148-500: Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also had an extensive solo career and has released a total of 28 albums across all of his projects as of 2022. After performing in a number of heavy metal bands in high school, Townsend
296-515: A distorted bass tone , an approach popularized by Burton and Motörhead 's Lemmy . Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, corruption, injustice, murder, suicide, isolation, alienation, addiction, and other maladies that afflict the individual and society. In addition, politics, particularly pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands. Humor and irony can occasionally be found (Anthrax for example), but they are limited, and are an exception rather than
444-431: A punk rock band to achieve mainstream success. Townsend founded his own independent record label, HevyDevy Records, to release the album. Townsend assembled a permanent lineup of Strapping Young Lad to record City , including prolific metal drummer Gene Hoglan ( Dark Angel , Death , Testament ), along with Townsend's former bandmates Jed Simon on guitar and Byron Stroud on bass. The industrial -influenced album
592-425: A vegetarian for ethical reasons since around the early 1990s, but does not consider himself an activist. He has revealed in interviews that he suffers from depression . He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 1998, a condition that was unknowingly exacerbated by his alcohol and drug use at the time; he has been sober and free of anti-psychotic medication since 2007. Extreme metal Extreme metal
740-518: A "highly illustrated stream-of-consciousness" album, with Gene Hoglan on drums, Craig McFarland on bass and Jamie Meyer on keyboards. Townsend cited Ween 's White Pepper as an inspiration for the album. Terria was released in November 2001. Townsend's solo run lasted until 2002. After a five-year break from recording, Strapping Young Lad reunited to record a new album. Townsend credits the album, Strapping Young Lad , as an emotional response to
888-457: A "thank you" to his fans, Townsend launched what he dubbed "Quarantine Project", releasing new music in the process. Among the new tracks is a new mix of "A New Reign" from the Sky Blue album. Townsend collaborated with the likes of Kat Epple, Samus Paulicelli, Morgan Ågren, Federico Paulovich, Ché Aimee Dorval, Mattias Eklundh, Wes Hauch and Liam Wilson. In April 2020, Townsend began uploading
1036-526: A band of their own. Hanneman and King recruited vocalist/bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo , and Slayer was formed. Slayer was discovered by Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel; the band's live performance of Iron Maiden 's "Phantom of the Opera" so impressed him that he promptly signed them to his label. In December 1983, five months after the release of Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All , Slayer released their debut album, Show No Mercy . To
1184-464: A chronological series of podcasts on his official YouTube channel, with each episode discussing one or two of the albums in his discography. These podcasts have been monologue discussions and reflections on the albums themselves, the influences, the personnel, and the state of Townsend's life during the times these albums were being written and recorded. In August 2020, Townsend announced the upcoming release of Empath Live Volume 1: Order of Magnitude ,
1332-401: A contract to make "some extreme albums". He agreed to a five-album deal with the record label, and also provided much of the guitar work on the 1994 album Millennium and the 1995 album Hard Wired by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly . Townsend began to record material under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad . He avoided using his real name at this point in career, looking for
1480-428: A fresh start after his high-profile Vai gig. "At the beginning, I wanted to avoid at all cost to use my name because I was known as the singer for Steve Vai and it wasn't the best publicity to have," he later explained. "I was playing somebody else's music and I was judged in respect to that music." Townsend produced and performed nearly all the instruments on the debut studio album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing , which
1628-506: A heavily multi-tracked wall of sound , has been compared to the styles of Robert Fripp and Frank Zappa . His vocal delivery ranges from screaming to an opera-esque singing, while his musical style is rooted in metal and his albums are written to express different aspects of his personality. Devin Garrett Townsend was born in New Westminster on May 5, 1972. His parents are of Irish and British descent, with his father working in
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#17327930068681776-446: A key influence on the genre, due to its sound, which introduced the three-chord thrash style of guitar. Void has been credited as one of the earliest examples of hardcore/heavy metal crossover, whose chaotic musical approach is often cited as particularly influential. Their 1982 split LP with fellow Washington band The Faith showed both bands exhibiting quick, fiery, high-speed punk rock. It has been argued that those recordings laid
1924-584: A live concert recorded during the first Empath Tour, and Empath Live Volume 2: By Request , a virtual concert for fans in lieu of the second tour, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On September 5, he hosted a streaming premiere of Empath Live Volume 2 , a prerecorded virtual show featuring Samus Paulicelli on drums, Wes Hauch on guitar, Liam Wilson on bass, and Townsend on guitar and vocals. Each of them performed separately in front of green screens, with eight different camera setups each, to enhance
2072-497: A major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. This early work by Venom, in combination with bands like Discharge , the Exploited and Amebix , as well as American hardcore punk, brought integral elements into the budding extreme metal landscape at the time. In 1983, Metallica would release their debut album Kill 'Em All , which fused elements of the new wave of British heavy metal with hardcore punk and
2220-492: A major role in the crossover success of thrash metal during this time, but helped push album sales of the genre's "Big Four" and similar bands, or moved them from playing clubs to arenas and stadiums. Anthrax made its mainstream breakthrough in 1987 with the release of their gold-certified album Among the Living , which borrowed elements from their two previous releases, with fast guitar riffs and pounding drums. Shortly after
2368-514: A massive shortage in raw materials and plastics, preventing the physical releases, particularly the boxsets and vinyls, from getting completed and shipped out in time.". The Puzzle is based on the chaotic experience of the 2020 pandemic while Snuggles is said to be more calm; both albums are "collaborative multimedia art projects" accompanied by films and, in the case of The Puzzle , a graphic novel. These were followed by another solo album in 2022 called Lightwork . A tour in support of Lightwork
2516-547: A mix of hard rock , ambient , and progressive rock . Dating back to the Sex and Religion tour, Townsend had been writing solo material for a project called Ocean Machine. The album, initially entitled Biomech , was recorded in 1995 and originally queued for release later that year in December on HevyDevy Records , a label created by Townsend solely for material he releases on his own. Due to unknown reasons, Ocean Machine: Biomech
2664-524: A more heavier direction, including Suicidal Tendencies , who are often considered to be one of the "fathers of crossover thrash", and became more recognized as a thrash metal band in the late 1980s (thanks in large part to the presence of guitarists Rocky George and Mike Clark ); the band would reach new heights of success with their first two major-label albums, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988) and Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit... Déjà Vu (1989). D.R.I. 's music took
2812-458: A new album, Casualties of Cool , with which he started to work after the release of Epicloud . The album features Ché Aimee Dorval (from Ki ) on vocals and Morgan Ågren on drums. Townsend described the album sounds like "haunted Johnny Cash songs" and "late night music", highlighting it will be different than anything he has done before. Townsend referred the music of the album to be "closest to his heart" at this point of his life, and that it
