Trollheart's Fortress of Prog

[Trollheart]

I don't think I've ever come across an artist before whom I both love and hate, which is to say, some of their music I really enjoy and some I really am turned off by. There's Lana Lane, whose album Lady Macbeth made me want to buy all her music, none of which has been as good as that album, and Yes of course, whose 80s output I love but whose work in the 70s leaves me cold. But one way or the other, I can say I like, or don't like, both of those artists. This guy, I don't know. He can write the most heartfelt and moving ballads, multi-layered, almost orchestral compositions on the one hand, and on the other has tracks that are spoken word, or just him literally (it seems to me) screaming against a pounding guitar. You probably know by now who I'm referring to, so welcome, and step, if you dare, over the threshold and into


When I say he has songs I love and hate, I don't mean there are albums I love and albums I hate. I'm talking about these two opposing forces being on the same albums. So there's no point in me trying to pick out a, for want of a better word, good Devin album or a bad one; each has its pluses and minuses, and there's really no way to separate most, if not all, of them into such easy categories. The only method, then, that remains to me is to throw all his music into a blender, so to speak, mix it up, choose one at random and see how it goes.


Title: "Kawai"
Year: 2011
Released under: Devin Townsend Project
Style: Gentle acoustic ballad
From: Unplugged (Originally from Ghost)

Given the title of the album (EP) you would imagine this to be on the softer side of the Townsend spectrum, yes? Can't really scream and shred on an acoustic, can you? Can you? God I hope not. Well no, my fears appear to be unfounded: it's an acoustic (obviously) ballad which showcases that side of Townsend I like, his softer, more gentle, more emotional side, the side of him that allows him to pen ballads of this quality. If only all his material was like this. But it ain't, which is why I've started this section. A good start though.

Rating: 8/10

Title: "Red Tomorrow"
Year: 1999
Released under: Devin Townsend
Style: Powerful, noisy and abrasive mid-paced rocker
From: Ass-sordid Demos I

This, on the other hand, is more what I like to think of as being from the dark side of Devin. Loud, squealing guitars, banging drums and the man himself screeching and roaring over the music, such as it is. Anyone who claims Townsend is not metal needs to listen to this. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, to be fair: a lot of sort of industrial noises in there, and while it's much rawer, it has the full sound of the likes of Epicloud and Accelerated Evolution, so certainly listenable if a little raucous.

Rating: 7/10

Title: "Devlab XIV"
Year: 2004
Released under: Devin Townsend
Style: Mechanical/Industrial sounds with a little ambient and the barest of vocal
From: Devlab

This, and certain other albums by him, chill my blood. When Devin Townsend experiments, he doesn't seem to recognise any barriers or impediments, and frankly, some of the music that comes out of these experiments is, to me, little better than noise. Each track on this album is entitled the same as its parent, just numbered I-XV, so they may mostly be the same, I don't know. All I do know is that this one starts off as sort of machine noise, like someone running a generator, and you can just about hear him shouting in the background. Not quite "Welcome to the Machine", more like "Who's got the shutoff code for this goddamn thing?" It settles down to some sort of spacey synth and some feedback effects, but they quickly fade out and we're back to listening to someone running a big photocopier or something. I think he's muttering "wake up" in the background, but basically the machine noise swells and grows in volume till it just blocks everything out. Pointless.

Rating: 2/10

And that's our first trip into the very strange world inhabited, created and produced by Devin Townsend. Even on these three tracks, you can see how different his music is, sometimes great, sometimes just grating on the nerves. One thing is for sure: you never know what you're going to get when you cross over into his world, and it's never predictable.