Have you ever taken a close look at a heavy metal band’s picture and thought “Damn, they look like badasses.” Most heavy metal pictures show the band trying to be as non-conformist as possible, either their looking away from the camera or their giving the signature devil horns to show that you shouldn’t mess with them. They also have their own cute little costume any true metal band will wear: long hair, jeans, tattoos, piercings, and an evil glare that they’ve spent hours perfecting in their bathroom mirror. It’s almost as if all metal bands think its Halloween all the time. Even their music is set to some cookie cutter standard. Devin Townsend took this Halloween motif and turned it into an Easter parade.
Devin Townsend is the most inspiring head banger to date. His combination of hard hitting sound and sense of humor make him an undeniable force that will either inspire you or piss you off to no end. His approach to the metal scene is the most original I’ve ever come across. Anyone looking for a new sound and a good laugh will definitely what to check this guy out.
In order to get a sense on who Devin Townsend is, we should take a look at what he’s not. Taking another glance at the badass generic metal bands we can picture four middle aged men on a stage. Their probably pushing 30 and yet they still jump around and scream incoherently about something that most likely happened in high school. Since this apparently fits the heavy metal badass image, we can say that Devin Townsend is not a badass. In fact, he looks more like a creepy mad scientist. Devin has taken the heavy metal look and exploited it to the fact that it’s impossible to take him as a threat. He has long hair, which would fit the badass motif, but he’s also balding, so any picture he’s in you can chuckle at the gleam on top of his head. Occasionally he’ll be sporting dreadlocks which add to the ridiculousness of his image. His music is very serious, but the way he delivers it outstanding. A good example for his sense of humor would be the video for a song called “Vampira”. Devin spends the entire video prancing around a devils outfit with a painted on moustache. During the early 90’s he recorded a cd called Punky Bruster, this album was about a Polish death metal band that realized they would make more money if they played punk music instead. So every song on the disc is making fun of the punk music scene. His latest album called “Ziltoid the Omniscient” is about an alien coming to earth looking for the ultimate cup of coffee.
His music is by far the heaviest and most intense I’ve ever listened to, and I’ve listened to a lot. Devin has two bands that he’s currently playing with. These bands are the exact opposite of each other. His main band, Strapping Young Lad, takes the entire metal image and shoves it in your face. It takes heavy metal to a level so insane that the first album had to be called “Heavy as a really Heavy thing”. After my first listen to this album all I could do was whisper a quiet “holy shit.” before I played through the entire cd again. This album was a wakeup call to the metal scene. Devin was able to knock other metal bands down a peg without looking like a metal guy. His sound can be very chaotic but will always have a pulse or rhythm to it. He has a way of combining harmony and chaos that some may find very relaxing. His other band as I stated before is the exact opposite from Strapping and is aptly called the Devin Townsend band. These albums range from metal to polka to soft rock, and they all have the Devin Townsend humor.
To put my point plainly or if you haven’t figured it out yet, Devin Townsend is not your average heavy metal rocker. He doesn’t fit the heavy metal mold and he’s better than those that do. He adds layers of sound and personality to his music that is almost impossible to find nowadays. He may not be the best out there but he’s definitely worth a listen. If you don’t like what you hear, his music is diverse enough that you can eventually find something that you can deem listenable.
