So I finally heard this Devin Townsend - "Terria" the other night

[FuSoYa]

Greg brought it over for me to listen to. And it totally bored me to sleep!
I was most interested in it because a lot of people said that because of what motW does, Terria is supposedly similar (in the fact that it uses lots of layering, I guess) so "OMG HE IS BRILLIANT AND IS LIKE MOTW YOU WILL LOVE IT".

So like, is THIS what people hear when they hear motW stuff? because if it is, if people equate the two, that is really depressing. The fact that Devin Townsend uses lots of overdubs... i mean, it's just making the sound thicker. It's not the same type of overdubbing that we do at all! We'll do stuff like, have a guitar part that plays 3 notes, and then do an overdub of another 4 note guitar part panned slightly differetly-- just layers and layers of subtleties. Devin Townsend just records his guitar track 100 times and makes it sound like this huge choir of guitars.

I mean seriously, this is just another railroad spike to my heart that makes me lose confidence in the music listening public (along with the comparisons to Opeth, Arcturus, etc). Doesn't anyone (besides Nagle) pay attention to the composition anymore?

 

[FuSoYa]

It just becomes more and more apparent to me that I think I actually don't like metal, and that there are a few bands that are just fucking great.

And it's retarded that surely if I say that I hate metal in some kind of interview, like METAL MANIACS, or maybe even in an ULTIMATEMETAL.COM interview, people will be like OMG WTF and hate us, because I dissed on their scene.

 

[FuSoYa]

Final Note: Devin Townsend's compositions kind of suck.

 

[avi]

metalheads are traditionally all idiots. with some exceptions, of course. they rarely understand songwriting and/or composition.

side note, the new 'mellow' acoustic opeth album is pretty darn cool. probably the best thing from them since Morningrise IMO

 

[xfer]

METAL TOBY of metal band MAUDLIN OF THE WELL disliking metal on ULTIMATEMETAL.COM? we must reverse the polarity immediately to avoid a destructive chain reaction!

 

[FuSoYa]

that's a fact, jack!

 

[Baliset]

ok TOTAL disagreement here.

I figured as much that you would hate it as soon as i ehard it. Also as soon as I realized that i liked it i knew you would hate it because thats just the way it works with our tastes in music.

I love Devin Townshend's compositions. Maybe he is not creating some kind of intellectual music that needs to be analyzed but the emotion he presents in the album is really gutteral and awesome. That's why I love it. He knows how to write music that gets you going or that can chill you out. You can't just throw together riffs to achieve that effect like most metal bands.

toby = wrong

 

[FuSoYa]

i agree about the emotion, it's pretty apparent in his music.

Unfortunately it's presented against a backdrop that I find unappealing.

But I mean thanks for letting me hear it! I'd been wanting to for a while.

 

[The Dope]

azal is totally going to hate you and make rape jokes about you forever.

 

[chupe666]

I love Devin Townshend's compositions. Maybe he is not creating some kind of intellectual music that needs to be analyzed but the emotion he presents in the album is really gutteral and awesome. That's why I love it. He knows how to write music that gets you going or that can chill you out. You can't just throw together riffs to achieve that effect like most metal bands.

yeah, i'm gonna have to go with greg on this one.

while devin may not write the most complex stuff, where he shines is the emotional aspect of his music. he writes material with GUTS, which is totally different than listening to something like stereolab where you appreciate it from an intellectual music standpoint with all the different interwoven arrangements they do within the construct of a single song. if a non-music person were to listen to stereolab, they might find it ultra boring (the instrumentation is one of their catchier elements to nonmusical people i guess- with the vibes, horns, keys, etc, there's a lot to hear) in that it's not overly emotionally engaging. devin writes stuff that may not utilize a plethora of instruments, but the climaxes and builds he throws in along with the catchiness of melodies (which may take more than a listen or two to get into) are what make me listen again and again.

actually, when i first heard the terria, i didn't care for it. i listened a couple times and put it away for a couple months. gene hoglan doing more stripped-down basic beats didn't seem exactly the same as hearing/seeing him play SYL stuff, and some of the riffs didn't do much for me. but the scope of the songs overall, once i got used to them, with the buildups and all (plus his vocals rock) are what really got me into the material.

but it may deserve another listen or two.
just my $.02 & i'll shut up now.

