2007 led to a second spiritual awakening for Devin Townsend (the first being the diagnosis of bipolar disorder leading to the creation of the Infinity album). Devin cut off the skullet that gave him part of his notoriety as being the most true lunatic in the metal scene, quit all the drugs, and had a sobering up that so many rockstars go through. He permanently disbanded SYL and The Devin Townsend Band to focus on himself. During this time, he produced a lot of albums for other bands, but found it unrewarding. While taking time off, he learned how to create music without the aid of the drugs. He eventually settled on the idea of The Devin Townsend Project, finding that a lot of the music he wrote fell into 4 unique niches. Initially, the Project was to be a double album, but the music kept piling up, and the idea of the 4-album Devgasm was finalized. The DTP (as it will be referred to from here on out) was to be released all in one year, but a return to touring quickly squashed those hopes. The first two came in 2009, with the final two releasing in 2011 on the same day. The first album of my favorite run of four albums by any artist ever is the quiet, tense statement known as Ki.
When Ki starts out with its clean, swelling arpeggios, there’s an immediate change of texture from any of Devin’s previous works. It’s downright shocking. All of Devin’s music, be it angry, sad, or happy, have always been 100% balls-out confidence. Angry music was seething and visceral, sad music was dark, depressing, but desperate and powerful, and the happy music was an all-out celebration. Here though, we see a much more restrained picture. Every time Ki rears back its head threatening to explode, it stops itself, returning to the solo guitar atmosphere that it starts with. Coast comes so close to a release to all the tension, but instead of releasing it with a heavy breakdown, it all goes away with a sudden stop. Disruptr, Gato, and Heaven Send are the only instances on the album where the Dev of past years reveals itself to any extent. Each song features a head-banging riff and growled vocals.
Anyone will tell you the strength of Ki is its remarkable atmosphere. It’s mostly achieved through the more subdued numbers such as Terminal, Lady Helen, and Winter. Even the heavy moments from the last paragraph never truly feel like a normal Hevy-Devy passage. To this day, I know of no other album that sounds like Ki even remotely. A lot of the riffing, particularly Gato, sounds like if you added a solid helping of distortion, keyboard smashes, and blast beats, wouldn’t sound out of place on an SYL album. Hell, Gato even contains a reference to Skeksis from Alien (melody after the second chorus).
In yet another departure, the mix and general feel of this album is RADICALLY different to anything Devin’s produced before. There’s nary a wall of sound to be found (heh rhyme lol), the drums aren’t triggered to hell, and everything has a ton of breathing room. Even though I love Devin’s style of production, it’s refreshing to hear such a stripped down, breathable album. The lack of triggers, combined with the impressive talent of Duris Maxwell, makes this my favorite drumming on any Devin release. Duris has a lot of swagger behind the kit, but he never steals the show, even with his soloing in Trainfire. He’s a big part of the different feel of the album, I think.
Lyrically, Ki deals a lot with Devin’s decision to rejoin the music world. All throughout, the lyrics make mention of themes of not being ready (Heaven Send says “but are you ready” at least a dozen times). The next three albums’ overarching themes, addiction (Addicted), facing oneself (Deconstruction), and moving on (Ghost) are featured in a few songs as well. Devin stated that the big idea behind Ki was to set the stage for the project, and this clearly concerns the lyrics as well. Still, the lyrics don’t seem like the main focus to me. I feel like Ki spends a lot of time in a sort of self-reflective haze. The lazy, meandering guitar melodies that often split the songs are dripping with emotion and even uncertainty, further driving home the tension the album is built off of. Finally, the personal breakthrough is realized in the title track, before giving way to Quiet Riot. Devin stated that the meaning behind Quiet Riot was “although I’m damaged, I’m fine, and have chosen to make my life better.” Ominously ending with Demon League, the album reveals that despite the breakthroughs, there is still work to do.
If the last paragraph didn’t clue anyone in, I feel that Ki works best as a whole album (really, I feel like the DTP records work best when listened to all in a row, but that’s like 5 hours and I just don’t have time for that kind of shit anymore). Still, all of the individual songs are equally appealing, each passing with multiple memorable moments, be it the lush soundscapes of Ki, the angular, Buckethead-ish guitar solo in Heaven Send, or the folksy, sing-along Quiet Riot. It’s strange. The heavy songs were what captivated me the most coming in (heavy isn’t really the right word though). Disruptr and Heaven Send were immediate favorites, with the ambient tracks revealing their beauty to me later. Make no mistake, this album is actually pretty weird. It’s mostly soft and approachable in tone, but the song structures and the odd time signatures combined with the oddball vocal melodies could cause this to be a downright awkward listen for the uninitiated. The songs are quite varied, making for a rather rewarding listen. Much like Devin’s earlier material, this album will not be easily appreciated on the first or even tenth try. Even with a more stripped down approach, there’s still a ton of hidden layers, and songs that require time to sink in.
Ki holds a lot of sentimental value for me. Really, the whole DTP was the soundtrack to a fairly turbulent time in my life. And that doesn’t even necessarily mean bad. There was a lot of up and down. Lady Helen will always fill me with joy and relief, because it was the last song I listened to before visiting the college I later committed to. That was an excellent day all around, and Ki was in my car’s CD player for the journey. Incidentally, Triumph was the first song I listened to after finding out that I was accepted into the music program at said school, so massively fond memories there too.
Unfortunately, to talk about the fondest memories, we’re going to have to wait for the next album.