DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: TRANSCENDENCE

Sounds like Devy. Feels like Devy. It is Devy! No matter how many times I hear pleas of Devin Townsend's "variation" and "eclectic" or "chameleonic" sound experimentations I always hear . . . Devin Townsend. With each song, on each album I struggle to hear Devy's murky though often beautiful vocals (and interesting lyrics) among the ubiquitous walls of guitar sound--or else I'm faced with his screaming approach which always makes me wonder why he has to scream: Is his screaming so necessary for the effective delivery of his subject matter? This album is, to my ears, no different. The songs' chord progressions are as constant and monotonous as ever. The existence of any other instrument other than guitar (and drums) is, as usual, completely drowned out (by the guitars). (And people actually like this!) I don't get it. With each song I open my ears, my mind, my heart--I find myself thinking, "This has been getting great reviews--great praise--maybe this is the album that will turn me," or "This might turn out to be great!" or "This might get better" or "He's singing about something important" or "He's so intelligent!" but each time I am only let down; each time I find that I'm just making excuses. "Other people love this so I must be missing something! What is it? What is the key to accessing the joy, love, admiration, and respect for Devin Townsend's music?" 'cuz, try as I do--over and over and over again--I'm not getting it. If I were writing songs to accompany these lyrical messages I would be choosing music of a very different nature. If I were singing the lyrics of these relevant and 'important' messages that I want to get out to large audiences I would not be choosing such an abrasive delivery style. But that's just me. People also go to great lengths to extoll the engineering and production of Devin's albums. I'm just not sure how the delivery of song after song of hazy, murky, fuzzy, affrontery constitutes great production. As I've mused before: I wonder what happens to water molecules (Emoto), plants (Thomkins and Bird), and human brains (Tomatis, Monroe, Gass, et al.) with repeated or constant exposure to this type of music. Another album gets dumped into my "Devin Townsend--try again later" pile . . . . Maybe someday I'll get it. After all, I finally got Gentle Giant! (... after 35 years)