The Devin Townsend Band
Synchestra

It's good to have heavy metal friends. Very good indeed.

Sometimes you might get into a foul mood when one of them says something outrageous, like "What do you need Jimi Hendrix for? Have you ever heard of Zacck Wylde?" but it's well-known that for a true metalhead (that is, one who belongs to the category of "those who listen to records with ear shields"), music isn't music unless you can listen to it while headbanging or with pinkie and index fingers raised, even if it's Morricone.

Anyway, as I was saying, it's good to have metalhead friends because it gives you the chance to discover things you never would have imagined, and that's exactly how one fine day I came home with a borrowed Strapping Young Lad CD under my arm. I got to my room, put it on, and decided it was terrible. Sorry, personal opinion, but I just can't stand certain overly brutal stuff. However, at least I got to know that great genius Devin Townsend, guitarist and singer of the aforementioned band. Devin is quite a character: with very long hair but bald on top, not exactly a flower in terms of looks, but a genius who, in my opinion, shines much more in his solo works.

This "Synchestra" is his second release with the "Devin Townsend Orchestra," and it's a fantastic album; it was love at first listen, and it stayed in the player for a good month (it took a live album by the Mars Volta to dethrone it). To my great surprise, I fell in love with this CD since, unfortunately, having earmuffs too, I'm used to filing everything from the Brutal, Death, Thrash categories... in the Crap section.
Not this album, because it's all beautiful: from the initially very slow "Let It Roll" to the concluding "Sunshine and Happiness for all" (which sounds like it could have been written by the Beach Boys in the '50s), it's all a masterpiece. Sudden changes, stops, restarts, country diversions (?!), not to mention the keyboards, fantastic, that give that “orchestral” feel to the songs and provide a truly special atmosphere to the entire album.

The best track on the CD is probably "Pixillate," nine minutes of mind-blowing music, from the oriental intro complete with a howling muezzin to the incredible chorus that gets stuck in your head, and that stratospheric instrumental part for how beautiful and unpredictable it is. In short, Townsend proves abundantly that he is a genius, a sui generis and eccentric genius (starting an '80s style Hard Rock piece with a... polka doesn't exactly mean you're perfectly fine, just to mention "Vampira"). Beyond the musicians' technique (superb), the CD's production (excellent), and the "sound" of it, with this work Devin Townsend has shown himself to be truly a complete musician, who isn't afraid to go beyond his usual musical genre, challenging his own listeners (namely the metalheads, always ready to tell you off at the slightest shift of a comma).

This album embodies an endeavor that, in my opinion, requires a lot of courage from a musician. Devin had it, and so you can forgive him for a couple of high-pitched notes with a vague Epic flavor (ugh) that are in the CD because it's Devin Townsend we're talking about, and Devin Townsend can do whatever he wants.