Time to pick up the pace a bit.
Here we are, folks. This is the album I’ve been waiting to talk about since the beginning of this little trip. Ever since this album came out, three years ago, it immediately, single-handedly, unmistakably bitchslapped its way into the coveted spot of “UMH’s favorite album of all time.” This is the ultimate extreme metal album in every possible way. It’s got harsh vocals, clean vocals, a choir, a full orchestra, blast beats, blast beats, blast beats, psychotic guitar lines, massive songs with unorthodox structures, the only metal dance break in history, lyrics about farting, and so many layers that I don’t think Devin himself has even heard all of it. Hang on to your ass/balls/hats, kids. We’re in for a bumpy ride.
Normally I don’t like to do track by track analysesissesse….s, but like Terria, I really feel like this one needs it. Starting out with Praise the Lowered, we have a continuation of the synth outro from Addicted with a bit of a trip-hop feel before everything FINALLY explodes into the metal onslaught we’ve been expecting since that first build up in Coast. And then, out of nowhere, we’re back to something quiet and pensive. What the fuck, right? Well, if you notice, the songs on Ki that have heavy moments progressively get heavier as they go. Disruptr’s heavy moment is pretty heavy, Gato is really heavy, and Heaven Send is REALLY heavy, and Praise the Lowered comes in heavier than all three of them combined. Yet, still, we wait. I’ve heard some complain that the beginning of Stand kind of kills the momentum, but I like to think of it as a final release of the tension from Ki. The album doesn’t really settle down again (except for some more melodic breaks on Planet and Masturbator), so I feel like the intro to Stand serves to finally put that last nail in Ki’s coffin. Further confirming this theory is the lyrics of Stand and Disruptr both end with “Shut it.”
With that out of the way, holy mother FUCK Stand is an awesome song. Once everything kicks in with the wall of “OM”s and the pounding riff starts permeating, it’s non-stop perfection. This is everything Devin Townsend’s heavy metal should be. Loud, bombastic, and slightly off-kilter with seemingly random blasts of...something. While the guitars and drums may seem overtly simple, the amount of vocal lines and orchestral flourishes in the background give the song complexity. It’s a refreshing change of pace in a world that views the “extremity” of metal based on the technicality of the guitar riffing and drumming. Don’t get me wrong, there is PLENTY of downright ridiculous drumming and guitar playing on this album, but Stand works you into it without coming right out with the crazy shit. Serving as a sort of second overture to Deconstruction (again, it was a long time coming, so spending so much time setting it up just builds up the tension and eventual release even more), Stand introduces the listener to the idea that Devin is ready to face himself and reach his own version of Nirvana, understanding his identity as a musician and a member of the human race (Sound familiar?).
Juular kicks everything into high-gear. Orchestra and choir deliver a throbbing, circus-like vibe that I can only describe as Danny Elfman metal. Lyrically, we’re getting into the concepts of Devin’s bipolarity, and how he no longer feels the need to be the “angry guy” from the SYL records. The music video pretty handily confirms this. The stellar vocals by Ihsahn in the chorus represent the SYL Devin. The video also depicts a sort of runaway train, in which each car houses a segment of Devin’s past. Notably, Ziltoid is driving the train.
Planet of the Apes is the first of the three “juggernaut” tracks, as I call them. This song is loud, pounding, and angular. The riffing is heavily inspired by Meshuggah and the whole djent movement. Lyrically, I feel like it’s a mix of being jaded with the idea of modern metal being “tune the guitars lower or it’s not heavy enough” and a continuation of Devin not being angry enough to be “true” to metal. Still, the fans and general public expect Devin to keep “being metal.” The lyrics that recur most often in Planet are “I stay heavy for my god,” which could refer to the rampant fanboyism present in metal (not like I can really talk, I know). The lighter sections of the song take more of a “be your own person and fuck what everyone else thinks” attitude. Returning to the heavy atmosphere for the rest of the song, tons of lyrics like “Stray from the norm, never be heard,” keep alluding to the idea of “selling out” as an artist, or even as a person. The song and its lyrics seem quite disjointed. Devin stated himself that Planet of the Apes was created from a multitude of different ideas that were more or less frankenstein’d together. Considering the concept of Deconstruction, which is Devin analyzing himself, I feel like the disjointed nature of Planet of the Apes fits quite well both musically and lyrically. There’s a nice Awake!! reference toward the end “All the world’s been waiting for the news.”
