Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Devin Townsend Project
Label: Inside Out Records
Release: year_month
Length: 49:52
Rating: 4.5/5
Canadian workaholic and musical guru Devin Townsend never stops and clearly doesn’t know the meaning of rest. His astounding four-album run of Ki, Addicted, Deconstruction and Ghost, released under The Devin Townsend Project banner, has barely had time to cool down, and Townsend has already put out a new record, reportedly the last under the »DTP« name. If that’s true, the Devin project is going out with a big bang!
Put Epicloud next to the DTP quartet and the common ground isn’t hard to find – this epically loud finale to Townsend’s saga has bits of Ki’s introspective calm, Addicted’s ecstatic pop, the ethereal moments of Ghost, and here and there even the chaotic sonic assaults of Deconstrucion. But first and foremost, Epicloud is an optimistic, positive, playful ode to life. The pissed-off snot-nosed brat who recorded the Strapping Young Lad record City is gone, and so is the manic weirdo who made Alien. In this phase of his life, Devin Townsend is a mature musical genius who wanted to figure out just one thing with Epicloud: what it means to be happy.
And if Epicloud is anything, it’s exactly that – a bombastic »soundtrack« of optimism, joy, happiness and love. I know, it sounds hippie and saccharine, but what Devin set out to say with this record works. And surprisingly well! Devin had been saying for a long time that he wanted to make a record that was completely unburdened, simple and full of epic choruses. In that respect Epicloud is exactly that, stuffed with »power ballads« and pompous choruses reminiscent of eighties glam and hard rock (just far better, since they’re soaked in Devin’s masterful sense of composition), plus bombastic James Horner moments (the composer Devin has often cited as a major influence). On top of that, every single moment of the fifty minutes is drenched in an incredible feeling of happiness and contentment that lifts you up even on the grayest of days. Devin surprises you right from the opening moments – what pulls us into the sonic whirlpool isn’t a guitar assault and a sinister invasion of aliens looking for the best cup of coffee, but the most joyful musical genre there is – gospel.
That unexpected intro works like an echo of the »real« start of the album, announced by the ethereal, angelic voice of Devin’s muse Anneke van Giersbergen and the lines »I love you, I need you, I’ve always been around you…«, while True North has all the hallmarks that define the album – simple, infectious pop melodies dressed in sawing guitars and a marching industrial rhythm. The dumbest song on the record, which is also contagious as ebola (Lucky Animal, hehe) and works as a sort of sister track to Devin’s classics Bad Devil and Vampira, only confirms it. One of the album’s highlights is without a doubt the fantastic Liberation, which, with a real big-bang feel, plays like a cross between Nine Inch Nails and Devin’s first band The Wildhearts. The gorgeous Save Our Now, with its disco pop, brings to mind Pet Shop Boys, U2 and Depeche Mode, but gets a whole new run-up in the Epicloud setting, and under Devin’s watchful eye it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Mostly thanks to the phenomenal production, which swallows you whole for a good hour with all its pomp and warmth. The reworked Physicist hit Kingdom also settles nicely into the album’s context, and the fragile yet hugely convincing Anneke enriches it generously. The album’s schizophrenic nature pauses for a moment with the ethereal acoustic ballad Divine, before two gods of the earworm refuse to hold back and, at the peak of bliss, come all over the epic, bombastic Grace. The painfully simple lyrics sound a bit silly and corny, but you get what Devin was trying to say with them. Even though Grace feels like a Meshuggah track with lyrics written by Oprah (the chorus “Laugh! Love! Live! Learn!”), this epically loud number is pure musical ecstasy live (tried and tested!). The multi-genre song works as a metaphor for Townsend’s career, while the consumerism critique More! surprises with an almost SYL-style attitude, thanks to its industrial metal tempo and closing riffage that recalls slowed-down Slayer. Angel is the perfect epic crescendo for Epicloud, a peak of musical ecstasy clinging to classic operatic form that wipes you out completely at the end but leaves you with an incredibly warm feeling of fulfillment.
Epicloud is a record metal purists will turn their noses up at, as it’s the pure antithesis of classic metal forms. The album is shot through with simple verse-chorus-verse structures, at times almost over-the-top optimism, and lyrics celebrating life, love and friendship. Devin was more than aware of that, but he has enough guts, experience and maturity to do, first and foremost, what he wants. It’s almost unbelievable that Devin, who packed all the rage in the world into Strapping Young Lad, can now look at the world through eyes that, in Epicloud’s case, see only beauty. Even though Epicloud sounds simple and naive at first pass, it’s an album that reveals new layers with every repeat listen. Epicloud is a brilliant retrospective of Townsend’s career that needs to be played loud, and you won’t easily find a more epically joyful musical experience. Even though the blasphemous phrase pop metal describes Epicloud best, I can say this without shame in closing: if pop sounded like Epicloud, I’d happily listen to it myself.
Lineup
Devin Townsend – vocals, guitar
Dave Young – guitar, keyboards, mandolin
Ryan VanPoederrooyen – drums
Brian “Beav” Waddell – bass
Anneke Van Giersbergen – vocals
Production
Devin Townsend
Tracklist
1. Effervescent
2. True North
3. Lucky Animals
4. Liberation
5. Where We Belong
6. Save Our Now
7. Kingdom
8. Divine
9. Grace
10. More!
11. Lessons
12. Hold On
13. Angel
