DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: KI

DEVIN TOWNSEND has always surprised me with his music. From his industrial experiments with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD to his own more eclectic DEVIN TOWNSEND'S PROJECT to the bizarre stories of Ziltoid the Omniscient, the man's musical output has been changing constantly while retaining some familiar elements, like the industrial sound and that "wall of sound" that Negoba mentions in his review. This time around, Townsend surprises me again, but, curiously, by not surprising me.

Yes, the music in Ki is rather... normal, for lack of a better word. The typical psychotic outbursts of the past, the anxiety-driven sounds of previous albums, are all but forgotten in this new release. It's like the musician has calmed down, cooled down a little bit, and decided to write a record of songs that are much more easier to digest by any casual listener. The result is a quite melodic, but rather uninspired effort that has moments of brilliance but never reaches the heights that just the last two albums reached.

The music, more melodic, is also more acoustic, with less industrial elements, and a much bigger emphasis on the singing and the atmosphere. While I usually prefer melody and atmosphere, I'm missing that uniqueness that Townsend's records always had. Some songs in Ki sound mundane, going from light metal to grunge to blues without shining in any of these styles nor creating some truly original mix.

That's not to say there's nothing to like on Ki. The album, actually, it's quite enjoyable and entertaning, maybe more friendly than Ziltoid The Omnisicient. And Townsend still manages to introduce his little jokes here and there, like the song "Trainfire", a mix of pop and old style rock n' roll complete with Elvis impersonation (and a very decent one, I must say).

This is the strength that the album is missing: that constant change of moods and ideas in the course of one single record is less evident in Ki. It's like Devin Townsend has reached a more sane mental state, but his music is missing the erratic factor.

A good album nevertheless, worthy of three stars.