Synchestra

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Synchestra
Studio album by The Devin Townsend Band

Publication
(s)

January 30, 2006

Label (s) HevyDevy Records

Genre (s)

Progressive metal

running time

65:20

occupation
  • Ryan Van Poederooyen: drums
  • Brian Waddell: guitar

production

Devin Townsend

Studio (s)

The Devlab, Armory Studios, Hipposonic

chronology
Devlab
(2004) 		Synchestra The Hummer
(2006)

Synchestra ( sɪŋˈkɛstrə ) is the seventh solo album by the Canadian musician Devin Townsend and the second album he recorded with The Devin Townsend Band. The album was released in January 2006 on Townsend's HevyDevy Records label.

background

After the release of four solo albums under the name Devin Townsend, all of which were recorded with different line-ups , Townsend decided in 2002 to form a permanent band for his solo material. He formed the Devin Townsend Band , which consisted of Brian Waddell on guitar, Mike Young on bass, Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums and Dave Young on keyboards. The newly formed band released their first album Accelerated Evolution in March 2003. The recordings and the tour for the album took place at the same time that Townsend's extreme metal project Strapping Young Lad recorded his album SYL .

After an eventful year, Townsend began work on Strapping Young Lad's fourth album Alien in March 2004 . Townsend thought that SYL was not living up to expectations and decided to take the next album to new extremes. To prepare for alien , Townsend stopped taking the drugs that had been prescribed for him to treat his bipolar disorder . "I think that as an artist who wants to go to the next level, there is a need to discover things, and sometimes the discoveries take you to crazy places," he explained. "And Alien was no exception."

Shortly after the release of Alien in March 2005, Townsend began work on the next album by the Devin Townsend Band with the working title Human , which was to become the pleasing counterpart to Alien . Ultimately, the album was called Synchestra and, according to Devin Townsend, was an album about "returning to earth after a long visit to aliens in space".

Synchestra was largely recorded and mixed by Townsend at his home studio, The Devlab . Van Poederooyen's drums were recorded at Armory Studios in Vancouver , BC . Mike Young's bass recordings and the mix of the album took place at Hipposonic Studios in Vancouver. The sound engineer was Shaun Thingvold, who had previously worked for Strapping Young Lad and Fear Factory .

publication

Synchestra was released on January 30, 2006. The album was released on Townsend's HevyDevy Records label in North America and on InsideOut in Europe. A special edition appeared at the same time . In addition to the standard CD, this included a DVD recorded live in the studio entitled Safe Zone , which contained eight tracks played live in the studio and some extras selected by the band. This special edition was published as a digipak and jewel case . To the song Vampira one was music video produced.

music

Townsend processed a multitude of different musical styles in Synchestra and mixed the “Pop Metal” typical for him with influences from folk , polka and oriental music with “a few headbanging elements”. Bassist Mike Young and guitarist Brian Waddell share the vocals on the bonus track Sunshine and Happiness . Keyboardist Dave Young plays guitar on Sunshine and Happiness and Sunset . Triumph contains a country interlude that comes from Steve Morse's album The Introduction on On the Pipe .

reception

Synchestra entered the album charts in Finland at number 33, in Germany at number 85 and in France at number 128. The album received favorable reviews. Allmusic's Greg Prato praised the diversity and originality of the album, noting that "Townsend gets more daring with every release, unlike other seasoned rockers who play it safe over time." Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net compared the album to Accelerated Evolution . He wrote that the album had melodies that were a little more open and still progressive.

Track list

All titles are written by Devin Townsend.

  1. Let It Roll - 2:52
  2. Hypergeek - 2:20
  3. Triumph - 7:08
  4. Baby song - 5:30
  5. Vampolka - 1:36
  6. Vampira - 3:27
  7. Mental Tan - 2:15
  8. Gaia - 6:03
  9. Pixillate - 8:17
  10. Judgment - 5:55
  11. A Simple Lullaby - 7:09
  12. Sunset - 2:31
  13. Notes from Africa - 7:42
  14. Sunshine and Happiness - 2:35
Special Edition Bonus DVD Safe Zone
  1. Truth (from Infinity )
  2. Regulator (by Ocean Machine: Biomech )
  3. Storm (from Accelerated Evolution )
  4. Earth Day (by Terria )
  5. Life (by Ocean Machine: Biomech )
  6. Deadhead (by Accelerated Evolution )
  7. Away / Deep Peace Medley ( Away by Accelerated Evolution , Deep Peace by Terria )
  8. Slow Me Down (from Accelerated Evolution )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tracy Turner: Devin Townsend Biography. Hevydevy Records, archived from the original on June 26, 2008 ; accessed on November 21, 2010 (English).
  2. ^ Strapping Young Lad Re-Sign With Century Media, Begin Work On New Material. Blabbermouth.net, March 30, 2004, accessed October 7, 2012 .
  3. ^ Jackie Smit: Fury & passion in extremis. Chronicles of Chaos, March 10, 2005, accessed November 21, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Brett Powell: Interview w / Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad. Los Angeles Loud, 2005, archived from the original on October 27, 2006 ; accessed on November 21, 2010 (English).
  5. ↑ a b Tajs Kolman: Interview with Devin Townsend. (No longer available online.) RevelationZ Magazine, Jan. 27, 2006, archived from the original on Aug. 14, 2007 ; accessed on November 21, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.revelationz.net
  6. ^ Announcement by Devin Townsend in the web forum of HevyDevy Records on January 7, 2005
  7. ↑ Devin Townsend Band Drummer: New Album Is 'Absolutely Incredible'. Blabbermouth.net, August 21, 2005, accessed October 7, 2012 .
  8. ↑ David Lay: The Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra. Cleveland Scene, February 8, 2006, accessed November 21, 2010 .
  9. ^ A b Greg Prato: Synchestra: Review. Allmusic, accessed on November 21, 2010 .
  10. ↑ Devin Townsend: Entry on twitter.com. Twitter , June 5, 2009, accessed November 21, 2010 .
  11. ↑ Sources Chart placements: DE ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. / FR / FI , accessed November 21, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicline.de
  12. ^ Scott Alisoglu: The Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra. Blabbermouth.net , December 19, 2005, accessed October 7, 2012 .

Web links