ZILTOID THE OMNISCIENT

This is another one of those albums from Devin Townsend that at first you hate it. Then, you slowly begin to like it. Then you realize that it's a masterpiece. Unfortunately, people often rate it right when they listen to it, and often they are still in the stage of hating it. If you are about to review this album, please give it a chance! It may seem extreme at first, but you will get used to it eventually.

The first thing you will probably notice is that the lyrics are very "silly." They seem to be just odd sometimes. Townsend is very silly himself, but what causes this silliness is his sheer genius. It seems that most all that he touches(besides strapping young lad, yuck) becomes a masterpiece. This is certainly no exception.

The story begins with Ziltoid arriving at Planet Earth and demanding their ultimate cup of coffee(you can find this in the opening song, ZTO). When he is not please with the coffee he receives, Ziltoid decides to attack earth with his army and his secret weapon, the Planet Smasher (By Your Command and Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!). Captain Spectacular of the humans devises a plan to escape by exposing Ziltoid as a nerd and then jumping into hyperdrive towards N9 (Solar Winds and Hyperdrive).

Ziltoid follows and summons the 6th dimensional Planet Smasher in an attempt for victory once and for all (N9 and Planet Smasher). The 6th dimensional Planet Smasher rejects Ziltoid so he visits the Omni dimensional Creator to find out the true nature of his reality (Omni dimensional Creator), only to discover that he is a mere puppet in a show (Color Your World and The Greys). The album ends on the bombshell that this is all a daydream being had by someone working in a coffee shop who is awoken by his boss and given the customers orders including a Tall Latte (Tall Latte).

(some info taken from Wikipedia entry)

All in all, this is an outstanding album that should be listened to by all prog metal fans. Is this better than Synchestra and Terria? Ehh, hard to say. I personally would prefer Synchestra over this, however that certainly doesn't take away from this album.

5/5