STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - Alien
March 3, 2005, 19 years ago
(Century Media)
The official word on Devin Townsend is that he's a genius madman, an individual with a mind that's twisted and turned in so many rattled directions that analyzing his absurdly diverse body of work is next to impossible. And while the aforementioned assertion might be true, I also suspect Devin is actually as smart as we all give him credit for. His intelligence, as it seems to be playing out, consciously leads us down the crazy, lunatic-addled road and, like, he's playing us all for fools we all are. In essence, insanity is just Devin's medium-is-the-message delivering device; goddamn, he's probably an altruist at heart. Anyway, that little foray isn't for naught as Alien is the Strapping record that SYL shoulda been - smart, deliciously and ironically over-the-top, and filled with seismic mini-explosions of all kinds. Devin's voice is layered and processed and evil and stalking, but what's really cool is that Byron and Gene don't play the patsies anymore, the two zoning themselves in for this collective ride that recalls City but doesn't necessarily surpass. But that's cool, because what's going to ever be better than City? That being said, Alien is a worthwhile, really good record, one that helps re-align Strapping's high profile/hi-fi place in the metal world.
