Strapping Young Lad
Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing

THE REVIEW

"Heavy as a really heavy thing," released in 1995 and recently reissued with four bonus tracks, is the debut CD of one of the most innovative and extreme bands of all time, Strapping Young Lad, led by the mad genius Devin Townsend.

After his experience as a singer for Steve Vai on the album "Sex and Religion," the then-young Devin decided to form his own band. Thus, with the help of several musicians, including Adrian Smith on percussion and Jed Simon on guitar (the only member remaining in the lineup from back then), he composed a demo of six tracks (some of which would end up in solo projects) aimed at record labels, thus starting his project. Thanks to this demo, Devin managed to secure a contract with Century Media and thus released the first work of what would become his most successful creation. This "HAARHT" deviates considerably from all the band's subsequent releases; in fact, unlike albums like "SYL" or "Alien," here we have the total absence of Death/Black elements, while the prevailing industrial influences come from the groups Devin listened to at the time (Grotus, Cop Shoot Cop, Fear Factory). The only album comparable is the subsequent "City," the band's masterpiece, where we have the perfect evolution of "HAARHT"'s sounds, brought into a more mature and complete dimension.

The cyber-thrash and industrial atmospheres of "City" can indeed be found right away in the opener of this first work, "SYL," one of Strapping's best songs ever, where the initial schizoid part contrasts with Devin's beautiful vocal opening in the chorus. Very beautiful and strange is the following "In the Rainy Season" with its hypnotic and hallucinatory progression. Also worth mentioning is "Happy Camper", the track with the most schizophrenic and insane vocals I have ever heard. Another fundamental element of this record is the highly ironic lyrics, which tend to mock the usual metal clichés, as can be seen in titles like "Satan's Ice Cream Truck" and "Cod Metal King".

In conclusion, an album highly recommended for those who love industrial music, as they will be listening to one of the best albums in the genre, a fundamental record for fans of the band in question.