THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND: SYNCHESTRA

This really is quite an incredible album. As always he creates a fantastic wall of sound, which despite the density of the mix never feel too overwhelming, each instrument easy to hear on its own.

The first thing thay struck me about 'Synchestra' is how varied the tracks are. For example, the sinister lullable of 'Babysong' suddenly breaks into the strange polka-dance of 'Vampolka', which in turn transforms into the hyperbolic, yet wonderful metal track Vampira. Frankly, it sounds like Devin's gone even more insane than normal! It works brilliantly well though.

For me, this is also the most emotional album I've heard from him. Although the lyrics seem a little bonkers at first, when you sit and listen with the booklet in hand, the emotion of the material shines through, and you realise just how much effort and feeling has been poured into each track.

The variance in the tracks is less evident on the second half of the CD, but when the music is so good it never matters. The album does get progressively more sinister, at least in sound, and it really is quite something to take in (even more so when the hidden track completely changes the tone at the end!).

Overall, this has to be Townsend's finest album yet. You really do need to hear this very, very soon. This may well have tied up best album of 2006 already.