Devin Townsend

I just barely started listening to his stuff. All I knew about him before was that he debuted on a Steve Vai album and eventually had a big cult following for his band SYL (whom I had seen once at a Dark Angel reunion show) because Gene Hoglan was the drummer.

Devin is definitely “out there” with his music and production, but that’s what sets him apart and makes it interesting. There’s too many bands following the same tired formulas over and over. We need the occasional oddball guys like Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo and David Byrne from Talking Heads to push the boundaries of music with their weirdness.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I imagine that's what the soundtrack in the mind of a serial killer would sound like.

mc666 wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

No shitting out another Epicloud here!

Old post, I know... but you didn't like Epicloud? Aside from Addicted, It's my favorite album by him.

Even later reply I know. I love Epicloud and Addicted is my favourite DTP album but Devin was not all that happy with the pressure that Epicloud's success brought and by the time he wanted to do another Ziltoid record the record company would only fund his 'stupid farting alien' record if he accompanied it with a more commercially viable record which he did (Sky Blue) which was something that he described as 'shitting out another Epicloud' just to keep the suits happy.

Personally I love Sky Blue as well but am glad that he isn't prepared to settle into a formula just because it's what sells. I hope in five years time he gets back together with DTP and AVG and does another but not yet.

Eyesore wrote:

Posted this on Facebook, so I'm just gonna copy it here...

Holy crap! I watched a snippet of this last week when I was in South Carolina and thought Devin was just goofing, pretending a fake song was a new track, like Matt Smith used to do when a new Theocracy album was coming out (seriously, check those out; they're hilarious).

But...this is legit! Wow! I was so confused at first, and it took a few listens, but I effing LOVE this song. It's like the schizophrenic bastard child of "Processional." This guy is unreal.



Minimize the video. It's stupid. Just listen and expect the unexpected. The seriously unexpected. This song is ridiculous!

Loved it on first listen!

^^Like I said earlier in this thread, what the fuck did I just watch hear??

That's seriously a breathtaking tune. Devin's been...growing on me. Which is weird, because the more I listen to his stuff (and gawd there is a LOT of stuff) the more I realize it's my kind of jazz, even though he branches and segments a whole host of subgenres. I guess it was just a whole new level of music that I wasn't used to but now is taking more shape. And the more I listen, the more of a genius I realize he is.

I started by absorbing Transcendence for a couple spins. There's something truly cinematic about that album, almost a visual quality achieved through liquid sonic layers. He's got a great and unusual sense of melody. On top of it all, he's a technical wizard with composition. Higher, my favorite track of Transcendence, is a great example of this. What a roller coaster. It sent me on my way towards the likes of Ocean Machine, Epicloud, Ghost, and getting in deeper with SYL (honestly, SYL exhausts me after two or three tracks; amazing stuff but more brutal than even most death metal that I favor). I'm repeatedly getting my mind blown.

I'm also a big fan of unpredictable music, and that is exactly what Devin writes. Or at least from what I've heard, and I've only gotten through the top soil of the rabbit hole. Reminds me of taking a journey through Zappa's catalog a few years back. Wild.

Holy shit!!