I’d say Sumeria is one of the more accessible tracks on Deconstruction, but that’s kind of like calling a bobcat gentle and cuddly. It’s not as vicious as a tiger, but it’ll still tear you apart. Here, we have a more straight-forward, double-bass centric, crunchy death metal riff making up the majority of the song. Lyrically, I feel like it’s continuing the concepts explored in Planet of the Apes, but in more of a frustrated sense. They also focus on the knowledge that Devin’s hoping to obtain during this experience. After the brief ending postlude proclaiming “Pray for where our hearts lead us now,” we’re led to our second juggernaut song.
In order to understand one human’s purpose, it’s necessary to analyze all of humanity. The 16 minute Mighty Masturbator serves as not only the most ridiculous song in Devin’s entire discography, but a complete picture of Devin’s view of humanity. Beginning with the story of a man (probably Devin) who’s supposedly found a way to “save the world,” we’re introduced to nearly every facet of human society. Namely, we’re dealing with the desire and even supposed privilege to dominate all other beings, questing for new knowledge, and religion. Musically, we’re exposed to a bizarre concoction of Zappa-influenced metal and an EDM party sprinkled into the middle. It’s crazy, for sure. The song ends with the realization that Devin IS the mighty masturbator. Amen.
With Pandemic, Devin’s found that his newfound understanding of his life’s purpose isn’t exactly as fulfilling as he had expected. Pandemic is probably the most vicious song on the album. It’s pretty much straight blast-beating and nearly incomprehensible guitar along with a nice choir track tossed in the mix just to make it even more impenetrable.
Now, we come to the true climax of the album. Deconstruction, originally titled Cheeseburger (for incredibly obvious reasons), is the most fitting title track for the whole DTP, and considering how well Ki and Addicted’s title tracks sum up their respective album, I feel like that’s saying a lot. It’s massively disjointed at every possible turn, yet somehow still makes some degree of sense. There’s downright ridiculous drumming, sweep arpeggios all over everything, a guest appearance by Frederik Thorendal and Oderus Urungus (RIP), and an epic, sweeping ending that is right up there with Dynamics and Stagnant in its majesty. Lyrically, the song deals with something along the lines of finding out that the meaning of the universe is a cheeseburger. It’s a very obtuse metaphor for the common conclusion that the universe simply isn’t meant to be understood. The main character of Deconstruction (Devin) is understandably upset by this revelation, and spends the rest of the song apologizing for his stupidity.
Another death metal tinged track, Poltergeist, closes out the album in style. The lyrics here are a final push to cleanse the personal demons, though it’s not ever determined if the “cleansing” was successful. A lot of the next album deals with moving on from the failed experiment to determine the meaning of Devin’s life, and the naming conventions (last song on Decon is called Poltergeist, where the next album is called Ghost) seem to support the idea that it was unsuccessful. Ending with another pounding, chaotic riff with orchestral and choral accompaniment, it finishes off the album in the strongest way possible.
My GOD that was a lot of analysis. I can guarantee you at least half of that is total bullshit speculation on my part, but it would be cool if it wasn’t. I’ve spent way too much of my life obsessing over this album, listening day and night picking apart every little detail. Trust me, that’s not easy to do. I expect this album will receive a bit of a mixed reception due to its chaotic nature and general impenetrability (oh fuck that’s actually a word). It probably took me 10 listens to even understand half of what was going on. A lot of it just sort of flies through your head without leaving much of a lasting impression. That’s not to say there aren’t catchy moments on this album, though. I’d say every song has at least one remotely accessible moment that you could hum to yourself later.
Don’t fret though. If you don’t like this unbelievable clusterfuck of extreme metal, we have one of the more relaxed segments of our adventure coming right around the corner.
Topic: Re: Devin Townsend Discography v. 'Cause there is always time... (Read 52024 times)