Review Summary: In a matter of nine songs time, SYL has officially earned themselves another fan.
A long, long time ago in the year 1994, Canadian vocalist and guitarist Devin Townsend had an idea. Devin was on a mission. He was out to kick some ass, take some names, and play some heavy, fast music… and boy did he succeed.
After Devin recorded Strapping Young Lad’s “Heavier Than a Really Heavy Thing”, He decided that he could use a permanent backing band. That is when he met Jed Simon (on guitar), Byron Stroud (on bass), and Gene Hoglan (on drums). The four headed into the studio in 1997 in order to record their newest album “City”.
The album begins with Velvet Kevorkian. After a quick 8-count and a yell from Devin the atmosphere becomes drenched in sounds. Background chants and white noise pile on with chugging guitars and the mood just finally reaches a climax before exploding into a quick rant from Devin with only the sound of mechanical popping and light electronic noises. The track progresses on and the feeling just continues to build, until it finally collapses into the second track, All Hail the New Flesh. This track hits you with the force of a ton of bricks and never lets up the whole song. This is a perfect example of how the album will progress through the rest of the cd, blast beats, industrial sound effects, rage filled screaming and intense atmospherics.
After All Hail the New Flesh makes its collapsing finish, it rolls into a bit of dialogue having to do with a project that “must not fail”. This leads into a drum solo that after building up with the atmospherics drops out, only to come back in with an insane scream from Devin. This is Oh My F***ing God. Definitely the heaviest song on the cd, Devin almost rap screams out lyrics changing delivery from slayer-esque shouts to monstrous black metal shrieks. The tension of the song is only lessened for a brief moment before plunging you into a flurry of sounds, whiplash inducing tempos and pure noise. At the end of the song Devin unleashes one of the highest pitched shrieks I have ever heard, ending this track on a frenetic and aggressive note.
The cd progresses into different territories as it goes on however. Most extreme bands, or normal metal bands in general fall into the trap of producing too many similar sounding songs per album, but fortunately, Strapping never once has this problem. More groove based tracks like Detox and AAA break the monotony by introducing more diverse tempos and styles. Detox is a more Pantera like track with some surprisingly melodic and relaxing singing sections, while AAA is a groovy, industrially piece that seemingly screams radio play.
Home Nucleonics is another fast paced track, much like Oh My F***ing God, beginning with more blast beats and another one of Devin’s signature screams, this two and a half minute thrash fest is over relatively soon but makes sure to cram as much as it possibly can into one small, kick-ass package.
If there is one thing that Strapping has down better than most it’s the drumming. Gene Holgan’s insane double bass action and quick, creative fills create an almost mechanical technicality to the music. Along with the two guitars, they add an unprecedented thrashy violence to the sound of the music. When grouped with Devin’s intense singing and sick screaming range, the musicianship of this group soars above the competition.
Underneath the Waves is a commonly under-appreciated song. It starts with a Megadeth-like intro and progresses into a quieter section where the tension begins to rise once more as Devin starts whispering, “On and on, it’s on and on”. The song quickly gets more aggressive, breaking into growled shouts and turning into a melodically screamed chorus, only to afterwards break down again and repeat. The song ends only to go into an odd track…
Room 429 is a remake of a song by Cop Shoot Cop. Though not necessarily the group’s style, the song fits into the flow of the album quite nicely. The song begins with some atmospherics, a held guitar note, and the signature keyboard lead. The song is all clean vocals, which almost sound like a drunk pirate who decided to play karaoke. Jokes aside, the track is very well done, and really gives the band more credibility than just being another extreme metal band.
The final track is called Spirituality. The song is a synth-bathed song driven by atmospherics and doomy guitars. Devin finally comes in at around 2:11 in the song with whispering and chugging guitars. The lyrics focus on Devin’s views of religion and his struggles with finding faith in a higher being. It is a deep and smart way to end a perfect metal cd. It gives a feeling of a finale and conclusion to the album and wraps up the cd with style.
In other words, Strapping Young Lad have made a record that will hopefully stand the test of time, incorporating elements of Industrial, Groove, Thrash, Doom, Death, and Black Metal with clean vocals, harsh yells and dynamic song writing and album composition. This album kicks ass, and any fan of metal will enjoy it. I would recommend it to anyone with a cd player and a love of loud music.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
All Hail the New Flesh
Oh My F***ing God
Detox
AAA
Spirituality
