Devin Townsend
Terria

THE REVIEW

The versatility and genius of an artist named Devin Garrett Townsend, all condensed into this great album. Versatility understood as "professional figure": besides being a singer and multi-instrumentalist, he has been an established producer for 10 years; versatility also understood as musical views: a passion for metal (especially of the "progressive" kind, but his works also strongly feature "death" and "industrial" influences) but also for blues, jazz, classical music, and progressive rock. And here the genius finds its maximum expression: merging such different musical genres would seem like a very daunting task, yet Hevy Devy offers us in "Terria" an impeccable blend—if it can be defined as such—speaking of a metal album would be too simple and reductive, as is also evident is the difficulty of finding a name for the music he composed. But this is certainly not a relevant factor: listening to the fruit of his labors, one gets lost in often dreamy atmospheres, other times unsettling, leaving little room for the superfluous -at least this time- doubts of the listener.

His stunning voice, full of expression and fused with melodies that only seemingly unfold cold and distant, which, on the contrary, contribute to the creation of stunningly engaging sounds; finally, harsh lyrics—which at some points touch a rare sense of melancholy—and sometimes, even ironic.
Therefore, it is impossible to describe "Terria" track-by-track; each single piece shows so many and different nuances that make an objective analysis impossible, theoretically the same piece—depending on the moment it is listened to—might disappoint, yet exalt after the second listen, and still impress, or disillusion. I conclude with the tracks that most caught my attention: "Nobody's Here," "The Fluke," "Deep Peace," and "Earth Day" (the first 30 seconds of this last one are truly breathtaking!). NOT TO BE MISSED!