances and instruments such as flutes and mandolins. So Dev here catapults us to precise opposite pole of Deconstruction. And if it's true i felt kinda crushed under the oppressive wall of sound of its predecessor, the majority of songs here flow like a dream like stream that make me lose myself every time I listen to them. Despite being well within the scope of the album Kawii and Texada are exceptions in this contiguous serene ocean: gorgeous guitar acoustic based tunes that easily mark their presence and call my attention and the same works with the hypnotic synth of Dark Matters. A record with less soft stuff was going to be released under the name Ghosts 2 but Devin dropped the project although leaking eight songs. Three of them would be recycled for his next project (Casualties Of Cool) with singer Ché Dorval while the other five somehow resemble at times Ki's vibe. Radial Highway was even released as a Ghost bonus track. Watch You is by far my favorite from this lot: immersive, intense hypnotic and sci-fi prone (by this description is easy to understand why it was left out of Ghost). So yeah... Ghost is a really beautiful record but every time I listen to it I get lost within its narcoleptic dream like effect and it's a pitty since I believe it offers a lot more than I managed to get out of it till this day. 6.5/10

Must Listen:
Coast, Diruptr, Trainfire, Bend It Like Bender, Supercrush, Resolve, Hyperdrive, Numbered, Awake, Juular, Sumeria, Kawii.
 
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