Album Review: Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence

Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend is an enigma. His career and discography is mind-boggling both in the quality and variety of material within, but also the sheer volume. To date, he has released something approximating 25 studio albums (9 as a solo artist and 16 in collaboration with others), and that is before we begin to scratch the surface of his early musical career. If you're not a metalhead though, the chances are you won't even have heard of him. By Jove, are you missing out.

Take this latest effort as an example. Shorn, literally (see right), of his extreme metallic leanings, we find him back teaming up with his self-titled 'Project' to continue his exploration of the arena-filling euphoric rock that so endeared 2014's Sky Blue release to his fanbase. Essentially, what we have here is part-symphonic rock, part-pagan folk with short stabs at both dream pop and power metal. Digging in, we find another chapter has been added to "The Devin Townsend Book Of More Is More". Now that hasn't always been the case, but this is new Devin here; clean, sober and loving life. In fact, he's really opened up to the point where he's now collaborating with his band. It's a process that he has described as "more streamlined, more efficient and more fulfilling". Essentially that means he churns out a load of rough material, brings it to rehearsal and the band help him smooth it all out.

Anneke Van Giersbergen is back adding her infectious, joyous vocal to the mix. Here though, surprisingly, she is used more sparingly, adding harmonies to lift the vocal blend rather than performing a reprise of the starring role she took on the band's last release. So less is more? Huh? Certainly, those thrilling bursts from her that bubble up through the mix, pop like little, effervescent fireworks. Less may actually be more effective! It's almost hard to imagine a Dev album without her now. Wouldn't it be like drinking flat Coke? That gospel choir fill is also back making things "epic" and here he uses them to flood the senses - just don't try counting the layers.

There's strong hints from his back catalogue, from Sky Blue, Epicloud and also Infinity. In fact, originally featuring on that 1999 Infinity album, the opener is a remaster of the song "Truth". That, coupled with an inspired remix of Ween's "Transdermal Celebration" bookend the album. The former re-introduces Dev's calling card; his ultra-high production values and those big, expansive layers. The latter is catchy as hell and is certainly worth inclusion if just for the lush line "Laid on the lawn, he's already home when the morning rain hits his face". Despite it's spaced-out crystal backline, it does feel disconnected from the rest of the album and should be viewed as a bit of a bonus track. Certainly, that 5-minute cosmic, multi-part extended wash smacks of showing off.

In fact it's a slight over-simplification, but you could almost divide this album down the middle. The best tracks do all seem to come straight off the bat. "Stormbending" features Dev at his most heartfelt, belting out his lyrics like his chest is bursting with pride; determined to expand our minds and souls with lines like "Time is a human construct / A new world below the waves". The warbling guitar solo looms large here; a mere hint of its increased use later on. It is back firing behind the strutting pomp of the chugging strings that drive "Failure". The volume of it certainly adds a burst of grunt to Dev's wandering vocal. You do get the sense that he's more interested in building the sonic crush this time round than throwing out unique vocal tricks. It is driving us assuredly down a fantasy/power metal road.

Then, like two magnificent sunbursts we get "Secret Sciences" and "Higher". The catchy riff and superb build of the former invigorates, opening with the intriguing line "Yesterday I woke afraid / unable to discern if the fears were even tangible" before revealing the concept with "Let it go anyway / Let it be a part of yesterday". Essentially the man is preaching that we must love our selves and our kind and to do that we have to be the bigger man in any problem situation; to change our own perception. It's a theme that spreads itself from this core track, threading its way throughout the album. Behind it all, we are wonderfully re-introduced to Anneke  and a sublime walking bass guitar riff. That explosion into the chorus is a joy and when the vocal drifts back in the mix there is a creeping top line lead to pick out the hooks.

