Welcome to Devlab. Devin Townsend's solitary work. Here we take a look inside Dev's mind and peer into the unknown and discover a form of music that can only be appreciated by the most open minded and patient listeners. I'm going to name the tracks by number, since they are all untitled.
The opening track bursts into life with an amusing appeal that is sure to make any first time listener wet themselves with laughter. It's actually an advert that has been taken and redone by the devster with...er..interesting instrumental work in the background.But the laughs soon change to curiosity as it seemlessly leads into the next track. This makes me personally envision aliens watching us with the strange voices and television sounds in the background.
Track 3 is very calm and collected and feels rather empty. It kind of clears your mind. This whole album leads into everything seamlessly. It reminds me of the way meshuggah recorded one big song for catch 33 and then split it up into sections, but this album is far more mysterious and has a huge feel of suspense all the way through it.Near the end of track 3 we hear some familiar sounds and suddenly gets more, so to speak, heavy nearer the end as it leads into 4 with some random voice. Speaking of 4, more familiar sounds from 1. If anyone passing by your door heard you listening to this they would most likely think your player is either skipping very oddly and preparing to explode or that you're a very weird person. You're continuously blasted by distortion for a while and then it leads into 5.
Which has a rather epic, alienesque feel about it, sounding quite like something off star wars. This is a very odd look into devin's mind, but it gives us an ideal gaze at how devin works his musical backgrounds and creates music. He truly is a weird guy either way. I'd like to make a quick note here that I'm writing this review as I'm listening to it, because there isn't a perfect way to sum up the album as a whole. There's some random cymbal work and some stuff which sounds remeniscent of SYL's first album in the background, like bass and cymbals and stuff near the end except it's a hell of a lot weirder and not quite as heavy.
Finally leading out of 5 and into 6 we get a much more mellow note and we hear devin singing and we get a calm and spaced out sense of melody. Devin still continues to use adverts or television shows in the background of his music which seems to add some kind of terrestrial background to the whole thing. Something that's quite odd are the things that seem to be coming from real life, but when you take the earphones out, it's surprising how empty everything else is. 6 starts to effectively swell up and we get something of what sounds like a distant drum coming into it and later on, cymbals and other things, which then reverts back to the single drum and some beeping.
It is hard to pick out bad points, because this album was designed for everything specifically to be this way, in fact, it's pretty impossible to pick out bad points unless you're devin, who is the only person who can really rate this album based on musicianship.
7 is very melodic and mellow and really does calm things down. It's a bery pleasant, welcome break. Then 8 comes in, with some guy with an australian accent naming loads of colours about something with what can onl be described as a dance track in the background with an indian approach nearer the middle and
then more techno dance stuff. Personally, as a metalhead, this track doesn't appeal to me that much and the album in my eyes would be more mysterious and enjoyable without it, but I can't really say what was the objective of this track.
Leading into the 10 minute monster of 9 we lead out the same way that 8 began and into some synth with creaking in the background. I'm pretty convinced a lot of this stuff was created by dev recording himself rocking back and forth on his chair and spewing out some weird dribble whilst recording adverts and then feeding the recordings to his weird devices and ideas. 9 is kind of suspense building. There are lots of sections where things come in and you're not sure what to expect next, which is what happens usually with dev.
9 continues on with this weird windy synth in the background with voices talking, as usual. This suddenly breaks out into some really spastic noises which freak you out for a second and then fade away into a quiet voice and then some tinkly melody fades in. We're halfway through now and wondering whether to skip the track or not, because 9 has been effectively dull. But patience yields an unguilty conscience and something more mysterious. About 9 minutes through everything picks up again and it breaks into a huge chanting crowd melody. This is the lead into 10.
10 breaks into a gorgeous melody with some guy talking about how he's really from outer space. It's very interesting to hear what this guy has to say. He says things like "I know some things that you don't know, and it's going to be very difficult for you to understand it". There seems to be a whole conversation in this thing, but a lot of the things I can't understand. This melody disappears in favour of a dev coughing and rocking on his chair with random sounds in the background. It's less dense and they are just random sounds rather than synths and things. But dev's voice does come into it and the density does fade back in...for a few seconds, then dev closes a door and sits back down again.
