Apparently Devin Townsend was to disband SYL after ‘97’s City album, which would have been a tragedy. But they say September 11 rekindled the anger and aggression in him sufficiently to resurrect the Metallic beast , and the result was ‘03’s ‘SYL’, a more organic, although no less devastating release.
Now in early ‘05, Devin and co. unleash ‘Alien’, and upon initial listens the word devastation springs immediately to mind again. Once again, the band signals it’s intentions from the get-go, with the typically blistering, but symphonic ‘Imperial’ (and it’s immortal opening line ‘We have returned’!)
And once again Devin and his loyal sidemen take us on an apocalyptic journey through the scariest imaginable industrial flavoured soundscapes, but tempered with very Devin-esque glimpses of melody. You may have read that Alien seems to combine the noise of City, with the organic clarity of SYL. I believe this to be the case, and it culminates in Alien being Strapping’s strongest and most appealing release to date.
No standouts here – the album is wall to wall strength, with the song writing and playing being of as world conquering calibre as you would expect. Even the quite piece ‘Two Weeks’ is a very nice surprise. Devin is yet again in very fine fettle, vocally, especially in ‘Thellamus’
Overall, stunning results. But then we’ve come to expect nothing less of Mr Devy Townsend. Strapping deliver on every possible level yet again.
Alien gets ****1/2
A quick word on the accompanying DVD. It’s an excellent documentary on the making of the album. Definitely one of the more worthwhile DVD’s I’ve seen with an album release I’ve yet seen.
Tag Archives: Strapping young lad
Classic Album Review – Strapping young lad – Alien
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