A different album to 'Alien', mostly because of its variation throughout eaach of the 12 tracks, but here i think Devin introduced some of his solo techniques to the chaotic machine that is SYL. Brilliant album.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 05.01.2012 at 16:24

... but here i think Devin introduced some of his solo techniques to the chaotic machine that is SYL. ...

which imo is a shame. There was a reason for keeping SYL and Devin Townsend Project as different entities.
This album still sounds like a rush job to me which he wanted released before the festival season.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.01.2012 at 16:39

Written by musicalkaratekid on 05.01.2012 at 16:24

... but here i think Devin introduced some of his solo techniques to the chaotic machine that is SYL. ...

which imo is a shame. There was a reason for keeping SYL and Devin Townsend Project as different entities.
This album still sounds like a rush job to me which he wanted released before the festival season.

To be honest i like SYL when they do shorter songs and Devin townsend's solo stuff when he does the longer songs. But at any given moment, i would prefer his solo stuff. In my opinion 'Alien' is overrated. Too overrated for its own good.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 05.01.2012 at 18:29


To be honest i like SYL when they do shorter songs and Devin townsend's solo stuff when he does the longer songs. But at any given moment, i would prefer his solo stuff. In my opinion 'Alien' is overrated. Too overrated for its own good.

I am not much of a fan of Alien either.
My fav is SYL, then City, Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing, Alien, The New Black

Yeah, i would go with City, HAARHT, The New Black, Alien,SYL.
SYL may be at the end,but i still like it.

Have to say I'm with Marcel on the order. Well City and SYL are probably about equal.

At this point, I don't think Dev had his heart in SYL anymore. The potential in this record is vast, but it does sound as if it had been rushed Still a good record, but I'd much rather listen to some of Dev's other work. I'd say the standout tracks are "Far Beyond Metal" and the title track, with "Wrong Side" and "Almost Again" also worth listening to.

What's interesting is that it appears he - with or without intention - used some of the same passages in his solo work, like the songs "Animals", "Deconstruction", and "Planet Of The Apes"...except they sound better a few years later

Essentially the last SYL album. Who would've thought? Already on Alien, Dev gave some hints that he lost interest in extreme music. It was much softer than its predecessors. The New Black has songs and many moments in other songs that would fit in his solo albums. Quite frankly, the album is rather average, with just one song being perfect from start to finish: "Almost Again". The other songs have a number of very good moments scattered, much like two of Townsend's solo albums Deconstruction and Synchestra. "Decimator" in particular should've been on the later. Not to mention the intro which has the exact same guitar melody as "Judgement" from Synchestra. No wonder, both albums were recorded in 2006. "You Suck" is very pedestrian, kinda like its name implies. Not awful, but surely not the stuff I'm looking for in a SYL album. "Hope" is by far the only song which can be called crap. "Fucker" is a good one, fairly commercial for a SYL song. "Antiproduct", while not being impressive at the start and in its mid section, has an amazing ending, "Monument" and "Wrong Side", both of them having great melodic parts in the middle and the title track. "Far Beyond Metal" is there with "Almost Again" but the reason I do not consider it the second best track is because it was already introduced in a SYL live album years earlier. And the live version is better. Of highlight here though is the bonus EP which contains arguably and the BEST cover version that any thrash or industrial band has ever recorded of another metal band: the song in question is "Zodiac" from The Melvins. DT's vocal performance on this song is one of his best ever. "Zodiac" is also featured on the Japanese version of "Alien", and on the European version of "The New Black" so it kind of belongs to both albums. The other track is forgettable.

Great tracks: "Almost Again", "Far Beyond Metal", "Zodiac".

Good tracks: Antiproduct, Monument, Wrong Side, The New Black.

Average tracks: Decimator, You Suck, Fucker, Polyphony.

Crap stuff: Hope, The Long Pig.