11 doesn't seem to flow like the rest. It seems to put a whole end to 10 and just revamp the idea. It turns it into a very pleasant twinkly lead with a warm synth in the background. This coninutes with what sounds like a choir in the background at one point. then ends near the 4 minutes mark. This turns into a darker aura which leads into another monster. 9 minutes long of track 12. What the hell? Some distorted voice with wind and a hih pitched noise going down in pitch. Then, a drum machine fades in over the top of everything and more synths fade in creating a very townsendesque melody. With devin's self chorus in the background. Then a more distorted and alienesque tune comes in, with a more airy ambience in the background. Then another drum beat with some wah wah guitar? track. Then slowly the background distortion fades out leaving just the drums and the guitar and some crackling noises. It's surprising how everything manages to level out here, there are lots of parts of the music which you don't realise are actually there until they are gone, and this really brings out how much goes into devin's records.
Fading in with mechnical drones in the background is 13 and a heavier section with looped battlefield sounds coming through different earphones and dev whispering in the background, which soon levels out into video gamey noises and then back into the distortion it started with. Well, what can I say to this bit? More mechanical drones and more whispering of words. I can hear the words "no fear" but I can't make out anything else. The lighter sounds build up and a tubular sounding distortion kicks up as well. Beeping leads into the last track on the album and a gasp with very computery sounding noises. In the background you can hear the warground cries again, but also there are wavey sounds. This then quietens down at the end and then silences out.
Well that's how the whole album goes. Now for if it's any good or not. It's one of those things to listen to when you want something interesting to experience and something really different. You really have to listen carefully to appreciate the album. If you're just a fan of devin's normal more tuneful work then you might not enjoy this album. It's the kind of album for musical people, because from it we can learn just how devin creates certain effects. It seems to explore everything from dev's work with strapping young lad to his more odd ep's. I'd personally say I learned quite a lot from it and it's useful for understanding not only how to create these auras, but also music from dev's point of view. We can take an insightive look into why his music is the way it is. I can assure you that afer listening to this album you will never listen to one of dev's songs the same way again.
This album is really for the open minded deep thinker.
The opening track bursts into life with an amusing appeal that is sure to make any first time listener wet themselves with laughter. It's actually an advert that has been taken and redone by the devster with...er..interesting instrumental work in the background.But the laughs soon change to curiosity as it seemlessly leads into the next track. This makes me personally envision aliens watching us with the strange voices and television sounds in the background.
Track 3 is very calm and collected and feels rather empty. It kind of clears your mind. This whole album leads into everything seamlessly. It reminds me of the way meshuggah recorded one big song for catch 33 and then split it up into sections, but this album is far more mysterious and has a huge feel of suspense all the way through it.Near the end of track 3 we hear some familiar sounds and suddenly gets more, so to speak, heavy nearer the end as it leads into 4 with some random voice. Speaking of 4, more familiar sounds from 1. If anyone passing by your door heard you listening to this they would most likely think your player is either skipping very oddly and preparing to explode or that you're a very weird person. You're continuously blasted by distortion for a while and then it leads into 5.
Which has a rather epic, alienesque feel about it, sounding quite like something off star wars. This is a very odd look into devin's mind, but it gives us an ideal gaze at how devin works his musical backgrounds and creates music. He truly is a weird guy either way. I'd like to make a quick note here that I'm writing this review as I'm listening to it, because there isn't a perfect way to sum up the album as a whole. There's some random cymbal work and some stuff which sounds remeniscent of SYL's first album in the background, like bass and cymbals and stuff near the end except it's a hell of a lot weirder and not quite as heavy.
Finally leading out of 5 and into 6 we get a much more mellow note and we hear devin singing and we get a calm and spaced out sense of melody. Devin still continues to use adverts or television shows in the background of his music which seems to add some kind of terrestrial background to the whole thing. Something that's quite odd are the things that seem to be coming from real life, but when you take the earphones out, it's surprising how empty everything else is. 6 starts to effectively swell up and we get something of what sounds like a distant drum coming into it and later on, cymbals and other things, which then reverts back to the single drum and some beeping.
