It is written and it has even become a table of law, Devin Townsend will never do things the classical way and he will probably never fit the mould. Because after having completed his crazy tetralogy project, here he comes with two different albums but gathered in a single package and under the name of "Z²".
"Z"²" is a very telling clue for Devin's fans because it is indeed the return of the story of the great "Ziltoïd The Omniscient". In two records our man tells the story of Ziltöid facing the world. The first record presents it from the angle of Ziltöid taking the name of "Dark Matters". The second record takes the name of the Devin Townsend Project and sees the story told from the human side allowing Townsend to take on both aspects of the story and thus confirm his schizophrenic side. "Dark Matters" is in the line of "Ziltoid The Omniscient" and is presented as the soundtrack of a fantasy film of the 50's with the dialogues as a bonus. We find the crazy, aerial, metallic and symphonic aspects that made the charm and the strength of the previous episode.
From this very homogenous ensemble, first of all 'War Princess' and 'Earth,' stand out as pure success stories of barred atmospheric metal characterized by superb vocals, a certain grandiloquence and delicate violence. "Sky Blue" is quite close to the previous albums, at the crossroads between "Deconstruction" and "Epicloud". We find the faithful Anneke Van Giersbergen on it, whose soft and bewitching voice is devastating. The magic is still intact with this mix of atmospheric pop and melodic metal which can also be found on a few other tracks such as "Midnight Sun". Finally, with the final trilogy, 'Forever', 'Before We Die' and 'The One Who Loces', Devin Townsend takes us to new-age lands that we could find in "Ghost".
"Z²" is a total success confirming the (completely) crazy and offbeat side of an extraordinary artist. On these two records, Devin Townsend shows the extent of a talent that never seems to weaken. Lovers of adventures out of time and codes, go for this record which will make you live an adventure from which you won't come out unscathed.