On to that other doozy, "Higher". From gentle beginnings - an opening hush that echoes elements from 2011's Ghost and even Foo Fighters' own experiment with the soft on 2005's In Your Honor - we hit the exclamation to go "Higher! Higher! Higher!". Rest assured, by the time it hits the track's apex, we're experiencing a mid-section hitting manic technical jazz guitar, complete with brash sweeps, roars and down-tuned chug-obsessed guitar. It all bristles with the same glorious madness that his 2011 Deconstruction album was built upon. Here though, the band always keep the song's heart close by returning to the light at regular intervals. Those final orchestral movements offer Dev the chance to bring the choir to the fore and they lead us back to the track's climax. Is this not the very definition of "epic metal"?

There are a few weaknesses to consider and those do come in the promised latter half of the album. "Stars" certainly provides the same sort of initial comedown as it's neighbour. Deliberate, but here it is less ambitious. The chord structures begin to feel a little anachronistic; the slumbering vocal hush yearns to be adored. But still that walking middle-eight in repose is a killer cut-away. These little moments of genius make such simple songs essential. The main vocal certainly knows when to take a backseat in the mix to the glorious warmth of the choir. What doesn't run so smoothly is the continuous full-bore hit that the title-track attempts straight after. The baritones in the choir set the mood and then Anneke takes over and the oppressive flood of the thing begins to melt away. But does it go anywhere, does it say anything or is it mere filler? It seems you can be crushed by heavily-layered mood music. Who knew?

One final thorn is left but all I'll say is have a listen to the song "Have I Told You Lately?" by Van Morrison, Rod Stewart or any other artist, before listening to "From My Heart" and try not to marry the two. It's impossible, right? Even a heart-warming message like that isn't worth an eight-minute run time though.

So yes, it's a cracking release from DTP but it's not without fault. You certainly get your money's worth though and only a fool would hesitate before recommending it. With an insanely-successful career like that behind him, you can be sure that an on-point Devin Townsend is a goddamn genius. Out-of-synch, he's merely essential listening.

Also online @ The Line Of Best Fit = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/devin-townsend-project-transcendence

Feature: Johnskibeat's Best 20 Albums Of 2014

1. Monuments - The Amanuensis (Century Media)
The Amanuensis takes a burgeoning genre and raises the bar for the rest. Seriously, you’d be hard-pressed to find another modern progressive metal album that could match this for impact. The band have refined the array of techniques they displayed on debut Gnosis and added the vocal gymnastics of Chris Barretto to their line-up. It's not an exaggeration to say that he takes the album to a whole new level. Throughout “Origin Of Escape” and the epic “Quasimodo” he’s tearing out lumps from your lugholes by firing out elongated roars that he bends into long, base-to-peak crecendos. During “Horcrux” and “I, The Destroyer” he fishes out those bowel-loosening piq grunts of his and for the remainder he’s scraping the skies with a sweet, melodic drift that gently echoes and swirls around inside your skull. On this performance, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better fit for this infectious band. This is a completely, crushingly epic goliath of tech and groove; wall-shuddering, space-flooding both by design and in performance.



2. Servers - Leave With Us (Undergroove)
Some groups may mesh a couple of genres together to create something fresh and dynamic – Servers are an octopic rock band with a groping arm in every pie. They are the very definition of the band you simply cannot pigeonhole. Song by song, their chameleonic music takes in grunge, dark rock, screamo, sludge, cult metal, new wave, industrial and punk n’ roll. Their debut is an absolute behemoth spouting musical ear-worms that boast grit, melody and muscle. Tracks like "Universes And Supernovas" and "Run With The Foxes" come bursting at the seams with vast riffs and big, sparkly choruses that will aggressively weld themselves to your brain. When they cool their heels they produce stuff like the intensely gothic, Icicle Works-friendly comedown of ‘Claustrophobia‘. Welcome to your new favourite band.