 

[FuSoYa]

I am just kind of upset that the album put me to sleep and I woke up at 4 AM with sticky and painful eyes because i had my contact lenses in.

 

[chupe666]

as far as similarities between dt and you guys' stuff, i dunno. i never really got that impression. perhaps in that both utilize guitars and vocals?

my guess is that people just are running out of things to compare you guys to, and he seems to be closer than, say, Maniac Butcher or Foetopsy. seriously, it could just be that many 'metal' people don't exactly have that broad of a listening scope, and if DT is the closest thing they can think of, they throw it out. that's how ND gets compared to MDB all the time (well, that and that first ND album and the fact that the label used the metal maniacs description that said that)

 

[Baliset]

i agree about the emotion, it's pretty apparent in his music.

Unfortunately it's presented against a backdrop that I find unappealing.

But I mean thanks for letting me hear it! I'd been wanting to for a while.

no problem dude!

actually i have to say i do agree that i think people are wrong to say we would like Devin because his music is "similar to motw." fuck that. his music is nothing like ours to me. I start to think that the reason people say stuff like that is not because they are musically ignorant or anything(because i don't except all music fans to be able to discern the intricacies of different band's music) BUT rather because Devin is one of those artists whose album gets attention with the metal crowd even though what he does is very different from the metal norm. Same thing goes with Opeh and with us.

So now you have people who say "Well if you like Opeth or MOTW then you will like Devin." And what they are really saying is "If you like (insert band name) then you probably are tired of standard metal stuff and want to experiment with new sounds so listen to (insert other band name here).

 

[chupe666]

I am just kind of upset that the album put me to sleep and I woke up at 4 AM with sticky and painful eyes because i had my contact lenses in.

yeah, my gf does that sometimes and i have to hear about it.

it seems rather angering from an non-participatory audience viewpoint.

 

[Xtokalon]

dev's ocean machine: biomech is really the only album by dev i can get into.

i think terria is kind overrated; though, i can see the general appeal: relatively complex music, not easily digestible, so it stays interesting; layers upon layers of sound and details so it seems intelligent. but i can also see why some wouldn't like terria: it's not so heartwarming.

ocean machine is pretty good. it takes a while to absorb and, fuck, its theme is "if the ocean could make a metal album". you gotta likes.

 

[chupe666]

you know, if you write a song that uses sections of mid-tempo 6/8 with some heavy but not overly distorted guitars, you automatically ripped off opeth.

i speak from experience.

 

[chupe666]

ocean machine is pretty good. it takes a while to absorb and, fuck, its theme is "if the ocean could make a metal album". you gotta likes.

yeah, ocean machine is pretty good- i had the same issue where i didn't like it the first time i heard it, but later liked it a lot.

also, i believe terria is supposed to be the 'land' equivalent of ocean machine.

 

[FuSoYa]

BUT rather because Devin is one of those artists whose album gets attention with the metal crowd even though what he does is very different from the metal norm. Same thing goes with Opeh and with us.

That is an excellent point. I do think, however, that it's kind of sad that 'being different from the metal norm' should be the sole indication of whether someone would like something.

I mean it's kind of like people asking you if you were at the Great White show.

 

[FuSoYa]

in other words, it disheartening when you silently ask "is THAT how I appear to you??"

 

[Baliset]

I am just kind of upset that the album put me to sleep and I woke up at 4 AM with sticky and painful eyes because i had my contact lenses in.

hey i told you we could turn it off after the first few songs because i could tell you seemed bored but you insisted on listening to the whole thing so you have no one to blame but yourself there pal.