Band:	Devin Townsend
Album:	Z²
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	October 27, 2014
Guest review by:	BlueMobius

Disc I [Sky Blue]
01. Rejoice
02. Fallout
03. Midnight Sun
04. A New Reign
05. Universal Flame
06. Warrior
07. Sky Blue
08. Silent Militia
09. Rain City
10. Forever
11. Before We Die
12. The Ones Who Love

Disc II [Dark Matters]
01. Z²
02. From Sleep Awake
03. Ziltoidian Empire
04. War Princess
05. Deathray
06. March Of The Poozers
07. Wandering Eye
08. Earth
09. Ziltoid Goes Home
10. Through The Wormhole
11. Dimension Z

Disc III [Dark Matters - Raw]
01. Z²
02. From Sleep Awake
03. Ziltoidian Empire
04. War Princess
05. Deathray
06. March Of The Poozers
07. Wandering Eye
08. Earth
09. Ziltoid Goes Home
10. Dimension Z

I could go into reviewing the music of Devin Townsend's latest opus, the double-album Z2, but there is something nagging at me about the Ziltoid The Omniscient follow-up, Dark Matters, and its disc one companion, Sky Blue from the Devin Townsend Project. I guess this would factor into the much-debated originality critique.

Let me explain. First, some fans have questioned the packaging of the albums together, if anything because of the sonic and subject differences between the two albums: Dark Matters is story-driven, choppy with interjected dialogue and a slightly silly rock opera being juxtaposed to Sky Blue's more ethereal and serious tone.

Now, Devin has said that it was his purpose to place the two albums in contrast together, and the packaging/booklet art does reflect that, but I believe he missed a huge opportunity.

See, Ziltoid, the power hungry alien antihero in Dark Matters, has come to Earth and becomes a sort of god and rock star to the humans. Sky Blue should have been marketed as Ziltoid's album; a slab of music he put forth to the humans during his calculated rise to fame on Earth. This would have made Dark Matters and Sky Blue seem less random together. The two albums' differences would have also been a great way to showcase the duplicity of Ziltoid, who wins the trust of the humans and betrays them, then finds out Captain Spectacular is his half-brother and shows his sentimental side. Dark Matters displays Ziltoid's complete character, but Sky Blue could have showcased the side he wanted the humans to perceive, as well as the side that existed deep within him.

It's this lacking depth in doing the double-album that's my biggest disappointment with Devin's latest release. Where we have just two opposite albums in one package, we could have had something that meant so much more. It just seems poorly thought out coming from an artist that generally puts a lot of thought and effort in his music. And this could have all been done without really any changes to Sky Blue itself, and perhaps a few lines of added dialogue to Dark Matters.

I can't help but imagine the depth the added metaphor of relating Dark Matters and Sky Blue would have brought. Is it not this kind of symbolism artists are constantly striving to achieve?

Now, this is not to say that I'm disappointed with the release(s) from a sonic standpoint.

For those that loved 2012's Epicloud, then Sky Blue is going to be a treat. And it is. I'm a sucker for Devin's poppy tunes, and his ongoing collaboration with Anneke Van Giersbergen has brought some of my most-listened-to albums of the last five years. Three tracks that happened to come in order 4-6, "A New Reign," "Universal Flame" and "Warrior" are what I would call disc one's sweet spot. Not to say the other tracks aren't great, because they are; it's just here in Sky Blue that I was most emotionally moved. As a stand-alone album, Sky Blue is superb and outshines Dark Matters, another added confusion of packaging it in a double album that was primarily marketed for its Ziltoid content.

Dark Matters is also similar to its Ziltoid predecessor in tone. This time around a lot more was added in the presentation of the story, with promo puppet videos and added personnel for the album. Stolen Babies' Dominique Lenore Persi appears as the War Princess and famed pro wrestler and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho voices Captain Spectacular. Some may find the dialogue interjected throughout the songs annoying, I don't, and Devin Townsend is offering a dialogue-free version for those that do. Listeners are going to find an over-the-top rock opera in Dark Matters that is a good enough follow-up to Ziltoid The Omniscient, though will never outshine the first one and listeners aren't going to find parallels matching "Hyperdrive" or "The Greys." The highlights of Dark Matters are "March Of The Poozers," "War Princess," "Dimension Z" and "Earth."

Sky Blue and Dark Matters each stand on their own, and I believe they could have been so much more together.