Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction

Devin Townsend Project

Deconstruction

2011

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Devin Townsend has made his name known over the past 20 years by masterminding Strapping Young Lad, and his solo projects Devin Townsend and Devin Townsend Band. In 2009 he set up a four album project called the Devin Townsend Project that would showcase the many corners of his musical identity. He released “Ki” and “Addicted” in 2009, and this year has released the concluding chapters, “Deconstruction” and “Ghost.”

Deconstruction features much of what Mr. Townsend has been showcasing on the previous efforts of his solo career. This is a very heavy progressive metal, with some orchestral effects thrown in for an appropriate level of bombast, and some techno beeping around the edges for additional variety.

Hevy Devy’s vocal prowess is practically unheard of. He switches from operatic singing to vicious growls and screams. Apart from a superb vocal performance, his guitar playing is awe inspiring. His riffs are just magnificent, and could easily stand alone as fantastic pieces of art, but combined with the rest of the components makes everything even more amazing. Just listen to the opening riff to Deconstruction or Planet of the Apes, and you’ll see his mastery. He plays all of the instruments and does all of the vocals except for the drums and choir.

This is an almost overwhelming album, not just because it’s amazing, but because it is so very dense. There’s a lot of multi-layering, so you get the “wall of sound” effect. I have always been a fan of this, as it makes everything much heavier and more powerful. There are multiple sections where there are multiple voiceovers talking at once and it gets really confusing. But if you listen carefully, you can isolate one and listen to it, and then listen to a different one another time. Either way, it’s very entertaining.

Deconstruction is a concept album that follows a protagonist (no, not The Protagonist) who dies. He then goes to hell, where he is given a cheeseburger that will grant him ultimate knowledge. The protagonist replies, “But I don’t eat the cheeseburgers guys, I’m a vegi-ma-tarian!” With a story as bizarre as this, there is bound to be some hilarious quotes and there are I literally laughed out loud on many occasions through this album. There is a Ziltoid reference in The Mighty Masturbator, which is hard to catch, but it’s there.

Ultimately, this album is amazing, plain and simple (even if the music isn’t plain or simple). There is something for every metal head here. If you like extreme metal, there’s plenty of that, if you’re more into the progressive/power/heavy metal there’s lots of that too. I suggest all who read this get up and quickly run to get Deconstruction as soon as they can.

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Claus’ Rating 4.75/5