Rock ‘n’ roll is a treacherous genre for the mid-lifer — the older
I get, the older my “exciting new” discoveries tend to be. Have you heard what Johnny Burnette has done to Tiny
Bradshaw’s “The Train Kept A-Rollin’”?
Cooks, I’m telling you.
So when I stumble across someone who is younger, and
evidently at that zenith where energy and technical chops are in perfect sync,
I get very, very excited.
Enter Devin Townsend.
Channeling Paul Burlison |
I originally clued-in to Devin Townsend via this
performance, from 2013’s The Retinal Circus.
Being of the faintly-metal, faintly-churchy stripe, the song
and performance gives me the heavy shivers. So I was surprised when I cued up
the rest of The Retinal Circus and
found it a bit of a rough ride.
Pretty much as advertised. |
By concert’s conclusion, the effort at narrative continuity
strains past the breaking point, and Townsend himself frequently mocks it
outright. But even a noob viewer like me could see this wasn’t an entirely
misguided effort. Townsend is clearly attracted to Big Existential Themes, and
Big Musical Expression. He may be a clown, but he trades earnestly in
recognizable currency.
Townsend is an unregenerate headbanger, but also a polymath
of the popular. Every album is a “What if?” proposition — as in, “What if Zamfir
hired Meshuggah as the studio band for his next album?” If the question strikes
the wary listener as a gag or novelty, Townsend doubles down on his commitment
to the project until the listener is persuaded otherwise — and then he’ll fart,
or belch.
So where ought the curious noob to start with Devin
Townsend?
ADDICTED! (2009) is Townsend’s shot at making “an album you can
dance to.” It opens with the deliberate crunch and heavy low-end associated
with the more dirge-like modes of metal (think Rob Zombie), but subverts it from the git-go with disco polish and
an almost giddy positivity. Townsend was, at this point, confirmed in his
commitment to a clean-and-sober life. The album could play as a series of
12-Step anthems — if only Townsend weren’t attuned to the irony of
self-improvement as an addiction in its own right. Start with “Bend It Like Bender.” If you like
that, you could try the title track next. Or just trust me and get the rest of
the album.
Epicloud (2012) is Townsend’s (current) magnum opus — his “Andrew
Lloyd Webber” album — a grand summary of all the styles he had been
experimenting with up to that point. If you like “Grace,” you’ll be on-board
for the rest of this disc. It’s got metal, ballads, operatic desperation and
carnal punchlines — all of it neatly bookended by a reassuring gospel choir. Its
sudden switches of intensity get me giggling one moment, then dabbing at my
eyes the next. Anneke Van Giersbergen,
the lead vocalist in “Grace,” is frequently at the fore, playing either Yin or
Yang as Townsend’s hijinx requires. Just one example: following the cathartic “Grace”
with the fiercely comical “MORE!” Epicloud
is probably the most accessible synthesis of Townsend’s zaniness and
sincerity.*
None too hard on the ears, either. |
Deconstruction (2011), in which our Pilgrim braves a face-to-face encounter with the Devil, to discover that the true nature of
reality is . . . a cheeseburger. Too bad our Pilgrim is vegetarian. If this
sounds like a Spike Jones goof, the vertiginous effect of the entire album is
difficult to overstate. Very Proggy, and entirely Metal, it plays like the
first time you watched a fractal pattern screen-saver. “Hey, that’s cool!” shifts to “Wow, it keeps changing”
shifts to “. . . huh . . . “ shifts to “Mommy!”
If you’ve swallowed all three of those pills, you’ll want to
know what Townsend’s New Age music sounds like. Ghost (2011) isn’t
something that gets a lot of play from
me (I can’t quite shake my pan-flute bias), but it’s definitely worth the
listen. Just when I’m ready to nod off, the mood turns dark and the drums kick
out a double-bass fill.
If you want to look into Townsend’s Strapping Young Lad days, I can recommend The New Black and City — 90s
Metal that wears the usual 90s influences (Slayer, the hardcore scene) all
flavoured with Townsend mischief. But now you’re on your own, ‘cos I’m out of
words. And it looks like he’s just getting started.
"More! More! More! More!" |
No comments:
Post a Comment