I remember enjoying City more than this. Not saying that this is bad, though

Written by mz on 11.01.2014 at 00:31

I remember enjoying City more than this. Not saying that this is bad, though

City is slightly better than this, but this is SYL's other good album. Only other album worth hearing imo. Alien has a few decent tracks but that's it.

Written by [user id=4365] on 11.01.2014 at 00:32

City is slightly better than this, but this is SYL's other good album. Only other album worth hearing imo. Alien has a few decent tracks but that's it.

Heard alien once long time ago and I don't remember it at all. Just hope that you are wrong in this case

Written by mz on 11.01.2014 at 00:42

Heard alien once long time ago and I don't remember it at all. Just hope that you are wrong in this case

I reckon aside from Shitstorm and perhaps one other track, you'll find it to be plodding and boring, lacking any of the energy of this and City

City has energy, but this has personality.

Written by [user id=4365] on 11.01.2014 at 00:45

I reckon aside from Shitstorm and perhaps one other track, you'll find it to be plodding and boring, lacking any of the energy of this and City

How is it even possible to forget about "Love?"? Probably the best track on the album

A different approach from City, yet it's still AN EXPLOSION OF EPIC PROPORTIONS.

Don't bother with the hyped review and the comments. This is the weakest SYL album by far. In any other band would've recorded it, it would've been a highlight, but with the high standard set by City, this one is severely lacking. It does have a 2 killer tracks such as "Relentless" and "Aftermath", but they simply stay way up high compared to the other tracks, with the exception of "Dire". "Consequence", "Rape Song" and "Devour" have their moments, but they fall flat. They lack that 'wow' element which I seek in music, especially in a SYL album. "Last Minute" is a weak song and "Dirt Pride" while being the heaviest number on this record, it simply does not go anywhere. "Force Fed" has a rather weak chorus. The reason why this album is their weakest can be construed from Devin's own interviews. This record was recorded at the same time with the recording session for Accelerated Evolution, Devin's solo album, which he was more interested and excited to work on. In quality, the two albums are like day and night. His lack of interest is proven by the fact that Jed Simons and Gene Hoglan were more involved in the song-writing here than on any other SYL album. Devin also did not get involved in the production either. As a result, this record, among all the SYL album (including the debut) has the weakest production quality.

Great songs: Aftermath, Relentless.

Good songs: Dire.

Average songs: Consequence, Rape Song, Devour.

Crap songs: Force Fed, Dirt Pride, Last Minute, Bring on the Young.

How anyone can find "heavy as a really heavy thing" better than this is beyond me. Besides city this is the only worthwile SYL album.

Written by [user id=160508] on 12.09.2016 at 21:41

How anyone can find "heavy as a really heavy thing" better than this is beyond me. Besides city this is the only worthwile SYL album.

Not only that but also how anyone can regard The New Black and Alien to better than this is beyond me. Especially Alien with its brickwall loudness war sound.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 12.09.2016 at 22:20

Written by [user id=160508] on 12.09.2016 at 21:41

How anyone can find "heavy as a really heavy thing" better than this is beyond me. Besides city this is the only worthwile SYL album.

Not only that but also how anyone can regard The New Black and Alien to better than this is beyond me. Especially Alien with its brickwall loudness war sound.

Yeah I especially dont unterstand why people love Alien so much. Only 2-3 good songs on that one and even then its nothing outstanding. The self titled is at least solid from start to finish and doesnt let down. Then again, it has been ages since I last listened to a SYL album, might give them a go again soon.

Written by [user id=160508] on 12.09.2016 at 21:41

How anyone can find "heavy as a really heavy thing" better than this is beyond me. Besides city this is the only worthwile SYL album.

Different perspectives. Maybe I am biased because my first SYL album I listened to was the debut. But no matter how many years passed I always got bored by the self-titled. Give me Aftermath and Relentless and keep the others. If I were to rank all the SYL album, City would get the first place, obviously, followed by Alien, the debut, The New Black and the self-titled.

