THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND: SYNCHESTRA

If Accelerated Evolution's exuberance came from its raw and unrestrained quality, Synchestra's elation comes from its grandiose and epic presentation. The album opener builds and builds and builds until it explodes into the monstrous "Hypergeek" -- signaling that the remainder of the album does not intend to hold anything back. And it doesn't. We get enormous riffs, almost operatic vocals from Mr. Townsend, and surprising amounts of keyboards swathed all over the place to make everything sound that much bigger. There's a good amount of variety here too -- there's bright, electronic-driven metal, dark, chunky metal, atmospheric guitar plucking, pop-rock riffs, and even a little bit of polka, which I reckon has never hurt anyone. Synchestra is a celebration of life, even though you might not know what it all means.