In 2009 one of the surprises of the year was the announcement by Devin Townsend that he was returning to music after a two year absence in which he had proclaimed a slight retirement from the industry itself citing fatigue from touring along with other aspects. During this time he was producing records such as Bleeding Through’s "Declaration" (as an aside my number one record of 2008) plus from a personal standpoint quitting alcohol and drugs.

While quitting the recreational addictions Devin wanted to see whether he could write music without having to rely on what he deemed the crutches and the character he had created for people to believe he was (as evidenced in Strapping Young Lad and in a breaking the fourth wall way the Ziltoid character in another record).
So began the Devin Townsend Project, four records with very different ideologies and styles in Ki, Addicted, Deconstruction and Ghost.

Now due to how I feel that the project should be listened as one coherent product, the original plan was for this review to focus on all four records as a whole but due to the latter two being released during 2010 I decided to focus on the first two parts in this review and when Deconstruction and Ghost (the title may change for that album according to interviews) have been released there will be a review of those two together and an evaluation of the project as a whole.

Now onto the first part in Ki.


For the fans that only know Devin’s work through Strapping Young Lad the first big change for them will be that the wall of sound style of production is not evident and the style of record has more of a progressive / blues element to it. This is mainly down to one of the recurring elements of the project itself: the line-up changes for each record which for this record Devin decided to work with musicians he had previously not worked or associated with. These were Duris Maxwell on drums (the man had previously worked with Heart and Jefferson Airplane), Jean Savoie on bass (a music store employee who plays in a Beatles tribute band) and for second vocals Che Aimee Dorval a Vancouver artist.

The album itself is more tranquil and meditating due to the influence of the musicians in question, the best analogy to describe it is a man showing restraint against trying to succumb back into old ways and telling them quietly to leave him be (this is evident from 'Coast 'to the track 'Terminal'). 'Heaven Send' is the point of the album which starts what would be the breaking point of the protagonist as Devin feels that he needs to face the chaos head on. Following 'Winter' we reach the track 'Trainfire' which was inspired by Elvis’ cover of 'Mystery Train' and addresses Devin’s addiction to pornography, one that Devin has described as the ‘crack-cocaine of the internet.’


The style of 'Trainfire' also shows the influences of Devin also include a country vibe which makes the album to me great fun to listen to (and I’ve made no secret one of the reason I like the man’s work is his ability to just show a very diverse style). By the time we get to 'Ki ' we reach the revelation part of the first chapter in which our protagonist reaches the breakthrough he needs. The final track is the biggest surprise as it is a reworking of Slade’s 'Cum On feel the Noize' called ‘Quiet Riot’. However there is a bonus track called 'Demon League' that could be seen as the prologue to addiction ending with ‘the demon’s call…’ "Ki" is an album that I feel you could listen to during a period of relaxation given the more mellow style created and it gives the listener a chance to discover Devin’s work even if they have never heard of him before.

Onto the second chapter "Addicted," if the "Ki" record was one of realisation, this could be seen as the rehabilitation record (at least to me).


This time Devin decided to make music that was slightly more energetic and mostly focused on a more mainstream style of the records such as Def Leppard’s "Hysteria" (a main influence musically for Devin while growing up) and songs such as 'Life' from "Ocean Machine" (his 1997 album). The line up this time consisted of Bryan Waddell and Ryan Van Poderooyen formerly of the Devin Townsend Band along with Anneke Van Giersbergen formerly of The Gathering.

From the beginning of the album with the title track the production has returned to the familiar Wall of Sound influence that many of his fans will be familiar with. The lyrics are our protagonist’s realisation from "Ki" continued as he searches for the way to beat the demons that troubled him in "Ki." 'Addicted' and 'Universe In A Ball!' focus on finding a way to resolve the fight against the demons as it’s "worth fighting for" however in the track ‘Supercrush!’ he starts to doubt about whether the control can be kept. There’s also a cover by Anneke of the Ziltoid song ‘Hyperdrive!’ which in my opinion gives it more of an upbeat feeling to the song then the Ziltoid version did!

By the end of the album in ‘Awake’ the character decides that in order to beat the demons he must deconstruct every aspect of his life so far… By using Anneke Devin has managed to create a second voice to the story as the guide or conscience and also shows the influence that records such as Enya have had on him (Devin in interviews has stated her as an influence). Musically this is probably the most mainstream that Devin’s work has ever been (at least for an album) with influences ranging from pop to dance (the end of ‘in-Ah!’ showing this to the core) and even a song inspired by the Wildhearts in ‘Resolve’ (I’ll let Cristina guess which!)

Some people may be turned off by the approaches given in the first two albums if they’re more of a SYL fan (granted if you’ve heard the other solo work by Devin it’s not as shocking). The next two chapters in "Deconstruct" and "Ghost" are due out in 2010 in which the styles are in the case of deconstruction similar to SYL (with death metal vocalists taking part) and "Ghost" being ambient and similar to "Ki."

Overall if you want to try a different style of music diversity and concepts give these two albums a listen!