2960-487: A popular local group called Caustic Thought, replacing Jed Simon on guitar and playing alongside bassist Byron Stroud , both of whom would later become members of Townsend's flagship band, Strapping Young Lad . In 1993, Townsend began writing material under the name Noisescapes, a project he later described as "just as violent as Strapping Young Lad". Townsend recorded a Noisescapes demo and sent copies to various record labels. Relativity Records responded to Townsend with
3108-527: A primary influence on their playing. Thrash metal bands have also taken inspiration from Judas Priest , with Slayer guitarist Kerry King saying that, "There would be no Slayer without Priest." Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel played a key role in bringing the NWOBHM to a larger audience, as he was responsible for discovering both Metallica and Slayer and producing their earliest studio recordings. Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar notes, "Although
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#17327930068683256-414: A record deal and Townsend began work on what was to be the first Noisescapes album, Promise . Shortly afterward, the label introduced him to musician Steve Vai . Impressed with Townsend's vocal work, Vai offered him the role of the lead vocalist on his new album Sex & Religion . After recording Sex & Religion , Townsend accompanied Vai on a world tour in support of the album. Townsend soon landed
3404-508: A resurgence in popularity since the 2000s, with the arrival of various bands such as Bonded by Blood , Evile , Hatchet , Havok , Lamb of God , Municipal Waste , and Warbringer , who have all been credited for leading the so-called "thrash metal revival" scene. Thrash metal generally features fast tempos , low-register, complex guitar riffs , high-register guitar solos , and double bass drumming . The rhythm guitar parts are played with heavy distortion and often palm muted to create
3552-484: A return to their signature thrash metal sound, followed by Christ Illusion (2006) and World Painted Blood (2009), both of which marked their first studio albums with drummer Dave Lombardo in nearly two decades. Although their career had declined from its peak in the 1990s, Overkill was perhaps one of the most-active thrash metal groups outside of the "Big Four", having never disbanded or taken longer breaks in-between records, and by 2000's Bloodletting , they were
3700-544: A rule. The term proto-thrash has been used to describe bands as having elements of speed metal or thrash metal before those genres came to prominence in early-to-mid-1980s. Deep Purple 's 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock is perhaps the earliest proto-thrash/speed metal album, as music journalist Martin Popoff noted, "It's really about the discipline and classical haughtiness of this record, as well as 'Hard Lovin' Man' which
3848-571: A second tour, this time with the opening band of Vai's tour, the Wildhearts . He played live with the band throughout half of 1994 in Europe, and appeared as a guest musician on their single Urge . Ginger , the band's frontman, remained close friends with Townsend, later co-writing several songs on Infinity and the Christeen + 4 Demos EP. While on tour with the Wildhearts, Townsend formed
3996-484: A short-lived thrash metal project with Metallica 's then-bassist Jason Newsted . The band, known as IR8, featured Newsted on vocals and bass, Townsend on guitar, and Tom Hunting of Exodus on drums. The group recorded a few songs together, although Townsend says that they never intended to go further than that. "People heard about it and thought we wanted to put out a CD, which is absolutely not true," he explains. "People took this project way too seriously." A demo tape
4144-567: A similar direction with their last three albums of the 1980s, Crossover (1987), 4 of a Kind (1988), and Thrash Zone (1989), and other bands would follow suit, including The Exploited , Excel (from Suicidal Tendencies' hometown of Venice ) and New York hardcore acts M.O.D. (fronted by former S.O.D. singer Billy Milano ), the Cro-Mags and the Crumbsuckers . From 1987 to 1989, Overkill released Taking Over , Under
4292-423: A slower and Black Sabbath -influenced heavy metal direction with their post-1980s output, adapting influences and textures of sludge , doom metal , blues, and southern rock on several of their albums, including Blind (1991), Deliverance (1994) and Wiseblood (1996). In the wake of the success of groove metal , instigated by Pantera (who went on to become one of the most successful heavy metal bands of
4440-569: A song entitled "Hit the Lights". Leather Charm soon disbanded and the band's primary songwriter, vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield , met drummer Lars Ulrich through a classified advertisement. Together, Hetfield and Ulrich formed Metallica , one of the "Big Four" thrash bands, with lead guitarist Dave Mustaine , who would later form Megadeth , another of the "Big Four" originators of thrash, and bassist Ron McGovney . McGovney would be replaced by Cliff Burton (formerly of Trauma ), and Mustaine
4588-512: A stylistic change in the band, eliminating much of the speed and longer song structures of the band's previous work, and instead focusing on more concise and heavier songs. The album was a change in Metallica's direction from the thrash metal style of the band's previous four studio albums towards a more contemporary heavy metal sound with original hard rock elements, but still had remnant characteristics of thrash metal. It would go on to become
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4736-424: A tighter and more precise sound. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from melodic singing to shouted or screamed vocals. Most guitar solos are played at high speed and technically demanding, as they are usually characterized by shredding , and use advanced techniques such as sweep picking , legato phrasing , alternate picking , tremolo picking , string skipping , and two-hand tapping . David Ellefson ,
4884-501: Is a chromatic descent, followed by a chromatic ascent based on the tritone . Speed, pacing, and time changes also define thrash metal. Thrash tends to have an accelerating feel which may be due in large part to its aggressive drumming style. For example, drummers often use two bass drums, or a double-bass pedal to create a relentless, driving beat. Cymbal stops/ chokes are often used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo. Some common characteristics of
5032-471: Is a great contender for first proto-thrash song ever." Queen 's 1974 song " Stone Cold Crazy " and Black Sabbath's " Symptom of the Universe ", released the following year, have also been cited as examples of proto-thrash/speed metal; the latter of which was a direct inspiration for Diamond Head 's pioneering song " Am I Evil? ". The new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) bands emerging from Britain in
5180-506: Is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression ". The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground , non-commercialized style associated with the speed metal , thrash metal , black metal , death metal , and doom metal genres. Hardcore punk has been considered an integral part of
5328-603: Is also considered one of the first wave black metal albums that helped shape the genre. Their second album, The Laws of Scourge , was one of the first technical death metal records to be released. Genres influenced by extreme metal but usually not considered extreme themselves: Thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash ) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs , overlaid with shredding -style lead guitar work. The genre emerged in
5476-554: Is an important and satisfying project he does not want to rush. The album was completed in November 2013, and a bonus disc was also made for the album, containing the leftover material from the main album as well as songs from Ghost 2 , the unreleased compilation of leftover tracks from Ghost . Originally in 2012, Townsend stated that this album will be the sixth and the last album in the Devin Townsend Project series, but he ultimately confirmed that Casualties of Cool
5624-600: Is characterized by high levels of distortion (also in the vocals – growling, gargling or screaming), less focus on guitar solos and melody, emphasis on technical control, and fast tempos (at times, more than 200 beats per minute ). Its thematic transgression can be found in more overt and/or serious references to Satanism and the darker aspects of human existence that are considered out of bounds or distasteful, such as death, suicide and war. "Visual transgression [can include] ... medieval weaponry [and] bloody/horrific artwork." According to ethnographer Keith Kahn-Harris ,
