Accelerated evolution

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Accelerated evolution
Studio album by The Devin Townsend Band

Publication
(s)

March 31, 2003

admission

September to November 2002

Label (s) HevyDevy Records

Genre (s)

Alternative rock , hard rock , progressive metal

Title (number)

9

running time

54min 30s

production

Devin Townsend

Studio (s)

The Armory, Merchland and Hipposonic Studios, Vancouver , BC

chronology
Terria
(2001) 		Accelerated evolution Devlab
(2004)

Accelerated Evolution is the fifth studio album by the Canadian musician Devin Townsend . The album, written and produced by Townsend, is a mixture of style elements from alternative rock to hard rock to progressive metal . Townsend vocalist and guitarist formed a group of Vancouver musicians to record the album with: guitarist Brian Waddell, drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen, bassist Mike Young and keyboardist Dave Young. This line-up , called The Devin Townsend Band, was the first line-up that was intended solely for his solo material and intended as a counterpart to Townsend's extreme metal project Strapping Young Lad .

Accelerated Evolution was written and recorded at the same time as the self-titled Strapping Young Lad album, so Townsend had to turn his attention to both. Accelerated Evolution was in Vancouver, British Columbia recorded from September to November 2002, was released by Townsend's independent label HevyDevy Records in March 2003. The album was due to its mix of genres and influences, his musical accessibility and its wide range of rock - production favorably by critics recorded

background

While working on his early solo albums Infinity (1998) and Physicist (2000), Townsend experienced a number of personal problems that affected his skills as a songwriter . He overcame these problems with Terria (2001), which Townsend described as "a really healing record". After Terria , Townsend regained his passion for his music and said, “Get in. It'll touch me and strain me, but I'm not afraid of either. ”In 2002 Townsend began working on his next two albums. He reactivated his Strapping Young Lad project , which had been inactive for four years, and began songwriting for its next release, Strapping Young Lad ( SYL ).

At the same time Townsend formed a new permanent and Strapping Young Lad equal band, with whom he could record his solo projects and go on tour . The The Devin Townsend Band consisted of Brian Waddell on guitar , Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums and brothers Mike Young and Dave Young on bass and the keyboard . As with Strapping Young Lad, Townsend played guitar, sang and produced. He selected members of local bands who “hadn't had the same experiences” and brought a new perspective on “all these feelings” that were reflected in his solo material. Townsend found it "refreshing" to play with people who valued his solo material more than Strapping Young Lad's. Notable was the absence of Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan , who had played on the previous three solo albums.

Townsend wrote and produced the first album with this line-up at the same time he was working on SYL and spent half a week on one project and the other half on the other. The album was recorded and mixed by Townsend and Shaun Thingvold, who had worked on several Townsend and Strapping Young Lad albums. The working title was Relationships , the title was later changed to Accelerated Evolution , which is supposed to refer to the rapid pace with which a new band was put together in less than a year.

music

Accelerated Evolution was written as a counterpart to SYL . The album processes influences from various genres such as alternative rock , hard rock and progressive metal with elements of heavy metal , ambient , humor and experimental music . The album was described as more melodic and rockier than SYL or Physicist and more song-oriented than Terria with influences from John Lennon to Jimi Hendrix to Rush . Songs like Storm , Suicide and Sunday Afternoon have been compared to Townsend's album Infinity but have been characterized as "less crazy and more mature". Townsend wanted to write a more commercial album and make his style more precise and catchy, but without writing pop songs. He used clear vocals more than on previous albums and produced and mixed the album with the wall of sound typical for him by superimposing a large number of sound tracks with guitars, keyboards and vocals.

publication

Accelerated Evolution was released in March 2003 by Townsend's independent label HevyDevy Records. It is distributed by HevyDevy in Canada, Sony in Japan, and InsideOut in Europe and North America . The artwork was done by Travis Smith, who had already designed Terria and SYL . InsideOut also released a special edition of the album, which was accompanied by a three-track EP called Project EKO , Townsend's first attempts at electronica . The album reached number 135 on the French album charts and number 249 on the Japanese Oricon charts .

Before Townsend formed The Devin Townsend Band , he played his solo material in live performances with Strapping Young Lad; the band played a set with songs by Strapping Young Lad and one with songs by Devin Townsend. After the release of Accelerated Evolution Townsend began with the Devin Townsend Band to tour , sometimes without Strapping Young Lad. And sometimes with. After the Devin Townsend Band had made two appearances in Vancouver in July 2003 on the occasion of the publication, a tour of Canada followed in October 2003 with Strapping Young Lad and Zimmer Hole . This was followed by a North American tour with the progressive metal band Symphony X in November and December 2003 .