3. Zodiac - Sonic Child (Napalm Records) 
Straight out of left field this one. By opening with an intensely moving spoken passage telling of the utter joy of music, Zodiac grasp your attention and retain it from the first note to the last. The no-nonsense unencumbered groove that drives this album slackens and quickens to purpose but at every moment it pushes forward through the genres of blues, soul, country and rock n' roll. "Just Music" hauls some 70s kitsch out of the closet whilst "A Penny And A Dead Horse" digs out the good old boy slide guitar to suck you into a dizzying world of galloping horses and chain gangs. So leave your hang-ups at the door, come on in and just lose yourself, even if only "just for a little while".



4. Intervals - A Voice Within (Basick) 
By making a sudden switch-up to a combination of rhythmic backline and glorious, moving vocal interplay, Intervals have produced a work of real joy, passion and pomp. Mike Semesky, now on lead vocal, craftily wraps his eye-popping, hugely emotive lyrics around the spasming instrumentation in such a way that you'll find them worming their way into your cortex. From the fast-slow pomp of "The Self Surrended" to the all-conquering "Atlas Hour", this album is undeniable proof of just how perceptive and unrestricted by the concept of genres, our modern metal bands have become.

5. Skyharbor - Guiding Lights (Basick) 
Sounding smoother and sleeker whilst staying inventive and demanding, this latest model from Skyharbor takes the band away from their bumpier, grittier debut. Driven by the triumphant, emotion-soaked vocal of Daniel Tompkins, the album delves deep into the realms of post-rock and dream pop. Earworms like "Evolution" and "The Constant" suck you in, whilst the sheer beauty of "Halogen"s construction and the heart-rending pain that inhabits "Patience" will demand continuous repeats. The organic ebb and flow of the album ties neatly in with the themes of life, evolution and entropy. It is a work of art that will toy with your senses and reduce grown men to tears. This band are going places and Guiding Lights is proof that sharing their future journey will be something of a delight.



6. Cavorts - Got Your Brass (In At The Deep End Records) 
Jumping on the screaming punk n' roll bandwagon, Cavorts have leaped from the shadows to produce an album with more conviction than Cancer Bats, more nous than Kvelertak and more punch than Feed The Rhino. They've achieved this by opening out the song structures and firing out more barbarous hooks and crushing riffs than you can shake a stick at. If tracks like "Wait On", "Put Down The Hammer" and "Save Some Things" don't have you forming invisible oranges and shouting the lyrics to the skies then there's something inherently wrong with you.

7. Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion (Sumerian)
A step forward away from the inaccessible complexities of earlier albums, this perfectly-titled songbook still opens with music that's as manic as a warzone, where bullets are replaced by notes. There are strafed leads that descend into an absolute cacophony before abating into the most gloriously laid-back infectious moments of jazz, electro and post-rock. Within the space of two tracks you are taken from the Earl Klugh-esque, low-slung jazz guitar of "Another Year" to the addictive slap funk majesty of "Physical Education". If this were hooked up to a graphic equalizer it would create only the most achingly beautiful of shapes. There you have it... The Joy Of Motion.

8. Craang - To The Estimated Size Of The Universe (Pink Tank Records)
As a debut album, quite frankly TTESOTU is astounding. There have been plenty of releases of late riding the retro gravy train but this four-track concoction of space, stoner and psych is quite unlike anything that has come before. Yes, some of its content may bear a passing resemblance to Hawkwind, Zappa or Pink Floyd but it actually draws strength from far more contemporary sounds than these. Take “Butterfly” for example. It digs out the kind of sick, splattering riff that Fu Manchu or Orange Goblin might have conjured and rides it until it sinks so far into your consciousness that you cease to notice it any more. You can feel your own pulse begin to syncopate, realigning itself with the music to create a new cadence for you to live by. There is definitely no hiding from the enigmatic joy, passion and crushing presence that this album carries.

