Devin Townsend Project
Addicted

It's always a problem to review a record by Mr. (!?!) Townsend.
Where do I start? How the hell do I introduce him? They've already said everything about him. Wasting time introducing him, let's move on to presenting the discography journey and the recording episode in question.

Let's start with the discography journey, the Devin Townsend Project, to put it briefly DTP. Two years later, having absorbed the developments of the project, we can say that it's an enjoyable, but somewhat exhausting, idea that includes the release of pairs of albums, one good and one bad. In 2011, which fortunately is just behind us, Devin left us with Ghost (good) and Deconstruction (very bad). In 2009, the same fate, although with a less distinct split, befell Ki (which I would define as gentle) and Addicted (snarling). If Ki preserved certain granitic riffs and certain growls not even too muffled, also Addicted did not disdain some thoughtful and "calm" compositions. 

And here we are: Addicted, one of the most well-known episodes in Devin's discography. It will certainly not go unnoticed, or unheard, the involvement of Anneke Van Giersbergen, fresh from leaving The Gathering, on vocals. That's no small thing, also because after several years, the tulip is diving back into an album of manifest metal origin, ready to show us that, if the song requires it, her voice can still be powerful.
What does this album offer us musically? Sounds that are very heavy and angry, certainly, yet the innate genius that architects this concept has been able to make them appealing. Riffs of cast iron and molten lead, sure, however, a primary theme reappears here and there throughout the album and holds our hand. Starting from Addicted and Universe In A Ball, a genuine sonic magma of progressive thrash metal arises, if it can be defined as such: big guitars, massive drums, screams that intersect with Anneke's voice.

Really excellent Bend It Like Bender which undergoes a true evolution from the ugly, dirty, and mean verse to the hypnotic and almost pop chorus. Verse by Devin - chorus by Anneke, of course. Still heavy and epic rhythms for Supercrush, where the raw Canadian shows he can sing with a booming voice, while in Hyperdrive, a swift song with malicious riffs, the stage is given to the Dutchwoman ready to thrill us with a spine-chilling performance. Again fire and flames in Resolve to continue with Ih-Ah and The Way Home, two pieces that aim to be perfect Townsend ballads. Ih-Ah is a genuine oasis of peace, acoustic guitars, keyboards, and an almost unrecognizable Devin on vocals (the part where he sings "We don’t Even Understand" I thought there was another female participation, which says it all) while The Way Home returns to electric guitars and slightly upbeat rhythms. Applaudable is the cathartic chorus of Numbered, which rises on yet another pounding noise while the concluding Awake represents the definitive liberation, another extremely successful and engaging vocal duet between beauty and the beast.

A compact and monolithic album, sure, but thanks to a slightly shorter duration and some flourishes towards calmer shores, it does not result as exhausting as Deconstruction. A work that does not even present the incredible emotional kaleidoscope of Synchestra, but still aims to occupy a privileged place in the vast discography of Mr. Townsend.

8.5