Strapping Young Lad - Strapping Young Lad (aka SYL, aka Chickenfeather)
Released February 11, 2003
Tracklisting:
1. Dire
2. Consequence
3. Relentless
4. Rape Song
5. Aftermath
6. Devour
7. Last Minute
8. Force Fed
9. Dirt Pride
10. Bring On the Young
Other songs:
11. IdomPersonnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards
Jed Simon - Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Byron Stroud - Bass, Backing Vocals
Gene Hoglan - Drums
Additional Personnel:
A bunch of people - Backup Vocals
Strapping Young Lad had remained active as Dev’s touring band despite going on “hiatus” in 1998. Dev had kept the band together because he liked being with Jed, Gene, and Byron. However, the other guys were anxious to do another record. The band had been working on some new material on tour in 2001, and in December of that year Dev announced that that Strapping Young Lad would be recording a new album. The press release for the return claims that 9/11 had “sparked some creative anger” in Dev and he needed an outlet for it. But Dev has backtracked this statement, instead saying that the decision was really to make the other guys in the band happy. The band continued to write and workshop material in 2002 and recorded the album late that year.
Dev claims that SYL played at the World Cup in Korea in 2002. I could not find anything to support that, but I think he may have it mixed up with the Busan Rock Festival. A Korean music festival that took place at the same time as the World Cup that year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciQ5sFF864kSYL was primarily recorded at Armoury Studios in Vancouver. Dev wrote a lot of the music for SYL, but he ended up giving the reins to the rest of the band for a lot of the album, allowing the others to contribute more than they had in the past. Gene ending up writing some lyrics, and Dev claims that Jed played all the guitar parts on this album. Dev instead focused most of his time and creative energy on another album...
SYL was released February 11, 2003. Coincidentally 6 years to the day after City was released. SYL is different from the first two albums. It abandons the band’s industrial elements, instead leaning more towards thrash or groove metal. Dev’s only goal for this album was to make a heavy metal album. Plain and simple. Heavy metal artwork, heavy metal lyrics, heavy metal everything. Not a strong vision, and it shows in the music. What we get is a bunch of songs that aren’t really about anything and don’t say much other than “grrr I’m so angry.” There was plenty of that on the previous 2 albums, but this time the anger doesn’t seem very genuine, more so just an obligation. The lack of thought Dev put into the lyrics unfortunately backfired on him when some people misinterpreted the song “Rape Song” to be a pro-rape song, when in reality it’s very much an ANTI-rape song. Dev realized that as an artist and as the frontman and face of this band, he had to be a bit more careful and put more thought into the lyrics he writes.
Relentless was released as a single, and a music video was filmed for it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rqn_otVoNUEarlier, in 2000, Dev had contributed a demo called Idom to the compilation, “Mikazuki in Rock”, the soundtrack to the anime “Tekkōki Mikazuki”.
https://www.discogs.com/release/15352330-Various-Mikazuki-In-RockIdom would turn into the songs Dire, Consequence, and Aftermath. It never ended up as a bonus track, but it would eventually be included in The Complete Works, a vinyl box set released in 2013 containing all of SYL’s studio material.
Idom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1HQAJCgKQUSYL is a very middle-of-the-road album for the band, but I like it. It’s far from their best work, but certainly not their worst. It has some standout tracks like Aftermath and Bring on the Young, but a lot of this album does tend to blend together. I’d rank it as my 3rd favorite SYL album, right in the middle. The critics were kind to this album, but they also saw that the album lacked what made the previous albums great. Devin saw it too, and sought to make the next album their craziest one yet…
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Strapping Young Lad - Tour EPReleased in 2003
Tracklisting:
1. Devour (Alternate Mix)
2. Aftermath (Alternate Mix)
3. Oh My Fucking God (Album Version)
4. In the Rainy Season (Live) [Originally from No Sleep ‘Till Bedtime]
5. Detox (Live)SYL spent most of 2003 on tour in support of the album. On tour, they sold an EP featuring alternate mixes of Devour and Aftermath, live versions of In the Rainy Season and Detox, and the studio version of Oh My Fucking God. Only 2500 copies of the EP were made. This release is certainly not required listening, and good luck finding it if you’re curious about it. It’s not on YouTube or any streaming service.
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The last show of the tour was recorded and filmed for a live DVD…
Strapping Young Lad - For Those Aboot to Rock: Live at the CommodoreRecorded January 16, 2004 at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC
Released November 2, 2004
Tracklisting:
1. Dire (Live)
2. Consequence (Live)
3. Relentless (Live)
4. Rape Song (Live)
5. Home Nucleonics (Live)
6. S.Y.L. (Live)
7. In the Rainy Season (Live)
8. Devour (Live)
9. Aftermath (Live)
10. Oh My Fucking God (Live)
11. Force Fed (Live)
12. Detox (Live)
13. Velvet Kevorkian (Live)
14. All Hail the New Flesh (Live)
15. Far Beyond Metal (Live)Additional Personnel:
Munesh Sami - Keyboards
Drew - Vocals (Far Beyond Metal)
Full concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LcLSgS-_qE&t=1s Solid performance from the band. Far Beyond Metal features Drew, an audience member who volunteered to sing the chorus.
Drew tried his best and that’s all that matters.