DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: DECONSTRUCTION

Deconstruction is Devin Townsend's 13th studio album, and the third of the Devin Townsend Project series. It was released at the same time as the fourth DTP album 'Ghost'. Deconstruction was to be the heavy side of DT while Ghost was the softer side. However, both albums show DT's excellent side as far as his ability to make powerful, emotional and intense music whichever side he presents. He always gives it his all.

Deconstruction is a concept album about a man trying to discover the reality of reality. He goes on a journey and meets the devil who shows him the secrets of the universe, but when he is tempted with a hamburger, he can't eat it because he is a vegetarian. The music on this album is largely chaotic, and it features his usual wall of sound style, but not in a unrelenting way, but more in an 'orchestral' way, which is DT's way of making top level heavy metal music. But having simply a loud and heavy album wasn't enough in this case, he had to add in the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and enlisted the vocal power of Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth, Tommy Giles Rogers from 'Between the Buried and Me', Greg Puciato from The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah (who also provides a guitar solo) and many more extreme metal guests.

The album starts off soft and safe sounding in 'Praise the Lowered', and goes that way for a while before the heaviness gets poured on suddenly. So, it's a great start, but then the emotion, the driving sound of intensity in DT's music goes full bore in the excellent track 'Stand' which is a perfect example of Devin's level of intensity and creative force. And as usual, by this time, I am ready to shout and bang my head right along with him. It's not just the ingenuity of Devin's music that I love, but it is the full power and intensity and also the quality of his music which almost always seems to hit level 11 each time. But, if you don't like growling, let it be known that he growls and shouts here like he hasn't before in DT albums, but the music is more like the over the top metal sound of Strapping Young Lad. Even through all of this heaviness and chaotic sound, you still get his smart use of dynamics. There are still plenty of softer sections, but in this album, it is driven by intensity and power. And man alive do I love it. Plus, it is still heavily progressive, so its got everything that makes DT amazing.

'Juular' goes way over the top in that chaotic heavy metal orchestra style, which even then features a melodic vocal even with the screaming and growling added in. But this track only sets you up for the very progressive and extreme sound of 'Planet of the Apes' which has enormous power from guitar layers, but still manages to fit in the anchoring sound of the synth and even a choral section to give the whole thing another level of drama. There is so much going on in this song that it will take you a while to dissect it and pick up on all of the things going on here. After this 11 minute track of sensory overload, you should know that DT is not taking prisoners, but is out for everyone's throat as he demonstrates what extreme means when it comes to progressive heaviness.

If your ears aren't bleeding after 'Sumeria' which features both Joe Duplantier from Gojira and Paul Masvidal from Death and Cynic, then you have already turned the album off and are only listening to the previous tracks still echoing in the deep recesses of your mind. Featuring the rapid tech delivery on drums from Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeath, this is one of the most intense things DT has every done, and that is saying a lot. But a softer ending leads into a soft beginning of the 16 minute 'The Mighty Masturbator'. After an eerie lullaby of sorts, the track takes off with the hellish chorus and almost operatic vocals from Devin and Greg Puciato. Again, chaos and extremes rule with progressive complexity as more over-the- top sound continues. The sarcastic comedy of DT shows through with some reckless abandon at this point. And even among all of this, DT throws in some crazy surprises all along the way. DT fans will notice the use of various themes on occasion through the album also, like the one at the last part of 'The Mighty Masturbator'.

I must admit, that all of this extremity is hard to take in the first several listens, and this is one DT album that takes some time to grow on the listener. The amount of production, the sheer use of layering and orchestral craziness tends to wear on you until you get more familiar with the music. Personally, I think the best DT albums are the ones with the most variety on them, but even some people think they are too over the top. For me, DT is one of the best of the current progressive artists out there. But I would warn most new listeners to stay away from this album and come back to it later, try to access DT's music through some of his other albums like 'Terria', 'Empath' or 'Epicloud' first, unless you are use to listening to extreme metal. This is definitely one of DT's heaviest solo albums, but I still love it.