It is hard to pick out bad points, because this album was designed for everything specifically to be this way, in fact, it's pretty impossible to pick out bad points unless you're devin, who is the only person who can really rate this album based on musicianship.
7 is very melodic and mellow and really does calm things down. It's a bery pleasant, welcome break. Then 8 comes in, with some guy with an australian accent naming loads of colours about something with what can onl be described as a dance track in the background with an indian approach nearer the middle and
then more techno dance stuff. Personally, as a metalhead, this track doesn't appeal to me that much and the album in my eyes would be more mysterious and enjoyable without it, but I can't really say what was the objective of this track.
Leading into the 10 minute monster of 9 we lead out the same way that 8 began and into some synth with creaking in the background. I'm pretty convinced a lot of this stuff was created by dev recording himself rocking back and forth on his chair and spewing out some weird dribble whilst recording adverts and then feeding the recordings to his weird devices and ideas. 9 is kind of suspense building. There are lots of sections where things come in and you're not sure what to expect next, which is what happens usually with dev.
9 continues on with this weird windy synth in the background with voices talking, as usual. This suddenly breaks out into some really spastic noises which freak you out for a second and then fade away into a quiet voice and then some tinkly melody fades in. We're halfway through now and wondering whether to skip the track or not, because 9 has been effectively dull. But patience yields an unguilty conscience and something more mysterious. About 9 minutes through everything picks up again and it breaks into a huge chanting crowd melody. This is the lead into 10.
10 breaks into a gorgeous melody with some guy talking about how he's really from outer space. It's very interesting to hear what this guy has to say. He says things like "I know some things that you don't know, and it's going to be very difficult for you to understand it". There seems to be a whole conversation in this thing, but a lot of the things I can't understand. This melody disappears in favour of a dev coughing and rocking on his chair with random sounds in the background. It's less dense and they are just random sounds rather than synths and things. But dev's voice does come into it and the density does fade back in...for a few seconds, then dev closes a door and sits back down again.
11 doesn't seem to flow like the rest. It seems to put a whole end to 10 and just revamp the idea. It turns it into a very pleasant twinkly lead with a warm synth in the background. This coninutes with what sounds like a choir in the background at one point. then ends near the 4 minutes mark. This turns into a darker aura which leads into another monster. 9 minutes long of track 12. What the hell? Some distorted voice with wind and a hih pitched noise going down in pitch. Then, a drum machine fades in over the top of everything and more synths fade in creating a very townsendesque melody. With devin's self chorus in the background. Then a more distorted and alienesque tune comes in, with a more airy ambience in the background. Then another drum beat with some wah wah guitar? track. Then slowly the background distortion fades out leaving just the drums and the guitar and some crackling noises. It's surprising how everything manages to level out here, there are lots of parts of the music which you don't realise are actually there until they are gone, and this really brings out how much goes into devin's records.
Fading in with mechnical drones in the background is 13 and a heavier section with looped battlefield sounds coming through different earphones and dev whispering in the background, which soon levels out into video gamey noises and then back into the distortion it started with. Well, what can I say to this bit? More mechanical drones and more whispering of words. I can hear the words "no fear" but I can't make out anything else. The lighter sounds build up and a tubular sounding distortion kicks up as well. Beeping leads into the last track on the album and a gasp with very computery sounding noises. In the background you can hear the warground cries again, but also there are wavey sounds. This then quietens down at the end and then silences out.
Well that's how the whole album goes. Now for if it's any good or not. It's one of those things to listen to when you want something interesting to experience and something really different. You really have to listen carefully to appreciate the album. If you're just a fan of devin's normal more tuneful work then you might not enjoy this album. It's the kind of album for musical people, because from it we can learn just how devin creates certain effects. It seems to explore everything from dev's work with strapping young lad to his more odd ep's. I'd personally say I learned quite a lot from it and it's useful for understanding not only how to create these auras, but also music from dev's point of view. We can take an insightive look into why his music is the way it is. I can assure you that afer listening to this album you will never listen to one of dev's songs the same way again.
This album is really for the open minded deep thinker.
Last edited by superhydroyeast on Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
