Strapping Young Lad
| Strapping Young Lad | |
|---|---|
 Strapping Young Lad in 2006 |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Industrial metal , death metal |
| founding | 1995 |
| resolution | 2007 |
| Website | www.strappingyounglad.com |
| Founding members | |
| Devin Townsend (until 2007) | |
| Last occupation | |
Lead vocals, guttural vocals, guitar, studio keyboard |
Devin Townsend (until 2007) |
Guitar, backing vocals , studio keyboard |
Jed Simon (studio guitar: 1995, studio keyboard: 2003, guitar & backing vocals: 1996–2007) |
Bass , backing vocals |
Byron Stroud (1996-2007) |
| Gene Hoglan (1996-2007) | |
| Live support and session musicians | |
Vocals, keyboard |
Chris Valagao (studio vocals: all productions, live keyboard: 2002) |
singing |
Tanya Evans (studio vocals: 1996) |
Vocals, keyboard |
Dave Young (studio vocals / keyboard: 2005) |
singing |
Bif Naked (studio vocals: 2006) |
singing |
Dave "Oderus Urungus" Brockie (studio vocals: 2006) |
guitar |
Mike Sudar (live / studio guitar: 1995) |
bass |
Ashley Scribner (live / studio bass: 1995) |
bass |
Jon Miller (live bass: 2005) |
bass |
James MacDonough (live bass: 2006) |
Keyboard |
Chris Meyers (live / studio keyboard: 1995) |
Keyboard |
John Morgan (live keyboard: 1997) |
Keyboard |
Matteo Caratozzolo (live keyboard: 1997–1998, 2003) |
Keyboard |
Jamie Meyer (live keyboard: 1998–1999) |
Keyboard |
Jason Filipchuk (live keyboard: 1999) |
Keyboard |
Will Campagna (live keyboard: 2002, studio keyboard: 2005) |
Keyboard |
Munesh Sami (live keyboard: 2002–2003) |
Drums |
Adrian White (live / studio drums: 1995) |
Drums |
Chris Byes (studio drums: 1995) |
Drums |
Smokin 'Lord Toot (studio drums: 1995) |
Strapping Young Lad ( SYL for short ) was an industrial / death metal band from Vancouver , Canada , that existed from 1995 to 2007. The band included Devin Townsend , Jed Simon ( Zimmer Hole ), Byron Stroud (Zimmer Hole, Ex- Fear Factory ) and Gene Hoglan ( Testament , Zimmer Hole, Ex- Death , Ex- Dark Angel ). All of the band's albums were released by the Century Media label.
Band history
The band initially had the character of a side project by Devin Townsend. After the rather mediocre rated debut album Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing from 1995, which Townsend realized with the help of many guest musicians , the band stabilized in 1997 in the now-known line-up including the drummer Gene Hoglan, who previously worked for Dark Angel . The album City , released in the same year, is now considered a classic of industrial metal.
The band went on a world tour the following year, on which a show in Melbourne ( Australia ) was recorded for the live album No Sleep Till Bedtime . The title of this album is a reference to Motörhead's 1981 live album No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith . Then Townsend put the band on hold again to devote more time to his solo projects . The other band members founded their own projects such as Zimmer Hole (Simon / Stroud) or turned to other bands ( Fear Factory , Testament and others). Curiously, Devin Townsend's solo album Physicist from 2000 was recorded by the SYL cast and was more in keeping with the band's style than the previous solo albums, but was released as a Townsend solo album.
After Townsend had recorded five solo albums from 1997 to 2003 and also worked with a few side projects and guest appearances, while also producing albums for some bands, the band got together again in 2003 and recorded the third album bearing the band's name, which stylistically linked to its predecessor , but has been classified as too predictable by critics.
While Devin Townsend was still the main composer and undisputed head of the band on the Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing and City albums , the other band members took on greater influence on the songwriting from there. Since then, Strapping Young Lad can no longer be seen as a pure side project of Townsend, but as an independent band with equal members.
In 2004 the live DVD For Those Aboot to Rock was recorded on renewed tours . This also parodied a well-known title, namely For Those About to Rock by AC / DC . This was followed at the beginning of 2005 with Alien, a new album that expanded the band's style with more atmospheric and calm accents in the style of Townsend's solo albums, but otherwise turned out to be much more brutal. The last album was The New Black from 2006, which increasingly struck quieter or more parodic tones and offered critical to satirical texts in the style of Zimmer Hole . Also noteworthy is the fact that this album only contains a studio version of the song Far Beyond Metal, which has been played live since 1997 and on which Oderus Urungus alias Dave Brockie von Gwar can be heard as a guest vocalist . However, after the album was released, Devin Townsend announced that, for family reasons and general exhaustion, he wanted to put the band on hold after a subsequent world tour. In May 2007, Devin Townsend announced his exit and thus the temporary end for Strapping Young Lad. He would like to devote himself entirely to his solo projects.
All the remaining band members (with singer Chris "The Heathen" Valagao) currently play together in the band Zimmer Hole .
style
The band's music is characterized by mostly very high tempo , heavily distorted guitars and a futuristic atmosphere that is achieved through samples and keyboards . The focus of the music is the very variable, emotionally charged and mostly aggressive vocals of Devin Townsend. This is often very dynamic and eruptive and ranges from clear high altitudes to aggressive screams .
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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| Albums | ||||||||||||
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Studio albums
- 1995: Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing - at Century Media
- 1997: City - at Century Media
- 2003: Strapping Young Lad (also known as SYL ) - at Century Media
- 2005: Alien - at Century Media
- 2006: The New Black - at Century Media
Live albums, video albums, best ofs, EPs and box sets
- 1998: No Sleep Till Bedtime ( live album ) - on Century Media
- 2003: Tour EP (Live EP limited to 2500 copies) - on Century Media
- 2004: For Those Aboot to Rock: Live at the Commodore (Live-DVD) - at Century Media
- 2007: C: enter: ### (7-inch vinyl EP limited to 500 copies) - on Restrain Records
- 2008: 1994 to 2006 Chaos Years (limited Best Of) - at Century Media
- 2013: The Complete Works (vinyl set limited to 700 copies) - on Blood Music
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ billboard.com: Strapping Young Lad on the US album charts , accessed November 3, 2010