DEVIN TOWNSEND Ziltoid the Omniscient (2007)

29 June 2007
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“Devin Townsend - the new Frank Zappa.” I am not surprised when I read such things on the Net. Neither should be you. If in the past someone was having an uncertainty about the madness of this Canadian guy, it is now approved by his great experimental albums, the countless-plus-one projects that he participated in and the producer’s job he did for his friends’ bands which are mostly infamous for us. The new infant of the psycho Townsend is called “Ziltoid the Omniscient”. Now, the first logical thing you will ask is, “What the fuck!? What is that freaky title for?” Yes, that’s right, Devin had a plan for everything. A whole story goes along the musical orgy that he created again. There we have a main character whose name is Ziltoid. If you have not understood it already, this creature is an alien and he wants to smash the awful human beings, because they are too haughty and don’t serve him their best coffee. In the end, after several star wars, flights in space and monologues of the commanders’ headquarters, it becomes clear that a waiter has just fallen asleep at his working place, in the café, and has moved himself and the listeners in the world of his dream. Meanwhile, songs with titles such as “Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!”, “Planet Smasher” and “Omnisdimensional Creator” have passed. Compared to the latest album by The Devin Townsend Band, “Synchestra”, this time the disc is a one-man project. Devin has taken care of absolutely everything - from the schizophrenic guitar parts and the singing to the computer samples and the drum programming done with The Drumkit from Hell (trademark of Meshuggah’s Tomas Haake). Ziltoid and his stories - drawn with the help of the musical deliriums similar to some progressive and industrial structures - are not for everybody. Their creator has an eccentric and impressive personality, and is able to do such albums only because of his need to represent the best ideas in sounds and the things he likes the most. This deserves admiration. And while some musicians try to prove what geniuses they are, Devin will continue telling us crazy stories about aliens that potter around his attractive bald head.
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