Author: Rok Klemše, Primož Novak
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Vienna / Arena / Austria
Concert date: 11.03.2015
Attendance: 750
Ticket price: 27,00€
»Blame Canada!« sang Kyle’s mom in the vulgar epic South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, even accusing Canada of not being a real country at all. Real or not, thank God we can also blame Canada for giving the world Devin Townsend, one of the most one-of-a-kind musicians on the planet, who despite a twenty-year career and just as many albums (or even more) simply refuses to run dry. He just proved it again with his latest double album Dark Matters (you can read the review TUKAJ), on which he reunited with his alter ego Ziltoid, and casually tossed in a DTP album while he was at it.
Devin knew exactly who to take on tour. Only a few come close to his unique musical voice, but the Norwegian oddballs Shining are without doubt one of them, probably the only band in the world that swam out of a chamber acoustic jazz project into the waters of a schizophrenic blend of jazz and black metal. And if you don’t know the band, nothing can prepare you for them. During the first notes of the Blackjazz mastodon The Madness and the Damage Done, even our editor, who’s seen it all, stared in silence. Heh. In a good half hour, the Norwegians chased the Arena into a dead-end avant-garde world of madness, where instead of the Queen of Hearts’ card soldiers from Alice in Wonderland, you’re hunted by seemingly incompatible free jazz forms, blast beats, dissonant guitars and psychotic, jagged keyboards, with Jørgen Munkeby presiding over it all like the Mad Hatter. The general feeling that you’re part of a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest script only grows when he slings a saxophone around his neck and blows the most unimaginably depraved sounds out of it (though on Devin’s project Casualties of Cool, where he guests on the track Moon, he proves he’s capable of calm too). Yes, amid all the chaos during their set you really feel like Jack Nicholson is chasing you through the Overlook Hotel, and after a good half hour, Shining leave you truly mentally fried.
After the crazy Norwegian quintet, it was time for a partial about-face. The slot was reserved for the main American representatives of djent, Periphery. Periphery aren’t as directly tied to jazz as Shining, but there are quite a few jazzy virtues in their music, which is the foundation for any band that looks up to Meshuggah. The band understandably emphasized songs from their latest double album Juggernaut: Alpha & Omega (review TUKAJ). After a short instrumental, they hit with Icarus Lives from the debut, showing they’re in good form despite the sound being poor at first. The sound did get partly fixed by the end, but it never reached perfection. Even though the drums were too loud, you could still pleasantly make out the other instruments. You could definitely see that the band is very tightly organized. That goes especially for the three guitarists and the bassist, who are incredibly in sync and know exactly which line they need to play. The hyperactive Mark Holcomb had the most energy, while guitarists Misha Mansoor and Jake Bowen and bassist Adam Getgood seemed a little tired at times. That’s probably down to the long tour, which started in the US, and the band headed to Europe after a short break. Despite the signs of fatigue, they pulled off their 45-minute set convincingly. No major mistakes were noticeable, and even singer Spencer Soltelo, whose voice is the stumbling block, delivered his part at a very solid level. On drums, the crazy Matt Halpern shone, showing with his sense of rhythm that he’s a world-class drummer. Based on what we saw, Periphery are capable of a better show. As for how tight they are, there’s nothing to remark on. The guitar tone itself is really powerful too. The only thing that needed some change was the repertoire, which highlighted simpler, metalcore-tinged songs from Juggernaut. But we can only hope for more once Periphery are the main act on a tour.
If anyone is the very definition of tireless, it’s Devin Townsend. The man (or is he?) simply hasn’t known a red light since 2009, apparently stuck in an endless green wave with no stopping. In a good six years he’s strung together an astonishing seven studio releases (three of them double) and countless miles on stages around the world. Is that good or bad? To each their own, but there’s simply no such thing as too much Devin Townsend. As usual, while waiting for the band to take the stage, the nicely packed Arena was entertained by a ragged collage of photomontages of Devin’s claymation face, and the Canadians spun us into an unforgettable hour-and-a-quarter waltz with the instrumental Truth and right away one of the better, faster and punchier songs from the new record, Fallout. Devin was still struggling a bit vocally during it, which he openly admitted, but already during the crushing Namaste (from the Physicist album, on which he brought together the Strapping Young Lad lineup in a different, “Townsendian” light), which provided the most metal moment of the set, Townsend was screaming like a beast. But Ryan van Poederooyen showed himself in the best light at that moment, as he jokingly stepped into the shoes boots of Gene Hoglan and pounded the cymbals and bass drums like there was a bet on. The band warmed up with every song played and sounded better and better, and Townsend went on to surprise with an excellent choice of songs reaching deeper into his past. With the wonderful Night, he even went back to the very start of his solo career, the legendary Ocean Machine, and with Storm to one of the better albums, Accelerated Evolution. With such a rich studio treasury, it’s truly hard to pick, let alone to expect your own favorite song, but this time Townsend offered just the right mix of old and new. And all along, with a top-notch performance that only a few come close to, and nobody matches Devin’s genuine stage persona, who is sincerely grateful for every member of an even more grateful crowd, not to mention the unhinged humor that only Mikael Åkerfeldt can rival, I won’t waste any words. Devin presented his current album Z2 this time with just March of the Poozers, with its infectious groove tempo about little, annoying extraterrestrial creatures that look like the shriveled pubic region of an eighty-year-old, and during the goofy Lucky Animals the whole hall, as always, waved their jazz hands in the air. No matter how silly you feel, you’ll be waving your hands just like the guy standing next to you in a Manowar shirt. No Devin show should pass without the magical Life, and the ancient Christeen once again provided a surprise, and instead of letting the crowd scream for an encore that’s coming anyway, Devin would rather address them and offer a wonderful, piercing solo performance of the beautiful Ih-Ah! The farewell with the epic Kingdom then came far too soon, and the too-early end was also the only downside of an always crazy hangout with Townsend and his band of Canadian hicks.
Text on Periphery: Primož Novak
Text on Shining, Devin Townsend: Rok Klemše
Devin Townsend is coming to Metaldays for the first time this year! Don’t miss him on Monday, July 20, 2015 in Tolmin!
Setlists
SHINING:
1. The Madness and the Damage Done
2. Fisheye
3. Healter Skelter
4. ?
5. I Won’t Forget
PERIPHERY:
1. Intro
2. Icarus Lives!
3. Make Total Destroy
4. The Scourge
5. Psychosphere
6. 22 Faces
7. The Bad Thing
8. Alpha
9. Graveless
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT:
1. Truth
2. Fallout
3. Namaste
4. Night
5. Storm
6. Hyperdrive
7. Rejoice
8. Addicted!
9. March of the Poozers
10. Lucky Animals
11. Heatwave
12. Life
13. Christeen
14. Ih-Ah!
15. Kingdom
Photo Gallery
