Deconstruction (Devin Townsend)

Year: 2011

I love Devin Townsend.  I like his music.  I like his humor.  I especially like it when he combines his humor with his music, as he did so well in Ziltoid, the Omniscient.  Unfortunately, I think he really goes WAY over-the-top in about every area imaginable in the production of Deconstruction.  I have already reviewed Ghost (which was released at the same time) and lamented how he left the center of his typical musical universe to explore the extreme edges.  Ghost was too soft.  Deconstruction is too...well, everything.  You name it, Deconstruction has too much of it.

Townsend loves to create a wall of sound, but with this album he has created walls upon walls of sounds and the overall effect is ultimately more distracting (assaulting is the better word) than pleasing to my ears.

The album starts off quite nicely with the opening moments of "Praise the Lowered" which steadily increases in intensity and volume to become somewhat of a frothing mess which is a precursor of things to come.

"Stand" follows and is a great track, right in the wheelhouse for what makes Devin such a great artist.  It is heavy, with lots of layered guitar parts providing unique sounds in conjunction with Devin's vocal arrangements.  However, the sonic assault has yet to truly begin.  "Juular" is reminiscent of the "Vampolka"-"Vampira" combo from Synchestra.  It comes fast and furious and it is becoming apparent that Townsend is throwing more and more into the mix.

"Planet of the Apes" is next and starts out well enough with a heavy off-beat groove.  The drums and samples are a bit annoying here though as everything sounds way too programmed.  I do enjoy the change of pace though that this song goes through especially around the 6-minute mark.  Devin's vocals are great though in this song, especially when he is not screaming.

"Sumeria" continues the heavy programming sound which I don't care for and the walls of sound begin to grate on me even though there are some nice musical moments here.  But this is about where Devin loses me on this album.  "The Mighty Masturbator" is the next song and it starts innocently enough, but with a title like that you know the opening soft, acoustic sounds are momentary.  Between "Masturbator", "Pandemic" and "Deconstruction", there is just too much silliness and loud loudness to the point where everything just feels overbearing.

Devin will be Devin.  Walls of sound, passing gas, references to both male and female sex organs are in full supply on this album.  It's just too much for me.  I'm so worn out after listening to this album that Ghost all of a sudden seems like a welcome change.

Ziltoid the Omniscient (Devin Townsend)

Year: 2007

When I first heard Ayreon's The Human Equation album, I was intrigued by a number of the voices that I heard on it, Devin Townsend's being one of them.  To be honest, I was a bit intimidated to delve into his discography because I thought his speed metal tendencies might not be to my taste.  But after reading a couple of favorable reviews of this album with the silly name, I thought it might be time to give the Canadian hard rocker a try.

Well, I'm sure you've already noticed the number of stars I have given this album, so I think it's obvious what I thought.  Surprised...Stunned...Amazed.  This album left me speechless.  Are all of those voices really Devin's?  This is a fabulous album in the prog metal genre.

Things start off with a searing speed-metal introduction to the concept's main character, Ziltoid.  I love this start for a number of reasons.  First, the music and the concept quickly let the listener know that this is going to be a tongue-in-cheek musical, with quality humor and even higher quality music.  Second, the very first minute of music incorporates much of what makes this album so nice: impressive speed metal sections combined with richly layered vocal tracks, another fine rendition of Townsend's patented "wall of sound."

I especially enjoy the more melodic parts of this album which can be found in the tracks "Solar Winds", "Hyperdrive", "Color Your World" and "The Greys" with these latter two songs being my favorite part of the album as there is a huge build-up and a very dynamic finish in "Color Your World" with the "Creator of the Omniverse" screaming at a defeated Ziltoid that "WE ARE ALL PUPPETS!", only to fade out with the beautiful closing in "The Greys."

Well done Devin!  Thanks for singing on The Human Equation as it would have taken me much longer to find out about you.  This is definitely a prog metal masterpiece worthy of five stars.

Ghost (Devin Townsend)

Year: 2011

It wasn't all that long ago when one of my favorite bands released two albums on top of each other that were almost complete opposites when Opeth gave us Deliverance and Damnation.  Eight years later, another one of my favorites does practically the same thing and my reaction is no different now as it was when Opeth did it.  Many consider it progressive when a band attempts to push out its borders, but I find that there is a cost.

I fell in love with Devin Townsend with Terria, Synchestra and Ziltoid the Omniscient (my favorite).  Now with Deconstruction and Ghost, Mr. Townsend leaves behind his normally balanced approach to music by giving us entire albums on the extreme edge of his repertoire.  This particular review concerns Ghost, which entirely consists of Townsend's ethereal and ambient styles of music.

Soothing?  Yes.  Pretty?  Yes.  What I want in a Devin Townsend album?  Not even close.  This is the Mamma Bear side of Townsend which just feels too soft and tepid for my taste.  While I would agree that there are redeeming prog elements contained in this piece of music, I would never consider this essential nor would I recommend it.  (If reading this review put you to sleep, then I have captured the essence of Ghost.)