5772-418: Is its own project. Townsend also started a crowdfunding campaign through PledgeMusic to support the release of the album. The funding quickly reached its goal, and all additional funds were put directly to Townsend's upcoming projects. Casualties of Cool was released on May 14, 2014. The album was re-issued worldwide on January 15, 2016, containing an additional DVD with live footage from the 2014 concert at
5920-545: Is known for combining traditional thrash metal with elements of progressive, jazz or classical music . In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone , Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante said: "When I was first learning to play drums, I would strap on my headphones, play along with [Rush's live album All the World's a Stage ] and be transformed. I remember talking with Cliff [Burton] and Kirk [Hammett of Metallica] back when we first met, and we all agreed how much of an influence Rush
6068-640: The Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse (see Musician cameos in Metalocalypse for more). The original character design for Pickles the Drummer , one of the series' main characters, bore a striking resemblance to Townsend. The series' co-creator Brendon Small acknowledged the similarity, and altered the design before the series began. "We made sure he didn't look like Devin Townsend. We gave him
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6216-495: The Sepultura EP Bestial Devastation . Seven Churches and To Mega Therion are often credited for pioneering and popularizing the mid-1980s extreme metal scene (as well as the then-developing genres of death metal and black metal , respectively), while Energetic Disassembly has been cited as the first progressive/technical thrash metal album. From a creative standpoint, the year 1986
6364-653: The Union Chapel in London. From 2009, Townsend worked on a long-running album project called Z , a sequel to the album Ziltoid the Omniscient (2007). Originally in 2012, he teased he "may have just written the heaviest thing (he's) ever done" for the album, and stated there might a surprising lack of Ziltoid himself appearing on the album. However, in August 2013, a London-based radio station, TeamRock Radio, aired
6512-485: The University of London Union , November 10–12, 2011. Ki , Addicted , and Deconstruction were each performed on one night, respectively. The show for Ghost was held at the Union Chapel, Islington on November 13, 2011. These four shows were each entitled "An Evening with the Devin Townsend Project". Despite the Devin Townsend Project being originally a four-album series, Townsend decided to continue working under
6660-573: The attacks of September 11, 2001 , in the United States. "If the world's about to blow up," said Townsend, "let's write the soundtrack for it." The album's lyrics were based more around fear and insecurity than the "hostile" lyrics of City . Musically, Strapping Young Lad was less industrial than City , and more reminiscent of death metal, with a "larger-than-life" rock production style. Townsend cited Front Line Assembly , Grotus , and Samael 's Passage as influences. The self-titled album
6808-476: The "Big Four" of U.S. thrash metal. Other U.S. bands, such as Overkill , Metal Church , and Bay Area acts Exodus , Testament and Death Angel , never achieved the popularity of the "Big Four" but also had considerable success during the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly on the strength of airplay on MTV 's Headbangers Ball . Some of the most successful international thrash metal bands from this era were Brazil's Sepultura , Canada's Voivod , and
6956-460: The "Big Four", Anthrax (who, like Metallica, formed in 1981), and their song "Metal Thrashing Mad". Before this, Metallica frontman James Hetfield referred to his band's sound as speed metal or power metal . Another "Big Four" thrash band formed in Los Angeles in 1981, when guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King met while auditioning for the same band and subsequently decided to form
7104-414: The 1980s. The early thrash metal movement revolved around independent record labels, including Megaforce , Metal Blade , Combat , Roadrunner , and Noise , and the underground tape trading industry in both Europe and North America. The genre was commercially successful from approximately 1985 through 1991, bringing prominence to Metallica , Slayer , Megadeth , and Anthrax , all grouped together as
7252-727: The 1990s), several thrash metal established bands started to expand their sound by adding elements and influences from the groove metal genre. Anthrax, who had recently replaced Joey Belladonna with John Bush as their singer, began stepping away from their previously established thrash metal formula to a more accessible alternative/groove metal approach for the remainder of their 1990s output, starting with and including Sound of White Noise (1993). Sacred Reich, Overkill, Coroner, Prong, Testament, and Forbidden followed this trend with their respective albums Independent , I Hear Black , Grin , Cleansing , Low , and Distortion . Sepultura's 1993 album Chaos A.D. also marked
7400-427: The 2000s. In 2003, Anthrax released their first studio album in five years We've Come for You All , followed a month later by Metallica's double platinum-certified album St. Anger . After experimenting further with a commercialized sound on their previous few albums, Megadeth returned to its heavier sound with their ninth album The World Needs a Hero (2001). It would be the band's final album before disbanding in
7548-579: The Bay Area would subsequently reunite, including Anthrax (twice with Joey Belladonna and briefly with John Bush ), Dark Angel , Nuclear Assault , Sacred Reich , UK bands Onslaught , Sabbat , and Xentrix , and Canada's Sacrifice , renewing interest in previous decades. The term "thrash-revivalists" has been applied to such bands as Lamb of God , Municipal Waste , Evile , Havok , Warbringer , Vektor , Bonded by Blood , Hatchet , and Power Trip . Evile's 2007 debut album Enter
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#17327930068687696-803: The Chapel and Overkill respectively. This led to a heavier-sounding form of thrash, which was reflected in Exodus' debut album Bonded by Blood , Slayer's Hell Awaits and Anthrax's Spreading the Disease , all three released in 1985. Several other debut albums were released that same year, including Megadeth's Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! , Overkill's Feel the Fire , Kreator's Endless Pain , Destruction's Infernal Overkill , Possessed 's Seven Churches , Celtic Frost 's To Mega Therion , Watchtower 's Energetic Disassembly and
7844-629: The Deceiver (released on the Fourth of July in 1986) received some attention as well, due to the album being "the first of only a handful" to ever receive a 6K rating from Kerrang! magazine, and it is also notable for featuring a then-unknown Jason Newsted , who, not long after the album's release, joined Metallica as Burton's replacement. Also during the mid-to-late 1980s, bands such as Suicidal Tendencies , D.R.I. , S.O.D. (who featured three-fifths of Anthrax), and Corrosion of Conformity paved
7992-610: The Devin Townsend Band, taking a break from touring to spend more time with his family. After a two-year hiatus, he began recording again and soon announced the formation of the Devin Townsend Project. This band began with a series of four albums, released from 2009 to 2011 and each written in a different genre. Townsend continued to record and tour under the new moniker until January 2018. Across all his bands and solo projects, Townsend has released 23 studio albums and four live albums. His trademark production style, featuring
8140-587: The Devin Townsend Project series, Deconstruction and Ghost , were released simultaneously on June 21, 2011. In December 2011 all four Devin Townsend Project albums with additional material were released as the Contain Us box set. Townsend performed all four of Devin Townsend Project albums in London and recorded them for a DVD box set called By a Thread: Live in London 2011 that was released on June 18, 2012. The first three shows were held at
8288-532: The Grave , produced by former Metallica producer and engineer Flemming Rasmussen , received considerable praise for its sound, which combined elements of the sounds of Slayer and the Bay Area scene (particularly Exodus and Testament). Los Angeles-based bands Warbringer and Bonded by Blood took a similar approach on their respective debut albums, War Without End and Feed the Beast , both released in 2008. Perhaps
