Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence album review

It's weird. It's wonderful. It's Devin Townsend

Devin Townsend Project Transcendence album cover

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Let’s be clear: Devin Townsend is no mere solo artist; he’s a cult leader with a deep well of a discography as head-spinningly diverse and weird and brilliant and barking mad as that of Frank Zappa. And like Zappa, he’s incorruptible. Whatever is on this record, you can believe it’s exactly what Townsend wants. And what he wants, this time around at least, is a holy cathedral of guitars, a bombastic rapture of angelic choirs and up-cycling riffs so ecstatic that this album should come with an embroidered robe and a goblet of Pope blood.

While Townsend built his legend on extreme metal, Transcendence has something more ethereal on its mind. Opener Truth is a churning calliope of majestic keys and bone-crunching riffs, but Offer Your Light, probably the heaviest track on deck, laps suggestively towards the dark drone of metaphysical black metal.

Elsewhere, we’re wading neck deep in twisty-twirly devotional prog-rock, and while it may or may not get you closer to whatever your vision of Heaven is, it will most definitely take you higher.

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Sleazegrinder

Came from the sky like a 747. Classic Rock’s least-reputable byline-grabber since 2003. Several decades deep into the music industry. Got fired from an early incarnation of Anal C**t after one show. 30 years later, got fired from the New York Times after one week. Likes rock and hates everything else. Still believes in Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, against all better judgment.