THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND: SYNCHESTRA

A very strong, musically thematic, and thoroughly enjoyable release, filled with DT's signature variety of spacey-metal, this time with a fair amount of acoustic beauty thrown in for fun. "Let It Roll" is a delightful surprise opening, while "Vampolka/pira" will positively tickle then destroy the listener. Successive songs are almost all good, with an emphasis on moods and textures-- there are very few standout melodies on this one. While "Synchestra" is undeniably an amazing release, it does contain the worst DT song ever recorded (in my humble opinion): "Baby Song", a hideously noisy and uninteresting blunder. Can't wrote solid gold every time, right? Additionally, taken as a whole "Synchestra" sounds somewhat repetitive, and won't leave many memories until after the 4th or 5th run through; however, like every DT release the listener will find much to appreciate and enjoy, and I recommend this to any and all interested in DT music after they've listened to "Ziltoid" or "Terria"-- his much stronger releases.

Songwriting 3 Instrumental Performances 3 Lyrics/Vocals 4 Style/Emotion/Replay 3