Review Summary: Strapping Young Lad rocks my hairy anus.
I rate albums as classics for different reasons. Some because of the sheer emotional connection I have with them (
El Cielo or
Ten); others because they were a massive influence on my musical tastes (
Master of Puppets or
Fear of a Blank Planet); others because they display the best that a certain band or genre has to offer (
Animals or
Human); and sometimes it could be any combination of these (
Still Life or
Rust in Peace). However, there are times where I have to give an album that extra push because, to put it bluntly, it is so f
ucking awesome.
City is one such album.
City doesn't so much revolutionise the metal genre as it does hone all it's elements to the point of near-perfection. Breakneck riffs, shrieking vocals, and insane drumming are all typical aspects of a metal release, but very few times before or since have they been utilised to their full strength, combining to provide an intense experience rarely heard in this modern era of music.
Strapping Young Lad really stepped up their game for this release; Devin got his act together and recruited a permanent line-up to record the album: Brian Stroud on bass, Jed Simon on guitar, and none other than motherf
uckin' Gene Hoglan a.k.a The Atomic Clock on drums. The difference between using studio musicians and drum machines, and a proper line-up are highly noticeable. The songs have more coherent structures to them, as opposed to the band's debut,
Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing, which, at times, felt unorganised and shaky. The most obvious distinction however, is the drumming, which obviously improves tenfold when played by an actual human. Gene Hoglan gives an awe-inspiring performance throughout, whether it be the pounding blastbeats in
Home Nucleonics, the intro fill to
Oh My Fucking God, or the 'kick triples' in
Detox, he proves once again why he is one of the most talented and revered drummers in the genre.
Of course, it isn't just the drumming that improved, charismatic frontman Devin Townsend showcases some of the best vocals I've ever heard on a metal album. He screams and shouts 'til his lungs bleed, delivering angry, pissed-off lyrics with intensity and hate-filled emotion; his cleans are just as equally impressive, capable of conveying a sense of euphoria that knocks you back every time. No more evident is this than on the band's (arguably) best song to date:
All Hail the New Flesh. Devin violently shrieks out lines such as "hey man I'm gonna f
uck this sh
it up" and "I'll see you pr
icks in hell", yet retaining beauty to match the beast with the pre-chorus of "all you are, is all you are" which, after countless listens, still makes my spine tingle with excitement.
There seems to be two issues which plague the majority of 'typical metal albums', the first of which being a lack of variation, an issue from which
City thankfully does not suffer. The band shifts between the balls-out insanity of
Oh My Fucking God and
Home Nucleonics, the mid-paced, industrial-esque
AAA, and the thrash metal stylings of
Underneath the Waves with ease, never sounding out-of-place or simply thrown in for good measure. They even find time to record a bizarre yet surprisingly fitting cover of Cop Shoot Cop's
Room 429, a track driven by Devin's unique vocals, an underlying piano melody, and Gene's industrial-style drumming.
The second 'typical' issue is the bass being put too low in the mix, this, unfortunately, is one of
City's few problems. The drums and guitars often drown out Brian Stroud's basslines, even though he tends to follow the guitar riffs most of the time it would be nice to hear him a bit clearer. However, when you do hear the bass, you really feel it; lead single
Detox showcases this perfectly with it's groovy, headbang-inducing middle section.
Eventually we reach the end with the highly-experimental
Spirituality, a more than fitting closer for this near-flawless slab of extreme metal. It builds layer upon layer of distorted chords and pounding drums, continually droning on and on until the release - the final explosion. The song fades out 'til there's just silence; and the listener is left in a daze, wondering what the hell just happened.
City is not only the pinnacle of Strapping Young Lad's career, but the pinnacle of modern metal in general. A classic in every sense of the word, this is not an album to be ignored.
