Devin Townsend is writing symphony

Devin Townsend’s next project will be a symphony, he’s announced.

He previously revealed he was planning on moving away from his alien creation Ziltoid, after earlier hinting at a work to be entitled Garden Music.

Now Townsend tells Kaaos TV: “I’m writing a symphony, and I’m going to record it in Belgium in Surround Sound with a visual counterpart. It’s going to have a lot of instruments that are not typical for orchestral stuff – a combination of everything.

“I want to have something that goes between the extremes of beautiful to total chaos, like hellish apocalypse. I’d like to have a point to it that isn’t a story – to do with human things, emotions that I currently struggle with because I don’t find myself emotionally very intelligent.”

He says much of the inspiration has come from “things in my life that forced me to learn” and adds: “My plan is to make something that is massive in scope, but is not bombast totally.”

Townsend received a Juno award for Z2 earlier this month, and describes the homeland honour as a special moment in his career. He says: “I think it’s a popular thing to say that awards don’t mean anything to you, but they do – it means something to me. It meant a whole lot.”

He returns to the UK next week:

Mar 29: Bristol O2 Academy

Mar 30: Glasgow O2 ABC

Mar 31: Manchester Academy

Apr 14: London Royal Albert Hall

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