Reviews

Accelerated Evolution was favorably received by critics. Mike G. of Metal Maniacs called Accelerated Evolution "the album of the year" and praised it for the "difficult to achieve balancing act between extreme and still catchy, rocking hard and being majestic and beautiful at the same time" William Hughes of Sputnikmusic called it " exciting ”and wrote that the album“ contained elements that would appeal to fans of various genres, from progressive rock to metal ”. Allmusic's Alex Henderson described the album as “excellent” and praised Townsend's ability to combine genres and influences: “The Canadian rocker has enough down-tuned guitars to place this CD in the alternative rock category. And yet Accelerated Evolution offers the great sound of pop metal, arena rock and hard rock of the '70s and' 80s - big melodies, big harmonies, big guitars, big vocals, big production. "Chris Hawkins of KNAC.com wrote:" Devin does what he always does: he took a highly contagious rhythm, puts his stamp on it and creates something completely independent. ”Xander Hoose from Chronicles of Chaos compared the album in particular to SYL and found that“ there is and that the songs are more memorable than the one-dimensional counterpart SYL ”. Hoose added that "for those who found Terria going too far in the wrong direction, Accelerated Evolution may be the reconciliation."

Track list

All pieces were written by Devin Townsend with additional arrangements by Brian Waddell, Ryan Van Poederooyen, Dave Young and Mike Young.

  1. Depth Charge - 6:04
  2. Storm - 4:39
  3. Random Analysis - 5:59
  4. Deadhead - 8:05
  5. Suicide - 6:45
  6. Traveler - 4:13
  7. Away - 7:49
  8. Sunday Afternoon - 6:20 am
  9. Slow Me Down - 4:35
Project EKO

InsideOut's special edition included Project EKO , an electronica EP from Townsend.

  1. Locate - 6:59
  2. Echo - 5:29
  3. Assignable - 5:20

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Alex Henderson: Accelerated Evolution: Review. Allmusic, accessed November 12, 2010 .
  2. ^ A b c Garry Sharpe-Young : New Wave of American Heavy Metal . Zonda Books Limited, New Plymouth 2005, ISBN 0-9582684-0-1 , pp. 115 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Martin Popoff: Strapping Young Lad . In: Lollipop Magazine . Winter / Spring, No. 61 , 2003.
  4. ↑ Chris Gramlich: The Reluctant Return of Strapping Young Lad. Exclaim !, February 2003, accessed November 8, 2010 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Xander Hoose: Devin Townsend Band - Accelerated Evolution. Chronicles of Chaos, May 21, 2003, accessed November 8, 2010 .
  6. ^ Arto Lehtinen: Interview With Gene Hoglan. Metal-Rules.com, June 16, 2005, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  7. ↑ a b c d e Chris Hawkins: Reviews - Devin Townsend: Accelerated Evolution. KNAC.com, May 6, 2003, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  8. ^ A b Mike G .: The Devin Townsend Band: No Holds Barred . In: Metal Maniacs . September 2003.
  9. ↑ Justin: Devin Townsend interview. Metal Storm, October 2, 2003, accessed November 12, 2010 .
  10. ↑ Doug Gibson: Interview with Strapping Young Lad's Jed Simon. Metal Underground, June 26, 2005, accessed November 12, 2010 .
  11. ↑ Tracy Turner: Devin Townsend Biography. HevyDevy Records, archived from the original on June 26, 2008 ; accessed on November 12, 2010 (English).
  12. ↑ Chris Kee: Live Review: Strapping Young Lad / Devin Townsend Band / Zimmer Hole . In: Powerplay . May 2003, p. 44 .
  13. ↑ The Devin Townsend Band: Live Videos Posted Online. Blabbermouth.net, July 21, 2003, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Tour Dates. (No longer available online.) RVP Drums, archived from the original on August 20, 2009 ; accessed on November 12, 2010 (English).
  15. ^ Symphony X to Tour with the Devin Townsend Band. Blabbermouth.net, August 14, 2003, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  16. ^ William Hughes: Devin Townsend: Accelerated Evolution. Sputnikmusic, November 29, 2007, accessed November 12, 2010 .

Web links