8436-611: The Influence , and The Years of Decay , three albums considered their best. Each of the "Big Four" of thrash metal bands released albums in 1988: Slayer released South of Heaven , Megadeth released So Far, So Good... So What! , Anthrax released State of Euphoria while Metallica's ...And Justice for All spawned the band's first video and Top 40 hit, the World War I –themed song " One ". That same year, Metallica joined Van Halen , Scorpions , Dokken and Kingdom Come on
8584-463: The Lights" would later open their first studio album, Kill 'Em All , released in July 1983. Kill 'Em All is widely regarded as the first thrash metal album, and one of the album's tracks " Whiplash " has been referred to as one of the first songs of the genre. The term "thrash metal" was first used in the music press by Kerrang! magazine's journalist Malcolm Dome while referring to another of
8732-699: The Summit . This was followed by a headlining tour in Australia and a series of high-profile shows in Europe (for example co-headlining the Brutal Assault festival in Czech Republic). He headlined a North American tour with UK label mates TesseracT supporting, which began in October 2010, and toured in Europe with support from Aeon Zen and Anneke van Giersbergen . The third and fourth albums in
8880-531: The Swedish black metal band Marduk has commonly referenced the Nazi Panzer tanks, which can be seen in works such as Panzer Division Marduk (1999). The British band Venom are one of the first bands to venture into extreme metal territory, due to their ideological shift into themes of evil , the devil and hell . Their first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), were
9028-489: The Titans festival, which was held in August 2001 as a co-benefit concert for Testament singer Chuck Billy and Death 's Chuck Schuldiner , who were both battling cancer. The show is also notable for seeing several of Testament's Bay Area thrash metal contemporaries, including Exodus, Death Angel, Vio-lence , Forbidden Evil , Sadus and Legacy (a precursor to Testament), reunited. Many thrash metal bands from outside of
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#17327930068689176-541: The Vatican ; the latter three are often credited for being an integral part of the then-developing groove metal genre. All of those albums were commercial high points for the aforementioned artists. During this period, Megadeth and Slayer co-headlined one of the most successful tours in thrash metal history called the Clash of the Titans ; the first leg in Europe included support from Testament and Suicidal Tendencies, while
9324-409: The Wildhearts, Townsend received a phone call from Monte Conner , then- A&R representative for Roadrunner Records , expressing an interest in his demos and an intention to sign him. After being briefly signed by the label, the offer was ultimately rescinded by Cees Wessels, the owner of Roadrunner, who regarded Townsend's recordings as "just noise". In 1994, Century Media Records offered Townsend
9472-436: The airy feel of synthesizers , popularized in industrial metal. Today the placing of bands within distinct sub-genres remains a source of contention for heavy metal fans, however, little debate resides over the fact that thrash metal is the sole proprietor of its respective spin-offs. A few thrash metal bands from the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the genre's U.S. "big four", continued recording and touring with success in
9620-417: The album's release, Townsend announced that he no longer planned to tour or make albums with Strapping Young Lad or the Devin Townsend Band. He explained that he was "burnt out on travelling, touring, and self promotion" and wished to do production work, write albums, and spend time with his family without the stress of interviews or touring. In 2008, Townsend lent his voice to characters in several episodes of
9768-474: The album's theme is "Ziltoid against the world". The Devin Townsend Project disc is called Sky Blue and the Ziltoid disc is called Dark Matters . After finishing the album, Townsend stated the project was "punishing" and an "absolute nightmare to complete" due to amount of material against tight schedules. He also described the hardship of the project by telling "if he was ever going to start drinking [again],
9916-582: The audience a feeling for a variety of musical emotions. The musical dynamics represented on this single album are broad, challenging, and immense. To approach this sort of work with a long history of what makes heavy music 'heavy', allows this to be done with a type of power rarely heard." Guests on the album include former Frank Zappa collaborators Mike Keneally , Morgan Ågren and Steve Vai , as well as Samus Paulicelli , Chad Kroeger , Anneke Van Giersbergen , Ché Aimee Dorval from Casualties of Cool , and Ryan Dahle . A series of documentary videos detailing
10064-450: The band Massakre (1985) in Chile . In Europe, the earliest band of the emerging thrash movement was Venom from Newcastle upon Tyne , formed in 1979. Their 1982 album Black Metal has been cited as a major influence on many subsequent genres and bands in the extreme metal world, such as Bathory , Hellhammer , Slayer, and Mayhem . The European scene was almost exclusively influenced by
10212-558: The band's best-selling album and began a wave of thrash metal bands releasing more garage-oriented albums, or else more experimental ones. The era of 1991–1992 marked the beginning of the end of thrash metal's commercial peak, due to the rising popularity of the alternative metal and grunge movements (the latter spearheaded by Washington -based bands Nirvana , Soundgarden , Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam ). In response to this climate change, many thrash metal bands that had emerged from
10360-403: The band's earlier sound. Megadeth took a more accessible heavy metal route starting with their 1992 album Countdown to Extinction . Testament, Exodus and Flotsam and Jetsam all took a melodic/progressive approach with the albums The Ritual , Force of Habit , and Cuatro , respectively. One of the pioneers of crossover thrash, Corrosion of Conformity , began changing their sound into
10508-517: The band's first album, Accelerated Evolution , at the same time he was working on Strapping Young Lad , spending half the week on one and half on the other. Accelerated Evolution , named for the pace of putting a new band together in under a year, was released a month after Strapping Young Lad . Mike G. of Metal Maniacs called it "the album of the year", praising it for "the hard-to-accomplish trick of being extreme yet accessible, simultaneously heavy 'n' rockin' yet majestic and beautiful." Prior to
10656-435: The band's previous album did not live up to expectations, Townsend decided to take his music to a new extreme. During the process of writing and recording the new album, Townsend stopped taking the medication prescribed to treat his bipolar disorder because he began expressing doubt about the initial diagnosis, and decided to stop taking the medication, but continued with his substance abuse, and he eventually "flipped out" during
10804-505: The beginning of their transition away from death/thrash metal to groove metal which had influenced then-up-and-coming bands like Korn , who reciprocally became the inspiration behind the nu metal style of the band's next album Roots (1996). Roots would influence a generation of bands from Linkin Park to Slipknot , which during the 1990s meant the replacement of death, thrash, and speed, by nu metal and metalcore as popular epicenters of
10952-467: The completion of City and Ocean Machine: Biomech , Townsend began to approach a mental breakdown. He explained, "I started to see human beings as little lonesome, water based, pink meat life forms pushing air through themselves and making noises that the other little pieces of meat seemed to understand." In December 1997, he checked himself into a mental-health hospital, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder . The diagnosis helped him understand where
11100-917: The cornerstones of jazz-metal fusion and a major influence on the technical death metal genre, while Forced Entry 's debut album Uncertain Future helped pioneer the late 1980s Seattle music scene. A number of more typical but technically sophisticated albums were released in 1990, including Megadeth's Rust in Peace , Anthrax's Persistence of Time , Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss , Suicidal Tendencies' Lights...Camera...Revolution! , Testament's Souls of Black , Kreator's Coma of Souls , Destruction's Cracked Brain , Forbidden's Twisted into Form , Exodus' Impact Is Imminent , Sacred Reich 's The American Way , Prong 's Beg to Differ , Pantera 's Cowboys from Hell and Exhorder 's Slaughter in