9. Evil Scarecrow - Galactic Hunt (Deadbox Records) 
Music and humour are two beasts that can cause sparks when combined. There's the simple shits n' giggles kind - bands like Tenacious D and Psychostick - and there's the lunatic fringe featuring goliaths like Rammstein and Devin Townsend. Aligning themselves closer to the latter, Evil Scarecrow tackle everything from genetically-modified mutant-robot crabs and the brilliant concept of losing a priceless library book called "The Book Of Doom", to paying tribute to the interactive virtual-reality world that was late-80s kids TV gameshow Knightmare. With razor-sharp wit, a very special guest and now stunning production to boot, Galactic Hunt (say it fast) is proof of just how far they have come in their quest to find our funny bones.

10. Devin Townsend Project - Sky Blue (HevyDevy) 
Bursting from the confines of Dev's Z2 package comes this utterly mind-blowing collaboration with Anneke Van Giersbergen. Sporting great diversity, at times, it wallows in sheer euphoric arena rock whilst at others it spasms into sections of electro, dance and pop. There's also the mind-blowing wrap-around sound of "The Universal Choir" to wallow in. What more could any fan of music want?



Others for your stocking:
11. Pet Slimmers Of The Year - Fragments Of Uniforms (Review)
12. Herod - They Were None (Review)
13. The Golden Grass - S/T (Review)
14. Jackson Firebird - Cock Rockin' (Review)
15. Inventions - S/T (Review)
16. Behemoth - The Satanist (Review)
17. Thomas Giles - Modern Noise (Review)
18. Alaya - Thrones (Review)
19. Mire - Inward / Outward (Review)
20. My Brother The Wind - Once There Was A Time When Space And Time Were One (Review)

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2014/12/albums-of-the-year-2014/

Also online @ Heavy Blog Is Heavy = http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2014/12/17/not-with-a-whimper-but-with-a-bang-heavy-blog-is-heavys-staffs-top-ten-of-2014/

Best of 2013: http://johnskibeat.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/feature-johnskibeats-best-20-albums-of_17.html
Best of 2012: http://johnskibeat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/feature-top-ten-albums-of-2012.html

Album Review: Devin Townsend Project - Ghost

Devin Townsend is probably one of the most imaginative songwriters of our time. He’s also one of the most ludicrous. His ambition seems to know no bounds, although occasionally you do wish his brain would actually kick in and start vetoing things – judging from projects like the crushingly dark ambient drone of 2004′s Devlab (with its stolen System Of A Down front-cover and its 15 untitled tracks) or 2007′s extra-terrestrial rock opera Ziltoid The Omniscient (complete with that Mars Attacks-like comic-book character) he’s finding it harder than most.

So, when Ghost honed into view promising “ambient new wave” it’s fair to say that there would be some amongst us who would question its place on a heavy music site such as this. These folks would no doubt give it short shrift but I, despite my initial skepticism, like to think I am just a tad more open-minded.

Having now heard this, the sister album and polar opposite of the raging force that is Deconstruction, I needn’t have worried. This is still Devin Townsend, drug-free, drink-free, utterly sound of mind and body. He is, in his own words, in “complete control” and this is startling proof that he’s starting to master the art of sober songwriting. This crazy fool has rapidly established himself as a rarity; a jack of all trades; a musical Swiss army knife.

One thing you must consider; before hitting play on Ghost, you have to completely detach yourself from anything and everything you thought you knew about Devin Townsend. If you don’t do that, you’ll find yourself endlessly searching for the bass drum to kickstart this baby into action, some kind of drug-addled lunacy hidden within its folds, or contorted, screaming feedback bleeding its way into the background. No, this is Devin, freed from making complicated statements, kicking back, totally relaxed, jamming the kind of music that he listens to the most – “folk, new age-y stuff”. Ki hinted at the possibilities, but Ghost still has more dreamy ambience than you could ever begin to imagine could come from either the monster behind Strapping Young Lad, or the avant-garde experimentalist that he has become.

