DEVIN TOWNSEND: Deconstruction (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

A few years ago, in 2007, Devin Townsend said he was at the end of his rope and needed a break. Two more or less sabbatical years allowed him, in addition to quitting drugs and alcohol, to compose no less than 65 songs. The result was Ki which was released in 2009 and Addicted which followed in 2010. And it's at the beginning of summer 2011 that he simultaneously releases the last two tracks, also proposed in a box set called "Calm And The Storm". And the storm, here it is !

If Devin had announced this "Deconstruction" as the most violent of the quadrilogy, it is useless to try to compare this work to any previous one. If "Ki" was a quiet riot (according to the artist), this album is certainly the craziest and most deconstructed album he has proposed to us so far. Mixing everything that has made him successful since the beginning of his career, not just in one track but sometimes at the same time, "Deconstruction" is so dense that it promises you some headaches. And we're not just talking about musical violence, blast beats (some are furious like on "Pandemic" where Floor Jansen screams) and Death vocals, but about an ensemble of such richness and simultaneous diversity (as if several musical works were taking place at the same time, on the same level) that it's often difficult to digest.

And since we're talking about digestion, let's come to the theme of this furious delirium: a vegetarian finds himself thrown into the hell of meat and ... Cheeseburger! It all starts quite simply with the trip-hop atmosphere of "Praise The Lowered". On a soft voice and a very convoluted rhythmic although calm (the voices, including Townsend's, evolving between extreme sweetness, opera and screaming, and the drums are certainly the keystones of this album), Devin invites us to : "Close your eyes and get ready". The increasing power is progressive and falls back like a wave beached on the sand. And "Stand" to continue in the same tone. The anger is already more palpable and the reference to "Ki" and the tracks "Disrupt" (the riff) and "Heaven's End" (the famous Burn!) is obvious. A kind of unstoppable vessel launched with slowness and implacable determination, it contains massive choruses and a "Stand" (screamed to the point of exhaustion) that scalps you. First big slap.

And then these follow one after the other. There are shorter, more accessible and direct tracks like the single "Juular", a swift track with catchy vocals and Danny Elfman-like backing vocals, but also "Sumeria", massive and highlighted by Joe Duplantier. The listener gets caught up in the excesses of guitar craziness, bouncing choruses and rhythmics so unstructured that the music box ending the track could be greeted with a little tear of relief.

Then come the epic and dense tracks like "The Planet Of The Apes" launched by a big and surprisingly simple riff in this musical magma. Once again, lost (crushed?) between the numerous musical strata, the listener borders on implosion (angelic choirs and screams of the God Devin, passage of an immaculate cloud in the middle of the storm, mix of schizophrenic voices, whistling guitar and drummer in perpetual derailment). We reach the epicentre of the artist's madness with "The Mighty Matsurbator", demented and pantagruelic. Introduced by an aerial guitar reminiscent of "Ki", he bursts into a big riff, crazy and even anti-harmonic drums and is quickly made up of many different parts: heavy and epic mid-tempo a la Dream Theater style with big choirs, jazzy guitar passage on spoken words, very cartoon-like irruption and even a superheated stadium atmosphere in the heart of a Rave Party followed by a very theatrical finale. Tracks like the brilliant "Deconstruction" or a very Strapping Young Lad "Poltergeist" are not to be outdone.

Sprinkled with many guests with discreet but appropriate interventions, "Deconstruction" is a crazy work but which will please the fans of Devin Townsend (even if some will find some length and some rehearsals). The fourth and last part called "Ghost" will let you to put your head back in place once you've picked up the pieces lost in the battle. Cheer up! - Official website

DEVIN TOWNSEND

DECONSTRUCTION

INSIDEOUT MUSIC

HEAVY METAL