Album Rating: 3.5

Wished these two albums would have two different comment sections because there's actually quite a lot to say about both of them seperately. I like both of them and would say there are more or less on the same level, but quite far from what Townsend is capable of (even in the 2010s). The reasons are very different though.



Dark Matters sacrifices a lot of its musicality for story-telling and humor which is the reason why it hasn't much to return to. The original ZTO (a whole other concept, sure) was much more well-balanced in that regard and had a better flow. Stylistically, Deconstruction comes closer to this, but that one's much more creative and worked out in general (it's actually one of Devin's masterpieces tbh).



Sky Blue, on the other hand, is more special than many people make it out to be imo, it's more than just Epicloud 2 (or Addicted 3, if you will) since it includes a lot of Ghost influences, especially in the latter third. It's more serious and slower all in all, but nonetheless it doesn't contain anything he hasn't done before, the constellation is just different. It's also pretty inconsistent and has a lot of parts that don't really deliver anything, but the best parts have a beautiful atmosphere.

Album Rating: 3.5

The first disc is called Sky Blue, the second disc is called Dark Matters



These are the covers of the distinct vinyl releases:

https://music.mxdwn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/devin-townsend.jpg

http://www.themonolith.com/wp-content/uploads/Devin-Townsend-Z2-Dark-Matters.jpg

Awesome, damn both albums are steller, Ziltoid: Dark Matters was honestly better than Star Wars: The Last Jedi LMAO

I think the two albums should have separate profiles on here so you can vote for them indivually, they're two very distinct entities


Idk how to request/change that tho

^ Yup i agree for sure

Album Rating: 2.5

I don't like either of them unfortunately, especially now that Transcendence is out I doubt ill ever go back to these, except for maybe Rejoice which is a killer song.

Enjoyed Sky Blue just as much if not more than Transcendence honestly

Album Rating: 2.5

I just couldn't get into it, production was a big factor, everything is a blur. Transcendence is way more dynamic and musical than Sky Blue in my opinion.

I love Sky Blue, for me it was what epicloud should have been. Production can indeed be grating but I like the haze the whole thing is shrouded in, enhances a lot of the dreamier cuts. As a long time Dev fan not sure how you can love and single out Rejoice but not Midnight Sun and A New Reign, for me those are classic Dev and definitely some of the best Project tunes.


But opinions aside I'd probably have sky blue at a 3.5/4 and dark matters at a 2.5 (barely listened to it, nothing grabbed me) so for me it's crazy that the two are catalogued together and quite annoying

Album Rating: 2.5

Rejoice is a just a great live opener and after seeing it a couple of times I really dig it's energy, it would fit in nice on Addicted too. Midnight Sun and A New Reign just sound like watered down ideas to me, pretty enough songs but not at all engaging. I can tell Sky Blue was forced out due to him being obligated to make it, it just doesn't sound like it has his typical passion behind it. Epicloud is way better in my opinion.



Agreed though, they should be separated. If I had to pick I would probably like Z2 a little more if only because it has some energy and playfulness behind it. Don't really care to hear either though in the future to be brutally honest.

Album Rating: 3.0

Sky Blue is the worst Devy album that was not one of his two noise efforts. Not knocking stuff like "Midnight Sun", "A New Reign", and "Rejoice", but I would argue that Epicloud slightly edges this out seeing as how Sky Blue is just a retread of everything he already did on Epicloud with nothing new to show for it.

Dark Matters is pretty decent, though.

Sky Blue was pretty incredible. beautiful and generally focused (Silent Militia was a bit lame but it can stay), I loved it.
ya'll must really have something against this pop metal thing

@tabula no doubt it's a retread, I'd just say that the songwriting is better on sky blue than on epicloud (kingdom doesn't count)

fallout is a perfect song

OOOOOOOOO WE ARE YOUNGG AT THE END OF THIS CYCLE

AAAAND THERE MAY BE NO REST EVEN WHEN WE ARE DONE

Album Rating: 4.0

Never got into Sky Blue but Dark Matters was a solid sequel with some nice metal.

Mom is he really here??

Album Rating: 4.0

got a considerable amount of nostalgia for sky blue by now

I added the individual albums in compilations, I know it's not really meant to be there but I feel like these albums should be split and discussed separately. They will most likely get removed but... if they do, at least I tried.

"Uh, feels like you have it wrong. If anything Z2 is a compilation, compiling Dark Matters and Sky Blue. How can a single disk of original material be a compilation, let alone when the record itself is not available outside of the compilation?"
This makes a lot of sense