11248-642: The creation of the IR8 demo tape, Townsend and Jason Newsted had begun work on a new project called Fizzicist , which they described as "heavier than Strapping Young Lad". When the IR8 tape was leaked, Newsted's Metallica bandmates James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich learned of the project. Hetfield was "fucking pissed" that Newsted was playing outside the band, and Newsted was prevented by his bandmates from working on any more side projects, although Townsend would later downplay Metallica's role in Newsted's unavailability. With
11396-519: The critically acclaimed album City in 1997. Since then, he has released three more studio albums with Strapping Young Lad, along with solo material released under his own independent HevyDevy Records label. Townsend's solo albums have featured a varying lineup of supporting musicians and are a mix of hard rock , progressive metal , ambient , and new-age . In 2002, he formed the Devin Townsend Band, which recorded and toured for two of his solo releases. In 2007, he disbanded both Strapping Young Lad and
11544-571: The debut Bent Sea album Noistalgia . He also produced the record. Another project Townsend has mentioned several times between 2009 and 2012 is Obviouser , an album featuring "creepy, bass driven apocalyptic music" created with an " Ampeg rig" and an "Icelandic choir". Working with many projects simultaneously at that time, Townsend stated in 2012 the Obviouser project is vying for pole position until "he wakes up and says 'he wants to do it'". After Deconstruction and Ghost , Townsend announced
11692-761: The defining characteristics of extreme metal can all be regarded as clearly transgressive : the "extreme" traits noted above are all intended to violate or transgress given cultural, artistic, social or aesthetic boundaries. Kahn-Harris states that extreme metal can be "close to being ... formless noise", at least to the uninitiated listener. He states that with extreme metal lyrics, they often "offer no possibility of hope or redemption" and lyrics often reference apocalyptic themes. Extreme metal lyrics often describe Christianity as weak or submissive, and many songs express misanthropic views such as "kill every thing". A small number of extreme metal bands and song lyrics take radical (left or right) political stances; for example,
11840-499: The development of extreme metal in song structure and speed, apart from the case of doom metal. Extreme metal acts set themselves apart from traditional heavy metal acts, such as Iron Maiden , Judas Priest and Motörhead , by incorporating more abrasive musical characteristics such as higher tempos, increased aggression and a harsher extremity. In the majority of the world, extreme metal does not receive much radio-play or achieve high chart positions. Extreme metal's sonic excess
11988-542: The early 1980s as musicians began fusing the double bass drumming and complex guitar stylings of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk and the technicality of progressive music . Philosophically, thrash metal developed as a backlash against both the conservatism of the Reagan era and the much more moderate, pop -influenced, and widely accessible heavy metal subgenre of glam metal which also developed concurrently in
12136-445: The emphasis on atmosphere over rhythm. As further extreme metal genres came to prominence in the 1990s ( industrial metal , death metal, and black metal each finding their own fanbase), the heavy metal "family tree" soon found itself blending aesthetics and styles. For example, bands with all the musical traits of thrash metal began using death growls , a vocal style borrowed from death metal, while black metal bands often utilized
12284-569: The first band in the genre to release more than ten studio albums. Overkill's popularity was reignited in the 2010s, with three of their albums, The Electric Age (2012), White Devil Armory (2014) and The Grinding Wheel (2017), all entering the Top 100 on the Billboard charts. The resurgence of interest in the thrash metal genre during the early 2000s was widely attributed to the Thrash of
12432-482: The first episode of Ziltoid Radio , a satirical radio show hosted solely by Ziltoid, this being one element of the Z project. Townsend also discussed a "ZTV" or "Ziltoid TV" to precede the album. Townsend later stated he found the project hard to schedule and work with amidst touring and writing, stating "it takes a lot of effort" to keep the content and its tongue-in-cheek humour entertaining. After writing ideas for over 70 songs, Townsend stated he would finally finish
12580-423: The following year, due to an arm injury that had left Dave Mustaine unable to play guitar; he would eventually reform Megadeth for a handful albums, including The System Has Failed (2004) which was originally going to be released as a solo album by him, before reuniting with co-founding member and bassist David Ellefson in 2010. Slayer released three albums in the 2000s: God Hates Us All (2001), which saw
12728-553: The formation of the Devin Townsend Band, Townsend had represented his solo releases live with the Strapping Young Lad lineup; the band would play one set of Strapping Young Lad songs and one set of Devin Townsend songs. After the release of Accelerated Evolution , Townsend's two bands toured separately for their separate albums. Strapping Young Lad began working on their next album, Alien , in March 2004. Feeling that
12876-412: The former with more focus on melody rather than chromaticism. The blending of punk ethos and metal's brutal nature led to even more extreme, underground styles after thrash metal began gaining mild commercial success in the late 1980s. With gorier subject matter, heavier down tuning of guitars, more consistent use of blast beat drumming , and darker, atonal death growls , death metal was established in
13024-703: The foundation for early thrash metal, at least in terms of selected tempos, and that thrash is essentially hardcore punk with the technical proficiency missing from that genre. The crossover with hardcore punk has also been cited as important influence on thrash, especially the English hardcore punk band Discharge, whose "influence on heavy metal is incalculable and metal superstars such as Metallica, Anthrax, Machine Head , Sepultura , Soulfly , Prong and Arch Enemy have covered Discharge's songs in tribute." The eponymous debut albums by D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies , both released in 1983, have been credited for paving
13172-471: The genre are fast guitar riffs with aggressive picking styles and fast guitar solos, and extensive use of two bass drums as opposed to the conventional use of only one, typical of most rock music. To keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum (pick). However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers , such as Frank Bello , Greg Christian , Steve Di Giorgio , Robert Trujillo , and Cliff Burton . Several bassists use
13320-442: The genre's " Big Teutonic Four ": Kreator , Destruction , Sodom , and Tankard . The thrash metal genre had declined in popularity by the mid-1990s, due to the commercial success of numerous genres such as alternative rock , grunge , and later pop-punk and nu metal . In response, some bands either disbanded or moved away from their thrash metal roots and more towards groove metal or alternative metal . The genre has seen
13468-482: The genre, such as Havok and Legion of the Damned have turned their focus towards a more aggressive rendition of thrash metal, incorporating elements of melodic death metal . Thrash metal is directly responsible for the development of underground metal genres, such as death metal, black metal , and groove metal . In addition to this, metalcore , grindcore , and deathcore employ similar riffs in their composition,
13616-435: The goatee and the dreadover so he wouldn't look like that." After removing himself from the music industry, Townsend cut his trademark hair off and gave up drinking and smoking. Townsend found it "disconcerting" that he had difficulty writing music without drugs, and that he had trouble identifying his purpose as a musician. He spent a year producing albums in absence of writing, but found it unrewarding and decided to "pick up
13764-421: The guitar and just write". This began a period of "self discovery" where he learned "how to create without drugs". Over two years, Townsend wrote over 60 songs, and found that they fit into "four distinct styles". In March 2009, Townsend announced his plans for a four-album series called Devin Townsend Project , with the goal of clarifying his musical identity and being "accountable" for the persona he projects to