Right from the off and his haunting lullaby, “Fly”, it really feels like we are hearing the real Devin Townsend, perhaps completely, for the very first time. Close your eyes and you’re floating over mountaintops, guided on what feels like a very personal, intimate journey. Without blinking you’ll be through the gentle pulsing of the Enya-esque “Heart Baby” and into the proggish ambience of “Feather”. Devin’s vocal, acoustic guitar and bass may be the sturdy canvas of the music, but it’s the accompaniment that surrounds it that completes the picture – not so much a collection of musical instruments as they are a palette of pastel colors daubed in bold streaks. Kat Epple’s striking flute, Dave Young’s tidal keyboard and twangy mandolin, and Mike St. John’s understated, shuffling drums. You could actually make a case for the star of this album being Epple’s flute. I defy you to listen to her fluctuating, exploding flourishes that mark out “Monsoon” or her breathy, accented dawn chorus at the centre of “Heart Baby” and not be blown away by her skill.

You’ll also pick up a few of Devin’s field recordings – the river running through, the croaking frogs, the crying gulls and the crashing waves – and the occasional, elegant accompanying female vocal (provided by Katrina). These are the things that, during the initial spin, will have you thinking “Isn’t this the music they were just playing at the massage parlour?” Or maybe, you were fooled into wondering if Devin had spent too long listening to the undeniably eerie sound of whales mating and released a tape for all you desperate insomniacs out there. However, repeated intensive listens should uncover just how dense this album is. You’ll begin to hear, not the three minutes of crisply plucked strings that form “Kawaii” but the wobbling wall-of-sound behind them, not the vocal or mandolin on the frazzled country of “Blackberry” but the sliding brushes on the snare – the multi-hued textures are mesmeric. There is material here that is reminiscent of The Mamas And The Papas, late-Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, The Magic Numbers, Hammock, Mark Knopfler’s Local Hero and, getting a little closer to a more appropriate reference point, the Foo Fighters and In Your Honor‘s experimental, acoustic flourishes.

Devin does allow his metal chops to briefly gnash for “Texada”; a driven beast that gathers momentum until he seems to realise, hits the brakes and leaves it spinning out across the desert, oscillating gently until it finally comes to rest at the feet of a man whispering a prayer. With the sublime, surf-riding of “Seams” and the tribal chanting of “Infinite Ocean” (every time I put a conch shell to my ear now, this is what I expect to hear) seeing this album out, we are granted dead air to allow us to surface.

It’s by no means a perfect collection of songs; there are those clunky moments that shake you from the reverie you’ve been lulled into. The title-track, for instance, is heinously repetitious and so cloyingly predictable that it brings to mind white swinging flares and Europop mullets. There are moments when both “Blackberry” and “Texada” get carried away with themselves and I just can’t work out why “Dark Matters” has been given its own space when it doesn’t have an identity – it merely acts as a two-minute link track. But then Devin being Devin, he goes and throws something awe-inspiring at you; a sensory explosion like “As You Were” that sends shivers up your spine and dissolves your knees.

I must admit I struggle to even begin to get my head around the concept of the tetralogy, of which Ghost is the concluding part, but it all suggests some kind of schizophrenic, workaholic mind in overdrive. All I can say for definite, despite the order in which they were recorded, is that without the purging of evil that Devin went through to create Deconstruction, he would never have been able to create the angelic beauty that inhabits Ghost. Such is the power of music and I’d swear if you cut this man, music would flood out. The less polluted that lifeblood gets, the more transparent his skin becomes. A couple of times here, I swear I could even see the man’s soul.

Also online @ The New Review = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/devin-townsend-project-ghost

Album Review: Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction

With Deconstruction and Ghost being released simultaneously, Devin Townsend’s self-defining tetralogy of albums is now complete. He’s been pushing boundaries so far and Deconstruction is no exception. We’ve had the dynamic soft touches of Ki and the heavy, yet commercial pomp of Addicted, but here he’s back to show off just how easily he can rip our faces off.

