Yep, Devin’s done it all, from singing for Steve Vai to
playing guitar for Front Line Assembly, and so on and so
forth, so I’m gunna shut up because everyone knows
about all that shyte already. This is the newest release
under his own record label, recording along with
drummer Gene Hoglen, who has continued to work with
Devin since the production of the Strapping Young Lad
album ‘City’. This album doesn’t sound nearly as
drowney as Physicist, nor as popish as Infinity. But like
most of the other recording, it does have its lame
moments.
Most recommended tracks would be Earth Day and the
Fluke (despite that it sounds punky in the beginning). – Brooke Chaisson
Tag: Brooke Chiasson
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Devin Townsend – Terria
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Soilwork – Natural Born Chaos
Possibly the best Soilwork album to date, all thanks to the recording talent of Devin (Strapping Young Lad) Townsend. This Swedish band started out in 1995 under the name “Inferior Breed”, producing an album similar to the likes of Pantera and Machine Head. Currently, they have a new keyboardist, Sven Karlson, who is a little more diverse in his playing and effects, than the previous keyboard player. At the same time, the rest of
the band remains as technically proficient as ever. This album is only recommended to people who can deal with a high level of intensity. No wimps allowed. – Brooke Chaisson -
Lacuna Coil – Unleashed Memories
This is the fourth and latest release from this Italian
sextet, consisting of fifteen tracks, including five bonus
tracks from their Halflife EP.
Overall, this band is about as progressive as Nightwish
of Finland, but not as intense. At the same time, they’re
not as lame and boring as The Gathering either.
Lyrically, the album can range from being well put
together, to semi-intelligent, to exceptionally dull.
According to Century Media Record’s bio of the band,
they have an ability “To lure the listener into a
thunderously dark and passionate landscape of
soulfulness.” It’s a cheesy phrase, but I’ll actually admit
that a number of tracks, (i.e.: Tracks 1, 4, and 10) have
done so for me, while some others were just typical
boring goth-metal. – Brooke Chaisson -
Fear Absolute – The Truth
Fear Absolute claim to have influences of technically
brilliant bands like Dream Theater and Death. But after
listening to this five track demo, I thought that the only
thing that makes this Fredericton, New Brunswick –
based death metal band unique from the typical “cookiemonster
rock”, is that they don’t sound so much like their
on coke or crack (which is a good thing). Other than that,
these guys have no surprises.
However, if this death metal thing really does suit your
fancy, they are releasing their second demo in the very
near future. – Brooke Chiasson -
Skinny Puppy – Back and Forth Volume 5
So, despite the bad blood that Nivek Ogre had with the
other members of Skinny Puppy in 1996, he and cEvin
Key reunited possibly for one time only at the Doomsday
Festival in Dresden Germany in August 2000. Thus
bringing us the recording of “Doomsday: Back+ Forth Vol
5 – Live in Dresden”, under the Nettwerk record label.
Like just about everything else from Skinny Puppy, this
really isn’t a CD that I would rush out and pay twentysome
dollars for. There are only a few tracks that really
catch my attention (i.e.: Deep Down Trauma Hounds and
Harsh Stone White) and a few others that sound a little too weird (not that weird is a bad thing), and a few that were a little too repetitive for my liking.
Whether or not I’d recommend this CD to a devoted
Skinny Puppy fan is a completely different question
altogether. Being somebody who has been a bit indifferent about their music for a long while all I can suggest is to give it a listen to first and decide for yourself.
– Brooke Chiasson
