THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND: SYNCHESTRA

Well, having not enjoyed accelerated evolution not nearly as much as Ocean machine, Terria, or even Infinity i was a bit tenative to purchase this new installment to the Devy catologue. After reading so many rave reviews however, i decided to give it a chance and let me tell you, it was above and beyond anything i could have expected. Completely blew me away and now is competing with terria as his best work IMHO, which is saying a lot for an artist such as Towsend. The CD starts off with the strongest start to any album i've heard in a long long time. the first 3 songs are absolutly divine. the beautifully accoustic intro feeds wonderfully into the abptly named hypergeek, a wonderful, melodic song with spurts of metal magic. Triuph a majestic, gorgeous song with soaring guitars and beautifull melodies. its hard for me not to go on about the majesty and beauty that shines through on that song...

"One word, collective - mankind, connected..." ahhhhhhhhhhhh (you'll be hyperventalating at this point so grab a paper bag ; ) )

babysong doesnt do as well as the first three but hey, they cast quite a large shadow. its a very nice song full of wonderfull keyboard textures and heavyness mixed throughout in the tradition of the "wall of sound" cliche we've all heard about. the only problem for me were the cheesey lyrics, which i soon got over. The following duo "Vampolka" and "Vampira" are the only real weak points on the entire disc. they just dont seem to fit. Vampolka is, like the name suggests, a polka- ish joke. the melody there continues into the single for this album, vampira. Really good vocals here as the otehr reviewers mentioned, but the three and a half minute, pop-esque song really drags the CD down a bit. just a bit. Not by any meens bad, but just only skin deep. only a one or two listen song. the following 3 songs, mental tan, Gaia, and pixilate are all extremely well done and the slow part of the disc is soon forgotten and left behind altogether. Mental tan is a mellow, instrumental with the lush mix of textures again. short and sweet. Gaia is another one of those songs that caought my attention right away. Its a little different from other things townsend has done before. its a "driving-in-my-car" type song that has an earthy feel. Pixilate is in the more typical HEAVYDEVY sound. very melodic and emotional. starts off with a great slow and repeating bass line that the guitar picks up and moves full steam ahead into a beautiful emotional multi facetted landscape of sound, complete with the typical WALL. a very "big" song, if you know what i mean, grand injust that certain way. Judgement picks up where pixilate left off and wow.. another bombshell of a song. Devy never ceases to amaze me. This song is one of the heavier ones on here in terms of the vocals, yet it is very moving at the same time. You can tell Townsend is pouring his soul into this. Another beautiful melody that plays off the mental tan idea. A simple lullabye is anything but simple. its a glorious mix of soundscapes and melodies from a few of the songs on the album coupled with its own unique sound. I believe a felow reivewer said townsend wanted this to be the cimac of the album and it makes sense. it has the feeling of a grand finali, cheering crowds and explosions and bursts of fireworks etc.. sunset is another beautifully textured song built around a great melody. remined me of a peppy Mental Tan... very nice. and finaly notes from africa (i wont review the last song i'm running out of time). Its a great song with another stunning melody. there is a chanting rythm working here along with the rythmic beating of the drums that makes for an African feel hence the name. All in all its a happy, beautifully produced masterpiece of progressive metal. ITs that type of CD where i end up just stopping whatever else i was doing and let his "WALL OF SOUND" wash over me and cary me away. ENJOY!!