13912-476: The hardest metal scene. Staying away from this new commercial mainstream of groove metal, metalcore, and especially nu metal, the second wave of black metal emerged as an opposed underground music scene, initially in Norway . This crop of new bands differenced themselves from the "first wave" by totally distilling black metal from the combined origins with thrash metal, but they preserved from all these sub-genres
14060-406: The highly varied nature of his projects, they are all simply aspects of his identity. The album Biomech was relabeled and redistributed as Ocean Machine: Biomech , under Townsend's name, to reflect the new arrangement. In 1998, the international tour began in many countries, Chris Valagao Mina the guitarist joined Devin project. Townsend's next project took several years to come to fruition. After
14208-485: The intensity and sonic qualities of thrash metal and plays them at mid- tempo , with most bands making only occasional forays into fast tempo, but since the early 1990s, it started to favor a more death metal–derived sound. Thrash metal with stronger punk elements is called crossover thrash . Its overall sound is more punk-influenced than traditional thrash metal but has more heavy metal elements than hardcore punk and thrashcore . Thrash metal emerged predominantly from
14356-542: The last months would have been it", but now "he's starting to get excited again". Later, "after the chaos of finishing it had subsided", Townsend stated he is really satisfied with the result. Townsend recently discussed at least a year-long hiatus, beginning after the Z show taking place at the Royal Albert Hall on April 13, 2015. During the indefinitely long break Townsend intends to "recharge his batteries", "get some inspiration and experiences" and to "see what
14504-523: The late 1970s further influenced the development of early thrash. The early work of artists such as Diamond Head, Iron Maiden , Venom , Motörhead , Tygers of Pan Tang , Raven , and Angel Witch , among others, introduced the fast-paced and intricate musicianship that became core aspects of thrash. Phil Taylor 's double-bass drumming featured in Motörhead's 1979 song " Overkill " has been acknowledged by many thrash drummers, most notably Lars Ulrich , as
14652-420: The latter album demonstrated a sound that was primarily driven by the fretless bass of Steve Di Giorgio . Also in 1988, Blind Illusion released its only studio album for more than two decades, The Sane Asylum , which received some particular attention as it was produced by Kirk Hammett , and is also notable for featuring bassist Les Claypool and former Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde ; after its release,
14800-470: The making of Empath has been released on YouTube. He appeared on the YouTube show Tuesday Talks hosted by Mary Spender . On March 12, 2020, Townsend postponed the remainder of his Empath Vol. 1 North American Tour due to the coronavirus pandemic . Four days later, on March 16, 2020, Townsend launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of the canceled tour. It raised $ 80,804 of the $ 50,000 goal. As
14948-532: The members forming Celtic Frost in its place, which proved very influential on the progression of the genre. During this period, the line between extreme metal genres were blurred, as thrash metal bands such as Slayer, Sepultura , Sodom , Destruction and Kreator were integral to the first wave black metal scene. The front cover of the Sarcófago 's 1987 debut album, I.N.R.I. , was a major influence on black metal's corpse paint style make-up. That record
15096-572: The mid-1980s. Black metal, also related to thrash metal, emerged at the same time, with many black metal bands taking influence from thrash metal bands such as Venom . Black metal continued deviating from thrash metal, often providing more orchestral overtones, open tremolo picking , blast beat drumming, shrieked or raspy vocals and pagan or occult -based aesthetics to distinguish itself from thrash metal. Thrash metal would later combine with its spinoffs, thus giving rise to genres like blackened thrash metal and deathrash . Groove metal takes
15244-552: The moniker and released the fifth album, Epicloud on September 18, 2012. Again featuring Anneke van Giersbergen on vocals, Epicloud appeared on several European charts, peaking at number 8 in Finland. On October 27, 2012, Townsend performed a one-off show covering his musical career called The Retinal Circus at Roundhouse in London. The 3-hour performance was recorded in high definition and released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 30, 2013. Also in 2012, Townsend played bass on
15392-649: The most aggressive music Germany and England were producing at the time. British bands such as Tank and Raven , along with German bands Accept (whose 1982 song " Fast as a Shark " is often credited as one of the first-ever thrash/speed metal songs) and Living Death , motivated musicians from central Europe to start bands of their own, eventually producing groups such as Sodom , Kreator , and Destruction from Germany, as well as Switzerland's Celtic Frost (formed by two-thirds of Hellhammer ), Coroner and Carrion (who later became Poltergeist ) and Denmark's Artillery . In 1981, Los Angeles band Leather Charm wrote
15540-761: The most commercially successful band from the 2000s and 2010s thrash metal revival movement is Lamb of God, who are also considered a key part of the new wave of American heavy metal movement, have received two gold-certified albums in the U.S., and continue to play from small clubs to arenas and stadiums. Notable bands returned to their roots with releases such as Kreator's Violent Revolution (2001), Metallica's Death Magnetic (2008), Megadeth's Endgame (2009), Slayer's World Painted Blood (2009), Exodus' Exhibit B: The Human Condition (2010), Overkill's Ironbound (2010), Anthrax's Worship Music (2011), Testament's Dark Roots of Earth (2012), and Flotsam and Jetsam's Ugly Noise (2012). More recent bands of
15688-484: The most sinister thrash metal bands of the early 1980s, released Reign in Blood in October, an album considered by some to have single-handedly inspired the death metal genre. Also in October, Nuclear Assault released their debut album Game Over , followed a month later by Dark Angel 's Darkness Descends , which marked the debut of renowned drummer Gene Hoglan . Flotsam and Jetsam 's debut album Doomsday for
15836-730: The next Devin Townsend Band record, with the working title Human . Townsend intended the album as the more "pleasant" counterpart to Alien . "It's basically a record about coming back down to earth after being in space with Alien for a while." The album ended up being renamed Synchestra and was released in January 2006. Townsend showcased a wide variety of musical styles in Synchestra , blending his trademark "pop metal" with influences from folk , polka , and Middle Eastern music . The final Strapping Young Lad album, The New Black ,
15984-403: The next chapter holds" for him. In 2014, Townsend recorded a poppy-sounding song in Los Angeles with producer Brian Howes , but has decided against releasing. Townsend mentioned that he is against the project being contrived due to the current hard rock undertones in popular music. He described it as a "lukewarm heavy metal Devin song". On December 11, 2015, Townsend announced via Twitter that he
16132-520: The north, Canada produced influential thrash and speed metal bands such as Annihilator , Anvil , Exciter , Razor , Sacrifice , and Voivod . The popularity of thrash metal increased in 1984 with the release of Metallica's sophomore record Ride the Lightning , as well as Anthrax's debut Fistful of Metal and Metal Church 's eponymous debut album . Slayer and Overkill released extended plays on independent labels during this era, Haunting
16280-402: The original bassist of Megadeth , described thrash metal as "a combination of the attitude from punk rock but the riffs and complexities of traditional metal." On the origins of thrash metal, original Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker recalls: "Thrash was just what they called 'faster hardcore,' because you literally thrashed around when you were either playing it or reacting to it. And thrash metal
16428-411: The previous decade had called it quits or went on hiatus during the 1990s, while half of the "Big Four" and other veteran bands began changing to more accessible, radio-friendly styles. Metallica was a notable example of this shift, particularly with their mid–to–late 1990s albums Load , and ReLoad , which displayed minor blues and southern rock influences, and were seen as a major departure from
