Hell Yeah We Fucking Suck
Following up on my nomination of Devin Townsend as exclusive person of the year (or as Time has probably trademarked that phrase, I shall rechristen him Wizard of the Year), I will now review the new Strapping Young Lad album, which I have just recently purchased.
Strapping Young Lad - The New Black
This album, like any Strapping Young Lad album, kicks total ass and is full of violent ear destruction of the highest caliber. The album, as has become increasingly true of SYL albums, and indeed of all of Townsend's efforts, is very diverse, from standard SYL anger ("You Suck," another in the long line of classics like Shitstorm and Oh My Fucking God) to an epic tribute to metal and metality ("Far Beyond Metal") to ethereal hard rock slightly more reminiscent of albums like Accellerated Evolution and Ocean Machine ("Almost Again"). Of course, the production and sound quality are absolutely top tier, as is to be expected with any work Devin puts his hands to. To use a cliche, The New Black has it all: rock, roll, metal, killer solos, horn sections. There are even a couple of golden guest appearances. Hard rocking Canadienne Bif Naked appears on the mid-paced love-fest "Fucker," and GWAR frontmonster Oderus Urungus quotes his own lyrics in "Far Beyond Metal."
While like every Devin Townsend venture this album is new and forward-thinking, it also feels in some ways like SYL has gone back before going forward. That is, it feels more like a continuation of the older SYL style than the logical sequel to 2005's Alien. While Alien felt like an expansion on the style of 2003's self-titled SYL album (which itself seemed to come out of nowhere after a long hiatus for the project), The New Black feels like it is jumping in right where City left off in 1997. This of course begs the question of where next will SYL be going? Will they be going further down the path of raging speed as they have here, or back to the more groovy, cerebral path of Alien? Wherever they go, I'd just like them to stop here on the way.
Strapping Young Lad - The New Black
This album, like any Strapping Young Lad album, kicks total ass and is full of violent ear destruction of the highest caliber. The album, as has become increasingly true of SYL albums, and indeed of all of Townsend's efforts, is very diverse, from standard SYL anger ("You Suck," another in the long line of classics like Shitstorm and Oh My Fucking God) to an epic tribute to metal and metality ("Far Beyond Metal") to ethereal hard rock slightly more reminiscent of albums like Accellerated Evolution and Ocean Machine ("Almost Again"). Of course, the production and sound quality are absolutely top tier, as is to be expected with any work Devin puts his hands to. To use a cliche, The New Black has it all: rock, roll, metal, killer solos, horn sections. There are even a couple of golden guest appearances. Hard rocking Canadienne Bif Naked appears on the mid-paced love-fest "Fucker," and GWAR frontmonster Oderus Urungus quotes his own lyrics in "Far Beyond Metal."
While like every Devin Townsend venture this album is new and forward-thinking, it also feels in some ways like SYL has gone back before going forward. That is, it feels more like a continuation of the older SYL style than the logical sequel to 2005's Alien. While Alien felt like an expansion on the style of 2003's self-titled SYL album (which itself seemed to come out of nowhere after a long hiatus for the project), The New Black feels like it is jumping in right where City left off in 1997. This of course begs the question of where next will SYL be going? Will they be going further down the path of raging speed as they have here, or back to the more groovy, cerebral path of Alien? Wherever they go, I'd just like them to stop here on the way.
Labels: music
posted by Mephisto at 10:59 AM
1 Comments:
Bloggy.
Post a Comment
<< Home