'New' Band/Album/Song Reviews

Didn't like Extreme Aggression, don't remember listening to Coma of Souls
 
Ok I'm ready to contribute to this thread. Last summer I started getting really into Devin Townsend, and I still have a lot of ground to cover but there are 4 albums that I really love. I'm gonna share all of them because the cool thing is that all 4 are vastly different.

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Terria (2001)
Townsend describes this as an introspective album inspired by driving through Canada. It takes a couple songs for the album to really get going but once Earth Day kicks in, it's all awesome.
"Earth Day"

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Ki (2009)
This album is the first in the Devin Townsend Project series, initially supposed to be 4 albums, but last year a 5th came out. Anyway, Ki is the most dynamic album in the series. It is a mellow record that grows and gets heavy in very short bursts before becoming mellow again. It's a cool effect. While the music is totally different, it kinda reminds me of Opeth's Heritage, though I prefer Ki.

"Coast"

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Addicted (2009)
The followup to Ki is a more straightforward record and the best one to start with if you're a new fan. It can be a bit poppy and all the songs are very catchy. It also features the awesome vocals of Anneke van Giersbergern who some of you might be familiar with on here. It's a very easy album to get into, and it's not very long either.

"Hyperdrive!"

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Ghost (2011)
The most atmospheric and mellow album in the series. It is mostly acoustic and features a lot of long ambient sections. It's a great album for background music and is very easy listening. Still, there are some great songs that work well on their own. But for the most part it's an album that is very easy to get lost in, I find myself putting it on a lot.

"Fly"
"Blackberry"
 
Oh haven't heard that! Listening now. Did you know that he was offered a job in Priest when Halford left?

Edit: That was really good. Now I can definitely see why he was considered, but glad he turned them down.
 
I didn't know he was considered. Seriously? Cool. This song cover was released in 1997 on:
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  1. "The Hellion/Electric Eye" (Helloween)
  2. "Saints in Hell" (Fates Warning)
  3. "Victim of Changes" (Gamma Ray)
  4. "Sinner" (Devin Townsend)
  5. "The Ripper" (Mercyful Fate)
  6. "Jawbreaker" (Rage)
  7. "Night Crawler" (Radakka)
  8. "Burnin' Up" (Doom Squad)
  9. "A Touch of Evil" (Lion's Share)
  10. "Rapid Fire" (Testament)
  11. "Metal Gods" (U.D.O.)
  12. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" (Saxon)
A really nice tribute album. Around that time, Ripper must have already recorded Jugulator. But perhaps they knew him for a while already. And some of the songs included in this album have been previously released by the artists.
 
His band Strapping Young Lad did a cover of Exciter, that might've been where they knew him from.

By the way, I haven't listened to any SYL, but they're supposed to be a great extreme metal band.
 
Yep. And speaking of him, Gene Hoglan is the drummer on Terria.
 
You forgot to review the best DTP album, Deconstruction. Or the album that preceded DTP, Ziltoid The Omniscient. Which both pwn Ki and Ghost, IMO :P
 
Deconstruction is the weakest of the project albums. Ki is the best in the series, followed by either Addicted or Ghost. Even Epicloud is better than Deconstruction.
 
Didn't know there were fans of them here. I'll have to check it out.
 
Yup, you definitely should. Alien and The New Black will blow you away. Relentless stuff. Sonic destruction, bordering on the insane at times but still weaving in a few treads of catchy riffing so that you don't fall out completely :D
 
You know, I almost picked up Alien at a record store a few weeks ago. I've heard really good things about it, it'll definitely be the first one I go to. Heard good things about The New Black as well, but not as much.
 
If you don't like Deconstruction, I don't think you'll like SYL. Deconstruction is the craziest/heaviest album Devin did outside SYL and it's still much less crazy/heavy than anything SYL released.
 
I never said that I didn't like Deconstruction...I just prefer the other 4 Project albums.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Alien is probably the pinnacle of what SYL was all about but The New Black ain't far behind.
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I'll check them both out sometime. I kinda want to get into the rest of Townsend's solo work first, but that might take awhile so maybe I won't do that.
 
I discovered a song by The Smiths, but after that I couldn't find another of their songs that I liked as much. So it looks like I am not getting into this band. But for the heck of it, here just the song.

The lyrics are pretty ridiculous and the song itself is very simple and the chords repeat themselves constantly.
But those melodic, eery guitars are irresistible, and I like such Dire Straits kind of bass playing.
From the ice-age to the dole-age
There is but one concern
I have just discovered

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

As Anthony said to Cleopatra
As he opened a crate of ale

Oh, I say
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls mothers are bigger than
Other girls mothers

Send me the pillow ...
The one that you dream on ...
Send me the pillow ...
The one that you dream on ...
And I'll send you mine
 
Hey thanks for this Devin Townsend stuff Mosh! I'd never heard of him before (the name sounded vaguely familiar though) but the songs you posted are stellar. I really enjoyed Terria and Ki, the others were good too though. Definitely going to give his solo stuff and the SYL stuff a good listen.

Edit: And his Priest covers are really breathtaking, there's so much energy in there.
 
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