Written by TheMAGAmvm on 13.09.2016 at 15:50

Written by [user id=160508] on 12.09.2016 at 21:41

How anyone can find "heavy as a really heavy thing" better than this is beyond me. Besides city this is the only worthwile SYL album.

Different perspectives. Maybe I am biased because my first SYL album I listened to was the debut. But no matter how many years passed I always got bored by the self-titled. Give me Aftermath and Relentless and keep the others. If I were to rank all the SYL album, City would get the first place, obviously, followed by Alien, the debut, The New Black and the self-titled.

Different perspectives indeed. City and the self titled sound just much more natural and have a much better flow, things that I consider to be the most important in music. Alien and the debut with its horrible guitar sound dont have that. Anyway, Devin townsend solo >SYL, for sure.

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:36

Anyway, Devin townsend solo >SYL, for sure.

For me SYL > Devin Townsend solo any time of the day. Only Terria is a very good album by him solo and could easily match SYL's best.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.09.2016 at 17:42

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:36

Anyway, Devin townsend solo >SYL, for sure.

For me SYL > Devin Townsend solo any time of the day. Only Terria is a very good album by him solo and could easily match SYL's best.

Really? Terria and Deconstruction alone are better than almost the whole SYL disco if you ask me. Much more creative and his songwriting qualities shine much more solo than in SYL. Strange that I thank this though, as in theory I should like SYL more.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.09.2016 at 17:42

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:36

Anyway, Devin townsend solo >SYL, for sure.

For me SYL > Devin Townsend solo any time of the day. Only Terria is a very good album by him solo and could easily match SYL's best.

Yep, for me Dev's solo albums are better. Ocean Machine Biomech and Addicted would make no 1 and 2 and City would fall on 3 for me. City is a great album, but has 2 tracks that border on chaos, and lack melody (Oh My Fucking God and Home Nucleonics). Terria is great too, but too commercial for my taste. Its accessibility is its strength. However, for godlike song-writing one should look for the debut and Addicted. Mind-boggling how Addicted, a record of such high quality, followed the bland Ki, Townsend's hands down the weakest album. Its like Townsend took a break to shit (thus releasing Ki) and then he rejuvenated himself and released Addicted.

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:56

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.09.2016 at 17:42

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:36

Anyway, Devin townsend solo >SYL, for sure.

For me SYL > Devin Townsend solo any time of the day. Only Terria is a very good album by him solo and could easily match SYL's best.

Really? Terria and Deconstruction alone are better than almost the whole SYL disco if you ask me. Much more creative and his songwriting qualities shine much more solo than in SYL. Strange that I thank this though, as in theory I should like SYL more.

Terria might be better than lets say The New Black and the self-titled, but doesn't hold a candle against HAARHT, City and Alien. Deconstruction... nope. Deconstruction in terms of quality is very similar with The New Black in the sense that it has very few great tracks and good bits and pieces scattered in several songs. Songs 1-3 are average. Songs 4-6 constitute the highlights, particularly The Mighty Masturbator and its mid part between min 7 and min 11. Song 7-9 are utterly crap and boring. Pandemic sucks precisely because Floor's voice does not fit. The self-titled is a long track, very complex, with a lot of song ideas crammed over there and that is its main issue while Poltergeist starts off in SYL fashion and descends into 'metal opera'. Too chaotic.

Written by TheMAGAmvm on 13.09.2016 at 20:43

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:56

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.09.2016 at 17:42

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 17:36

Anyway, Devin townsend solo >SYL, for sure.

For me SYL > Devin Townsend solo any time of the day. Only Terria is a very good album by him solo and could easily match SYL's best.

Really? Terria and Deconstruction alone are better than almost the whole SYL disco if you ask me. Much more creative and his songwriting qualities shine much more solo than in SYL. Strange that I thank this though, as in theory I should like SYL more.