Having said that, whatever you do, don’t try too hard to analyse the concept behind the album. Yes, the skullet may be gone, the mind may be clear but the lunatic on his shoulder is still present and he’s still calling the shots. The lyrics, on the surface, are completely bonkers. I’ve attempted to decipher it for you and it’s basically about the fact that we’ve been taking ourselves too seriously to the point where you can look at a subject (in this case, a cheeseburger) so deeply that you’ll lose track of what it is and why you’re doing it – “like trying to document infinity.” So, naturally, this review will dispense with the bullshit and give it to you straight up. Deconstruction will, most likely, be your album of the year. Go and buy it.

What… you want more? Okay, okay. Well, I’m not sure I have enough words in my vocabulary to actually describe just how vast this is, but here goes. Devin has hauled in yet more special guests (eleven, count ‘em) for this one but, unlike on so much of Addicted, their presence (vocal, or otherwise) is required to mark the tone of each track and their integration is a thing of beauty. Take Mikael Åkerfeldt’s (Opeth) turn on the stunningly effective “Stand” – following Devin’s soft completion of the dark build, he pops up to breath black death over the chorus. Also check out Tommy Rogers’ (Between The Buried And Me) cohesive touches with Devin on the math-to-prog monster “Planet Of The Apes”. Incidentally, the drums on this track are nothing short of legendary – it’s no wonder the man needed two skin-beaters (Ryan van Poederooyen and Soilwork’s Dirk Verbeuren). I smell burning drumsticks.

There are inspired orchestral movements that explode into great chants that begin in the loins and end as goose-pimples on your arms. There are fiery blasts birthed out of the belly of the beast and then sudden side-swipes of these catchy, insanely poppy, sections featuring the most virginal of vocals. The music constantly keeps you alert and on your toes – it honestly feels like the denizens of heaven and hell are playing catch and you’re the ball.

Dig in far enough and you’ll reach the disgustingly-titled “The Mighty Masturbator”. It’s over sixteen minutes long but every second is worth it. It’s absolutely riddled with twists and turns that take you on a voyage through symphonic, folk, prog, electro, power, black, tech and death metal. There are choirs oohing and aahing, acoustic guitar spots, a large dose of string battery, scat singing and a countdown that explodes into Pi. Devin shifts from a gentile storybook vocal style so reminiscent of Ihsahn (who, incidentally, features on the pumping fists of “Juular”) to clambering all over Bruce Dickinson’s operatic vibrato, before finally getting out the oratory ringmaster within to shout out his edicts. There’s even a spot for the scathing vocal of Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato. It’s utterly immense.

There is almost too much to take in as it furtively tips its hat to about a gazillion bands – you name them, this album features an echo of them in either a brief moment or a lingering passage, all effortlessly knitted in amongst the complex folds of this rich, rock opera backdrop. It’s one of the busiest, longest (at 70+ minutes) and, consequently, most challenging albums I’ve ever heard. All the same, no album has ever compelled me to press that repeat button like this one has.

Naturally, the production is absolutely through the roof. The textures are layered on generously with each one allowed enough space for the next, yet everything remains honest, crisp where it needs to be and distorted where it doesn’t. There is so much going on it boggles the mind and every single note is completely there, flying around like a bee in the background or driving into your body like its sting – “Sumeria”, for one, should come with a damn health warning: attempting to listen to every note may cause permanent damage. You can hear everything at once and it all feels 100% relevant (yes, even the shitty farts, burps and “cheeseburger” chants on the title-track – he’s making a very valid point very well, with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek of course – why else would he have asked GWAR’s Oderus Urungus to get involved). I’m completely sold. So settle down, clamp on some high-quality cans and brace yourself for Devin Townsend’s finest hour – Deconstruction is an absolute fucking masterpiece.

Also online @ The New Review = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/devin-townsend-project-deconstruction