THE DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND: ACCELERATED EVOLUTION

It hurts me to give this 4/5, it really does. Devin Townsend is easily one of my favorite artists of all time; I love his work in SYL for his metal insanity, and his solo work besides Physicist is absolutely divine. Yes, this is divine too...at moments. Yet, the parts that aren't divine are a little...shockingly enough for Devin....formulaic! That was one of the biggest surprises for me -- Devin's stuff is NEVER formulaic! EVER! That's part of why I love him...I never know what to expect. Who else says **** off in the middle of a ballad just like he's saying I love you, or does a guitarless track with just an electronic drum track looping with samples and keys fading back and forth in and out and somehow still makes it amazing? That's Devy...so original and cool. Yet this album, it's not up to the standards of his other albums. I like it more than Physicist, yes, but a lot less than his other stuff.

Trust me, if this was anyone else other than Devy, this would easily get a 4/5. It's all good fairly straightforward heavy rock with an excellent vocalist. The drums are ok, as are the guitars. Everything is very catchy and very well-writtin. So...4/5? No, because this is Devin Townsend. Terria is divine, Infinity is the definition of off-the- wall erratic beauty, and Ocean Machine is what this album should have been, if anything.

The album is very straight-forward, but well-executed. Each track has a nice edge to it that makes go, "...yea!", and Devy's vocals just kick ass. The backing keys are good, obviously, and the producing is phenomenal. How about the tracks? Well, they're all very good, and that's the problem because 1 of them is excellent, and the rest are all sorta the same excellent song rehashed over and over again. The only exception is Deadhead which is so phenomenal because of Devy's vocal work, I just can't lump it in with the rest. Away is different too, more of a Vai song. The rest... similar. Let's see.

Depth Charge has some kickass riffs that get you interested right away -- already I can tell this is gonna be a fun album, I'm just hoping it's not repetitive. But this song kicks all sorts of ass, man! Devy sounds great, the guitars are badass yet not really heavy...just badass. Killer riffs without being heavy. Well done. Drums are good... nothing special, the newcomer does a good job, although he's no Gene Hoglan. He's got some nice double bass pedal fills though. Wee! Nice song!

Storm is next. I start thinking, well this kicks ass too! The vocals are even better, and the riffs aren't as good, but who cares?! It's still pretty sweet! Let's vary it up next song...so Random Analysis comes along. This sounds a bit too much like the last two songs...good vocals again and nice guitar riffs, but nothing is different.

Then Deadhead's opening riff hits you, and right away you know this is different. This is happy heavy rock like the last three tracks. This one's different. It's really not different in composition or sound, just in tone. It's dark, and much more emotional. And when Devy starts singing, you just go...holy crap. When he goes high that really got my eyes open. Interlude in the middle, then more pseudo screaming/really emotional high pitched singing from Devy. Talk about emotional. That was an amazing song. It still is one of my favorite Devin Townsend songs, and that's saying something.

Suicide...sounds like a less inspired Deadhead. And that's exactly what it is. Kinda just another rehash, although definitely one of the stronger tracks.I lied in my initial review, it's definitely stuck with me. Next is Traveler. Hold on, another happy heavy rock song with same structure and more great singing? It was good the first couple times, and it's well-executed, but come on, Devy! You're more creative than this! Away comes on, and I listen...and listen...and listen, and nothing is happening! What's up?! It's just a Vai guitar song. Uhmmm...boo.

Next, Sunday Afternoon and Slow Me Down. More infectious happiness and some emotion and good songwriting and good singing and good riffs. More of the same. It's a good formula, but it's getting stale. And this is DEVIN TOWNSEND, not Kamelot! Kamelot doesn't have one of the best artists and a modern eccentric genius in them, DTB does! It shouldn't be like this. However, it's good neoug hfor me to give a solid 4/5 for perfect execution and excellent vocals

So I walked out with Deadhead, Traveler and Depth Charge stuck in my head. After two or three months, I still play through it, but really only a couple songs, like Depth Charge, Deadhead, Slow Me Down, Traveller, and Suicide. The rest of the album, good, but nothing amazing. Still good enough to get a 4/5. As I said though, it hurts me to give it a 4/5, because...it's Devin Townsend. I dunno.