Terria might be better than lets say The New Black and the self-titled, but doesn't hold a candle against HAARHT, City and Alien. Deconstruction... nope. Deconstruction in terms of quality is very similar with The New Black in the sense that it has very few great tracks and good bits and pieces scattered in several songs. Songs 1-3 are average. Songs 4-6 constitute the highlights, particularly The Mighty Masturbator and its mid part between min 7 and min 11. Song 7-9 are utterly crap and boring. Pandemic sucks precisely because Floor's voice does not fit. The self-titled is a long track, very complex, with a lot of song ideas crammed over there and that is its main issue while Poltergeist starts off in SYL fashion and descends into 'metal opera'. Too chaotic.

I think Deconstruction is the best work he has ever done to be honest. Probably a matter of taste, but I love the experimentation and mix of different styles. A bit like Mories or Igorrr in that sense. Clever songwriting and with good humour to boot. The new black is crap. Always was and always will be.

Quote:

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 21:11

Terria might be better than lets say The New Black and the self-titled, but doesn't hold a candle against HAARHT, City and Alien. Deconstruction... nope. Deconstruction in terms of quality is very similar with The New Black in the sense that it has very few great tracks and good bits and pieces scattered in several songs. Songs 1-3 are average. Songs 4-6 constitute the highlights, particularly The Mighty Masturbator and its mid part between min 7 and min 11. Song 7-9 are utterly crap and boring. Pandemic sucks precisely because Floor's voice does not fit. The self-titled is a long track, very complex, with a lot of song ideas crammed over there and that is its main issue while Poltergeist starts off in SYL fashion and descends into 'metal opera'. Too chaotic.

I think Deconstruction is the best work he has ever done to be honest. Probably a matter of taste, but I love the experimentation and mix of different styles. A bit like Mories or Igorrr in that sense. Clever songwriting and with good humour to boot. The new black is crap. Always was and always will be.

Deconstruction sounds great, nice production, has complex structures but very weak song-writing. I am all in for experimentation, but not when it is a failure. And at least for me, song-writing counts more than anything else. Unlike most of the other DT records, this one has no song that I am completely satisfied with. Even the very consistent middle part has mostly bits and pieces, albeit great ones. This is partly because DT uses rather monotonous, uninteresting riffs in some songs, such as the 9 min "Stand". Funny enough, "Ho Krill" a great track, was not included on this album.

The New Black is partly crap. Although I have no idea how you can like Deconstruction and not like TNB. The way the good bits and pieces are scattered on Deconstruction is exactly the same like on TNB, the latter sporting only 1 great song (Almost Again) and 4 good ones (Antiproduct - its ending part is sublime -, Monument, Wrong Side - with the excellent melodic part in the middle - and the title track). Far Beyond Metal is also amazing, but I do not include it because it is an older SYL song from a live album (and that version is better). Also, the digipak comes with one of the best covers made by a metal from a metal band, "Zodiac".

Written by [user id=160508] on 13.09.2016 at 22:12

Then it seems that we both have just different opinions on good songwriting, at least in Devins case. Deconstruction has a feeling of completeness. I listen to it from start to finish and when it finishes, I'm satisfied. All the elements blend together nicely, kind of like a puzzle. By the way, I feel this way about all the albums I love. I dont have that with the new black though. It has some bits and pieces which are alright but as a whole album it feels completely out of place and lacks any direction. No depth or anything.

Seems like we're talking about different albums. Because I get this feeling from Biomech, Addicted, Accelerated Evolution, Physicist, Infinity, but not Deconstruction. In fact, I think Deconstruction is hyped. Devin made much better albums. TNB has the exact same flaw as Deconstruction. Bits and pieces that feel great, 1-2 tracks that are good from beginning to end. But 1-2 good tracks does not make a good album.

According to Devin himself, this album is "phoned in" and "dreadful sounding". I have no idea what the hell he is talking about.

This album's awesome and some of the best music he's ever given us.

Criminally underrated among Strapping Young Lad fans. This gives me the chills almost as much as City.

Well, as a Strapping Young Lad fan, I always thought this album was weak and forced. Definitely their weakest album. If you wanna talk about underrated, the debut is where it's at.