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Review: Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud [Album]

Hevy Devy Records // "You’re left sat there, mind-boggled, jaw agape, wondering about which strange new worlds you’ve just been transported to&am

by AdamTogether, September 21st, 2012 and has been Read 3442 times.
Last Edited by: Chris MUG5 Maguire September 21st, 2012.

Here at Altsounds we get sent some brilliant (and some not so brilliant) albums to review. Every now and then, however, we get sent an absolutely jaw dropping one that leaves us thinking "Wow! what the hell have I just heard?!". Epicloud is one of those albums.

Epicloud is the 5th album released under the Devin Townsend Project moniker, and the latest in a series of records which have seen the mad Canadian explore various sides of his schizophrenic musical personality. From the ambience of Ghost, to the frantic brutality of Deconstruction, each album has shown just how prolific and accomplished a musician Devin Townsend is. Incredibly, if you include all the projects that Devin Townsend has put his name to (Strapping Young Lad, Ziltoid etc) this album brings his total to 15!

On Epicloud, Heavy Devy has delivered an absolutely stunning collection of uplifting, operatic and pop-metal. I know, on paper that sounds absolutely terrible but it has to be heard to believed. As it’s name suggests, the album is absolutely epic, and by god it’s loud. If there’s one thing that is a constant through pretty much everything that Devin Townsend has produced, be it on his solo projects or with his previous band Strapping Young Lad, it’s that wall of sound production that pins the listener to the wall.

Epicloud is similar to 2009’s Addicted, the second release in the Devin Townsend Project series, in that it features extremely simple yet catchy pop melodies and female vocals courtesy of the divine Anneke van Gierbergen. Where Epicloud differs, however, is that it is nowhere near as cheesy as Addicted. The happy and uplifting vibe that the record gives off is much more sincere on Epicloud, whereas on Addicted it felt much more tongue in cheek, like a depressed comedian hiding his pain by making jokes. This probably has a lot to do with the gospel choir that also features heavily throughout the album. The whole thing is bookended nicely by an intro and an outro in the form of ‘Effervescent!’ and ‘Angel’ which are sung by Anneke, Devin and his choir, accompanied by little else than some simple piano work. The vocal production is absolutely stunning, engulfing the listener in layer upon layer of soaring harmony.

‘Effervescent!’ gives way to ‘True North’ which builds around a simple, cheery vocal refrain of “I love you, I need you, I’ve always been around you” sung to a melody that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Abba record and accompanied by piano and strings before layers of guitar and pounding drums come crashing in. It is probably one of the less straightforward tracks on the album, twisting and turning as it does through cheery pop, to dark and brooding symphonic metal. This bleeds into what is without doubt the simplest song on the record, the hard rock cabaret of ‘Lucky Animals’. Led by a bouncy riff and an almost idiotic chorus, it’s a song that only someone with Devin’s sense of humour and near genius ear for a catchy tune could pull off. The song is about how humans are essentially stupid animals but we’re lucky, so let’s celebrate! The simplicity of the lead riff conveys that perfectly.

The celebratory atmosphere continues on the space-punk song that is ‘Liberation’ with it’s awesome chorus of “The time has come to forget all the bullshit and rock, let’s ROCK!” It's an uplifting sentiment that sums up the entire album perfectly.

LISTEN // 'Effervescent' (Teaser)

At its mid-point, Epicloud gets very melodic, with the double team of ‘Where We Belong’ and ‘Save Our Now’. The former is an ethereal and ambient ballad led by acoustic guitars, haunting sound effects and breathy vocals and the latter is an emotional slice of symphonic pop-rock whose verse features a disco beat and Fleetwood Mac-esque guitar riff. It’s really quite cheesy but it’s so well done that somehow Devin Townsend gets away with it.

The high point of the record for me is the re-recording of ‘Kingdom’. This song first appeared on Devin Townsend’s Physicist album in 2000. The song has long been a live staple since then, and he and his band have obviously gotten so good at performing it that they had to re-record it. Musically it follows the same thunderous drum pattern and juddering guitar riff. The main difference is in the vocals. Whereas on the original Devin’s vocals were thin and raspy, on the new version they are almost operatic in the way he absolutely belts it out. It’s the best Devin’s voice has EVER sounded. It seriously has sent chills down my spine every I’ve listened to it.

WATCH// 'Lucky Animals'

More spine tingling moments follow in the form of ‘Divine’, during which, Devin proves that he is just as effective when showing restraint as he is when he’s firing on all cylinders. It’s a stripped back, delicate little number led by a finger picked acoustic guitar, some surprisingly angelic singing from Dev, and some airy strings.

Perhaps the heaviest song on the record is ‘Grace’. Although it begins with an breathtakingly beautiful intro, this gives way to a neckbreaking Messhugah-esque riff and some of the only growling / screaming that Devin does on the of Epicloud. Juxtaposing the crushing guitars and drums are soaring layers of choir, keys and strings that keep Epicloud’s uplifting spirit intact. The heaviness continues on the adrenaline-fuelled ‘More!’ which thunders along with frenetic momentum. It’s the most straight forward hard-rock song on the album and is the only one to feature a guitar solo, during which Devin proves why he used to play in Steve Vai’s backing band. It crashes to an end with a brutal riff similar to something you’d hear on a Machine Head or Lamb of God song.

LISTEN // Epicloud Album Preview

After a brief musical interlude in the form of ‘Lessons’, which is just a minute or so of twinkling acoustic guitar and mandolin, the most life affirming song on the album breathes into life. ‘Hold On’ is another one of those songs that, in theory should be terrible. It’s so cheesy, like boy band cheesy, but when that huge chorus, sung by Devin and Anneke drops, you just can’t help clenching your fist in pure power-ballad fashion as your heart race increases by a few beats and a lump forms in your throat. Seriously, it’s gorgeous.

Epicloud is rounded off by the epic and choral ‘Angel’, a track on which Devin lets Anneke truly shine, giving her most of the vocal duties and backing them up with layer upon layer of orchestration courtesy of the gospel choir. As mentioned before, this gives way to a stripped down outro that follows the same vocal pattern that ‘Effervescent!’ began with. Before you know it, the album has finished and you’re left sat there, mind-boggled, jaw agape, wondering about which strange new worlds you’ve just been transported.

Sure, the pop melodies that Epicloud has in abundance, along with the traditionally 'un-metal' themes of love and hope will not please some those really stubborn people who love Devin Townsend purely for his prog or metal sensibilities, but I’m sure there will be some metal-heads out there who will be left confused and questioning their own tastes when they hear Epicloud, realising how enjoyable a listen it actually is if they just let themselves listen to it. Without a doubt, Heavy Devy will return to making extreme, dark and aurally challenging music in the not too distant future, but I for one am glad Devin Townsend allowed himself to make Epicloud.