16576-463: The process, and later called the resulting album "toxic" and "psychologically very unhealthy". Although Townsend considered the album an "impenetrable mass of technicality", it was well received on its release, selling 3,697 copies in its first week and appearing on several Billboard charts. Around this time, Townsend also contributed to the soundtrack of the video game Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel . Shortly thereafter Townsend began putting together
16724-454: The project stalled, Townsend instead wrote the album himself, entitling it Physicist . Townsend assembled his Strapping Young Lad bandmates to record it, the only time this lineup was featured on a Devin Townsend album. The thrash -influenced Physicist was released in June 2000, and is generally considered a low point in Townsend's career. Hoglan and the rest of the band were dissatisfied with
16872-475: The public. The project's concept includes a different "theme" and a different group of musicians on each album. Ki , the first album of the Devin Townsend Project tetralogy was written to "set the stage" for the subsequent albums. Townsend channelled his new-found control and sobriety into Ki , a "tense, quiet" album, which contrasts with much of the music he had been known for. Additional female vocals were provided by Ché Aimee Dorval ( Casualties of Cool ). Ki
17020-691: The release of Among the Living , three Bay Area bands, Testament , Death Angel and Heathen , respectively released their debut albums The Legacy , The Ultra-Violence and Breaking the Silence . All of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal also released albums in 1987: Kreator's Terrible Certainty , Destruction's Release from Agony , Sodom's Persecution Mania and Tankard's Chemical Invasion ; these albums cemented their reputations as top-tier German thrash metal bands. In response to thrash metal's growing popularity during this period, several hardcore punk bands began changing their style to
17168-408: The restaurant industry. He picked up the banjo when he was five and began playing guitar when he was 12. As a young teenager, he befriended Brian "Beav" Waddell, who would later play guitars as part of the Devin Townsend Band and bass on the Devin Townsend Project. He participated in several metal bands while he was in high school, and founded Grey Skies at the age of 19. Around the same time he joined
17316-446: The same level of popularity as the "Big Four", while Exodus ' third album Fabulous Disaster (1989) garnered the band their first music video and one of their most recognized songs, the mosh-pit anthem " The Toxic Waltz ". Vio-lence , Forbidden , and Sadus , three relative latecomers to the Bay Area thrash metal scene, released their debut albums Eternal Nightmare , Forbidden Evil , and Illusions , respectively, in 1988;
17464-641: The second leg in North America had Anthrax and then-emerging Seattle band Alice in Chains , who were the supporting act. Several albums, some of which had come to be known as technical thrash metal, were released in 1991, including Overkill's Horrorscope , Heathen 's Victims of Deception , Dark Angel 's Time Does Not Heal , Sepultura's Arise , Coroner's Mental Vortex , Prong's Prove You Wrong and Forced Entry's As Above, So Below . In 1991, Metallica released their eponymous fifth studio album , known as "The Black Album". The album marked
17612-483: The studio, accompanied by Hoglan, to work on the album, on which Townsend played most of the instruments. Infinity was released in October 1998. Later in his career, Townsend has cited Infinity as his favorite solo record. With Infinity , Townsend began to label all albums outside of Strapping Young Lad under his own name, dropping the Ocean Machine moniker, to reduce confusion. He wanted to show that despite
17760-408: The style of Motörhead , becoming the first thrash metal album, and would eventually be certified triple platinum. A few months later, Slayer would release their own thrash metal album Show No Mercy , influenced by the sounds of Venom, Judas Priest , Iron Maiden , and Mercyful Fate . When extreme metal band Hellhammer first began making music, it was generally panned by critics, leading to
17908-415: The thrash movement seemed to have much more in common with punk than prog fashion-wise (leather jackets vs. capes), musically, there were certainly moments when thrash leaned more towards the prog side of things." Canadian progressive rock band Rush has been cited a formative influence on the thrash metal movement and the birth of its subgenre technical thrash metal (or " progressive thrash metal"), which
18056-453: The two sides of his music were coming from; he felt his disorder "gave birth to the two extremes that are Strapping's City record and Ocean Machine: Biomech ." After being discharged from the hospital, Townsend found that "everything just clicked" and he was able to write his third solo album, Infinity , which he described as "the parent project" of City and Ocean Machine: Biomech , with music influenced by Broadway . Townsend returned to
18204-758: The two would later team up together in Claypool's then-upcoming band Primus . Canadian thrashers Annihilator released their highly technical debut Alice in Hell in 1989, which was praised for its fast riffs and extended guitar solos. In Germany, Sodom released Agent Orange , and Kreator would release Extreme Aggression . Several highly acclaimed albums associated with the sub-genre of technical thrash metal were also released in 1989, including Coroner's No More Color , Dark Angel's Leave Scars , Toxik 's Think This , and Watchtower 's Control and Resistance , which has been recognized and acknowledged as one of
18352-520: The two-month-long arena and stadium tour Monsters of Rock in North America. In the spring of 1989, Anthrax teamed up with Exodus and Helloween on a US arena tour sponsored by Headbangers Ball . Sepultura's third album, Beneath the Remains (1989), earned them some mainstream appeal as it was released by Roadrunner Records . Testament's second and third albums, The New Order (1988) and Practice What You Preach (1989), nearly gained them
18500-574: The virtual concert experience. In 2021, he released two live albums: Devolution Series #1 - Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds , which was a recording of an acoustic show in Leeds in 2019, released on March 19 and Devolution Series #2 – Galactic Quarantine which was a recording of the aforementioned virtual show, released on June 25. Townsend's next project was a double release including the albums The Puzzle and Snuggles . The two albums were released on 3 December 2021, after two release delays "due to
18648-459: The way for thrashcore . In Latin America, this genre also gained a lot of strength, and its creation is also attributed to it, since it began to gain popularity due to the dictatorships that many countries faced at that time, with bands like V8 (1979) with their debut albums Demo 1982 or Luchando por el metal , and Bloke (1980) from Argentina , Transmetal (1987) from México , also
18796-406: The way the sound was mixed , and Townsend considers it his worst album to date. Feeling he had "ostracized a bunch of fans" with Physicist , Townsend felt he had the chance to make a more personal and honest record. Townsend was inspired one morning while driving across Canada with his band, and looked to write an "introspective" album dedicated to his homeland. He produced and recorded Terria ,
18944-685: The way to what became known as crossover thrash , a fusion genre that lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk, and is arguably faster and more aggressive than thrash metal. By the mid-to-late 1980s, thrash metal began to achieve major mainstream success worldwide, with many bands of the genre receiving heavy rotation on MTV 's Headbangers Ball , and radio stations such as KNAC in Long Beach and Z Rock in Dallas , as well as coverage on numerous publications, including Kerrang! and RIP Magazine . These outlets not only played
19092-475: The whole project, followed by the announcement the album would be released on October 27, 2014. The recording process started in May 2014, and the final project includes the album, a Ziltoid TV program and a live show, with a "big graphic novel comic" and a documentary. The album itself is a double album, with disc one featuring Devin Townsend Project material and disc two containing the main album. According to Townsend,
