Devin Townsend — Terria

Here it is, one of the most highly anticipated metal/hard-rock (well, much more than that actually - hard to categorize) album of the year and, what a coincidence, it also happens to be one of the juiciest!

After the musically good yet soul-lacking Physicist, Devin the Great bought a Stratocaster and decided to get back to being a full-time musical visionary (the word "genius" is overused in Devy articles so I'll try *not* to use it).

A little background information first: as some of you might know, Devin makes music in 'projects'. Those could be compared to boxes, and each one containing a certain concept, a certain lapse of time in Devy's life, a certain palette of feelings.. Some boxes are bigger than others, some are deeper; for example lets take the SYL one, it contains raw anger, frustration and unbridled energy under the form of industrialish thrash metal - it also contains 2 studio albums and 1 official live album (and who knows, maybe one day it will contain more, maybe Devin will feel like playing more thrash metal after having produced the 4th Soilwork album - we can dream can't we?). The infinity box is probably the deepest one, if I got it right, and it contains Devy's spirituality, his optimism and belief that "it's alright/it's all light", he lets down all the barriers, pours his heart & soul in it and shows himself to us (metaphorically and literally) naked (hence the cover artwork) - it's like a big Broadway show and Mr. T. (ah! "T." for "Townsend" of course - not the one with the mohawk) is the star! Ocean Machine was a gigantic box full of salt water, beaches, palm trees, great big clouds of all shapes (from white to dark gray) and maybe one or two Japanese Godzillas. Physicist was fun, but it was more a patchwork from others boxes; melodies from Infinity, rhythms from SYL (often referred to as "SYL-lite"... less fat content!), etc.

So how is this new box? Well, it will sit in my attic (read: cd collection) right next to Ocean Machine; it's about as big, it's a little more refined and instead of water, it's full of layers of soil, a few mountains, wheat & beef, recycled pieces of papers with love poems written on and some very interesting life forms that I hadn't seen before!

This album is not as immediate as Ocean Machine, but it's well worth the extra listens; it's immensely rewarding once you get past the initial 5 to 10 listens and I now have a hard time deciding which song is my favourite since it changes everyday and pretty much all of them are highlights (Hell, the running time is 72 minutes, it feels like half that and I'm already asking for more! Only a very few parts could be described as subpar or boring...). On the heaviness-meter, it's pretty similar to Ocean Machine; fans of only SYL, don't expect this to be the follow up to City!

On the production level, it still sounds like Devin but I have to admit that there's a difference in tone; the rhythms are still his trademark reverby wall of guitars but the tone is now more twangy (maybe it's because of the Stratocaster) as can be heard in the song "Canada". It's also pretty much the first time, although I knew he could, that I hear him shred and showcase his technical prowesses that much! From the tearjerking neo-classical part in "Deep Space" to the wailing solos in 2-3 other songs, nobody can accuse Devin of not possessing talent on the technical level. So the overall sound quality/production of the album is pure Devy and it is second only to Infinity (everything is - no shame in that). Each song contains layers on layers of details an interesting sounds that may take 13 listens to notice, from Devin's dog (RIP) barking in "Mountain" to all kinds of weird sound effects (ie. insects) scattered all over the album.

The performances from all the musicians are top notch, as always with musicians of this caliber. Devin's vocals are layered and he harmonize with himself a lot, his melodies and delivery are sometimes catchy, sometimes emotional, but always fitting and inspired. His guitar playing can't be faulted. Gene Hoglan's drumming is an example of versatility and taste. Craig McFarland's fretless bass brings a new dimension to the sound and keeps the bottom end solid. It's hard to know who plays the keyboard & piano in every song, but be it Devin or Jamie Meyer, they both do a great job in that department anyway.

Definitely one of the albums of the year, not sure how high it will be in my 2001 top 10 list, but it'll be there!

Better than Ocean Machine? Hmm.. Different!

Genius -1

Post Scriptum: If you are not already a DevyFan, I wouldn't recommend this album as a starting point since, with Infinity, it is DT's more complex work yet. You should probably get the melodic hard-rock/metal of Ocean Machine or the hyper-kinetic thrash metal of Strapping Young Lad (depending on your tastes) first since they are easier to digest and are a better introduction to the wonderful world of Devy.

Photo: Christ Stanley