The Devin Townsend Project has come out with a new album Transcendence on September 9th, 2016.

Canadian artist Devin Townsend has been releasing records under his own name since 1997, morphing this solo work into a solo project under the moniker “The Devin Townsend Project.” The Project consists of Townsend on vocals and guitar, Dave Young on guitar, Brian “Beav” Waddell on bass, and Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums.

Initially, this lineup played songs written entirely by Townsend with little wiggle room, they were backup musicians to his genius. However, with this new record, Transcendence, it is not necessarily the case. The group decided to make a record from scratch, writing the songs together in the studio, showcasing the musical chemistry of the band. Transcendence is a refreshing return to form in a way for The Devin Townsend Project, as his music was seeming to be headed in a more pop-inspired and restrained direction with the two previous albums from the project, Sky Blue and Epicloud. Transcendence has its fair share of catchy riffs and major melodies, but the arrangements of the songs are a lot more experimental and progressive.

The album starts with a re-recording of one of Townsend’s old songs, Truth, which was the introduction to his second album, Infinity. This iteration of Truth proves to be more subtle, and more declarative in its message, ending with Townsend screaming “I, I, I”. The first track ends with pads, and a layered vocal declaring “I am home,” which transitions into the next song Stormbending. This second track tells of universal truths, and memories, split by solos both by Young and Townsend respectively, and ends with an offering of “a chance to be loved”. Next, Failure provides two perspectives, one of a cynical mindset towards life, and one of overcoming this cynicism. This leads to Secret Sciences, a progressive ballad about the inner workings of an individual mind. Higher, the next track, at first seems to be another ballad, starting out with nice acoustic guitars and padded vocals; this proves to be only the first layer, revealing after a couple of minutes the true nature of the song. After a couple of verse-chorus sections, the song builds into a monstrous percussive loud progressive metal bridge, where Townsend lets loose the demons that have seemed to be held back. Soon, it falls back into the chorus, only for another bridge to rear its head. Townsend proclaims “I know,” leading into an instrumental section which is topped off by a reprise of the first verse. The song ends on a final chorus, which reveals at its final layer a more peaceful rendition of the introduction. Stars outlines the cycle of day to night, mirroring the dichotomy of good and evil, contentedness and fear. This comes to the title track, Transcendence, which shows Townsend’s overcoming of his inner travail. In the verses, a baritone-sounding choir explains “all the lies,” followed by a treble choir who proclaims to never follow them. In the chorus, Townsend says he “Transcend[s] this,” and asks “do you?” Offer Your Light is a fast-paced straightforward song, which seems in its lyrics to be approving of one’s individual way, and asks to extend this personal understanding to others. Next, From The Heart is Townsend’s take on the song “Baba Hanuman” by Krishna Das. Finally, Transcendence ends with a cover of the song Transdermal Celebration by Ween.

When I first listened to Sky Blue, it took a couple of times to get used to. It was a great album, but it just seemed almost uninspired in a lot of ways. Transcendence had me hooked by the first listen. The production makes everything pop, having been engineered by Townsend and Adam “Nolly” Getgood, and the musicianship is as tight as possible in every aspect. Townsend’s vocals shine much more on this record, having several single vocal lines as opposed to his usual choral approach to overdubbing vocals. Ryan Van Poederooyen’s drums were perfectly measured, whether it be pounding, or light, the mood was set primarily by the drums, and Dave Young finally let his guitar chops shine with his Stormbending solo. Brian Waddell didn’t feel too impactful in the composition as far as the bass parts, but he did his job and he did it well. Overall, this album is something I’d recommend to anybody who is into metal music, or really into music at all.