19240-460: Was announced with dates in April–May 2022. Ultimately, Townsend cancelled his solo tour dates in favour of opening for American progressive metal band Dream Theater 's European Tour in early 2022. with his Lightwork tour being postponed until early 2023. On October 16, 2023, via Inside Out Music 's YouTube channel, Townsend announced a new podcast series by publishing its first episode. The podcast
19388-421: Was appalling." He pushed to get his own projects off the ground. Despite touring with other musicians, however, Townsend continued to face rejection of his own music. Relativity Records dropped Noisescapes from their label shortly after Townsend accepted Vai's offer, seeing no commercial appeal in Townsend's music. "I have a hunch they only offered me a deal to get me to sing with Steve," he mused. While touring with
19536-408: Was born because it was influenced by thrash hardcore, and they just thought it was more metal, so they said, 'Okay, this is thrash metal.'" The guitar riffs often use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, instead of using conventional single-scale-based riffing. For example, the intro riff of Metallica 's " Master of Puppets " (the title track of the namesake album )
19684-423: Was discovered in 1993 by a record label who asked him to perform lead vocals on Steve Vai 's album Sex & Religion . After recording and touring with Vai, he was discouraged by what he found in the music industry and vented his anger on his 1995 solo album Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing , which he released under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad. He soon assembled a band of the same name, with whom he released
19832-470: Was included on a new studio album of the same name that was released on October 25, 2024. He is currently working on a number of other projects, including ones codenamed The Moth and Axolotl . Townsend is married to Tracy Turner, whom he began dating when he was 19. She gave birth to their first son in October 2006. Townsend and his family live in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam . Townsend has been
19980-524: Was killed in a bus accident six months after its release. Kreator released Pleasure to Kill in April 1986, which would later be a major influence on the death metal scene. Megadeth released Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? in September, an album which proved to be the band's commercial and critical breakthrough and which AllMusic later cited as "a classic of early thrash". Slayer, regarded as one of
20128-531: Was later replaced by Kirk Hammett of the then-unsigned Bay Area thrash metal act Exodus , and at Burton's insistence, the band relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area . Before Metallica had even settled on a definitive lineup, Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel asked Hetfield and Ulrich (credited as "Mettallica") to record "Hit the Lights" for the first edition of his Metal Massacre compilation in 1982. A re-recorded version of "Hit
20276-824: Was on all of us." The thrash metal genre is also strongly influenced by punk rock , drawing inspiration from sources ranging from traditional punk bands from the 1970s, including the New York Dolls , the Ramones , the Sex Pistols and the Dead Boys , to late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk bands Discharge , GBH , Black Flag , the Misfits , the Dead Kennedys , and Bad Brains . The Ramones' 1976 self-titled debut album in particular has been noted as
20424-495: Was perhaps the pinnacle of thrash metal, as a number of critically acclaimed and genre-defining albums were released. Metallica's major label debut Master of Puppets was released in March, becoming the first thrash album to be certified platinum, being certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); it would be the band's last album to feature bassist Cliff Burton , who
20572-633: Was put off for release until late 1996, but when the time came to finally release it Townsend had become unsatisfied with the recordings, rerecorded the entire album, and finally released in Japan on July 21, 1997. During this period, Townsend was also asked to audition for the lead vocalist spot in Judas Priest after Rob Halford 's departure. Though a fan of the band, he turned down the offer, explaining that: "No one would want to see Devin Townsend singing for Judas Priest. I mean, it's ridiculous." After
20720-404: Was put together, but the material was not released until 2002, when Newsted published the IR8 vs. Sexoturica compilation. Though Townsend was proud of what he had accomplished so early in his career, he was discouraged by his experience with the music industry. "I was becoming a product of somebody else's imagination, and it was mixing with my own personality," he later reflected. "This combination
20868-521: Was recording vocals for a song by Steve Vai. In early 2016, Townsend completed the seventh DTP album, entitled Transcendence at Armoury Studios in Vancouver. The album was released on September 9. On March 17, 2017, Devin Townsend Project played Ocean Machine live in its entirety at Hammersmith Apollo . On October 30, 2017, Devin announced that he was working on four new albums. On January 31, 2018, Townsend announced on his Facebook page that he
21016-424: Was released in 1997. To this day, the album is widely considered Strapping Young Lad's best work, with Metal Maniacs calling it "groundbreaking" and Revolver naming it "one of the greatest metal albums of all time". Townsend himself considers it the band's "ultimate" album. Later that year, Townsend released his second solo album, Ocean Machine: Biomech with a guitarist Chris Valagao Mina. The album featured
21164-403: Was released in April 1995. Following the release of the record, Townsend and several other musician friends, Chris Valagao Mina, guitarist, vocal of Zimmers Hole, he knew in Vancouver recorded a rock opera in 1996 entitled Punky Brüster – Cooked on Phonics . Written and recorded in under a month, the album tells the fictional story of a death metal band from Poland that sells out becoming
21312-676: Was released in February 2003. It received lukewarm reviews, with critics finding it inferior to City , but it was the band's first charting album, entering at 97th place on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. While Strapping Young Lad was being reunited, Townsend formed a new, permanent band "on par with Strapping" to record and tour for his solo releases. The Devin Townsend Band consisted of Brian "Beav" Waddell on guitar, Mike Young on bass, Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums, and Dave Young on keyboards. Townsend performed guitar, vocals, and production, as he did in Strapping Young Lad. Townsend worked on
21460-487: Was released in May 2009. The second entry, a "commercial, yet heavy" album called Addicted , was released in November 2009 and features lead vocals from Townsend and Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen . Brian "Beav" Waddell was recruited from the Devin Townsend Band to play bass. Townsend returned to the stage in January 2010, touring North America with headliner Between the Buried and Me as well as Cynic and Scale
21608-512: Was released later in 2006. From home, Townsend completed his second solo ambient album, The Hummer , releasing it exclusively on his website in November 2006. In May 2007, Townsend released Ziltoid the Omniscient , a tongue-in-cheek rock opera about the eponymous fictional alien . This was truly a solo album; he programmed the drums using Drumkit from Hell, a software drum machine that uses samples recorded by Tomas Haake of Meshuggah and played all other instruments himself. Shortly after
21756-459: Was taking a break from the Devin Townsend Project and focusing on a number of other projects, including the four new albums previously announced. On January 15, 2019, Townsend announced his album, Empath , on which work had been completed, and slated for release on March 29, 2019. The album's purpose is "to see what would happen if all the styles that make up [Townsend's] current interests were finally represented in one place.", and about "allowing
21904-484: Was to be published monthly via the same channel. Based on the first episode, as well as Townsend's Instagram , the new series' aim was, as opposed to the original Devin Townsend Podcast series (published on Townsend's YouTube channel), not to analyze his past records, but rather to 'focus on a real time observation of the next ones.'. On August 23, a new song and video was released called PowerNerd , which
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