UMUR "Accelerated Evolution" is the fifth full-length studio album by Canadian artist Devin Townsend. This time released under the The Devin Townsend Band monicker. The album was released through HevyDevy Records (Townsend´s own label) in March 2003. Townsend was particularly busy in those years working simoutaniously on "Accelerated Evolution" and the eponymously titled third Strapping Young Lad album (released in February 2003, just a month prior to the release of "Accelerated Evolution"), while also touring around writing material and spending time in the recording studio. The Devin Townsend Band was formed by Townsend to gain a band feeling and for touring purposes. The band were active from 2002-2007, after which it was disbanded by Townsend.

"Accelerated Evolution" features a whole new lineup compared to the lineup who recorded "Terria" (November 2001), and only Townsend remains. He is such a larger than life type character, writing, producing, and performing most parts that it´s a bit hard to credit the other musicians much. I´m not even sure most of them perform on the album. Whatever band name the album bears, this is arguably a Townsend solo album in disguise.

While "Terria" was a sprawling, eclectic, and progressive affair, Townsend have opted for a more accessible, song oriented, and concise songwriting approach on "Accelerated Evolution". Dare I say this is his first mainstream oriented album release...but then again not quite. This is after all Devin Townsend we´re dealing with, and nothing is ever just straight forward with him and "Accelerated Evolution" is of course still both challenging and progressive in nature.

"Depth Charge" opens the album and it´s a heavy and energetic track with Townsend belting out various types of shouting/screaming vocals and of course also a few clean vocal parts. "Storm" is probably one of his crowning achievements in terms of delivering emotionally intense vocals. The vocal part of the track is simply incredible. Another standout track is the heavy, slow building, and atmospheric "Deadhead", which has since become a classic in Townsend repetoire and a song he almost always includes on his concert setlists. The almost entirely instrumental (there are some sparse mellow vocals on the track) "Away" also deserves a mention for the lead guitar work and the great atmosphere of the track. The remaining tracks are great high quality material too and ranges from dark and heavy (tracks like "Random Analysis" and "Suicide"), to uplifting and melodic ("Traveller" and "Slow Me Down").

The limited edition of "Accelerated Evolution" features three bonus tracks, from Project Eko, which was an ambient/atmopsheric electronic music projekt Townsend found time to work on, while simoultaniously working on both the material for "Accelerated Evolution" and the material for Strapping Young Lad´s third full-length studio album "SYL" (February 2003, Century Media Records). It predates and probably inspired Townsend to release the 2004 "Devlab" album as well as subsequent ambient/atmospheric experimental releases like "Hummer" (2006) and "Snuggles (Beautiful Dream)". The Project Eko is among the most accessible and pleasant sounding of Townsend´s ambient/atmospheric releases ("Assignable" is even danceable), although it´s nothing revolutionary.

"Accelerated Evolution" is packed in a clear, detailed, and powerful sounding production. It features many layers of guitars, keyboards/synths, and vocals, but it´s still one of the most accessible and dare I say simple sound productions on any Townsend release. Simple in this case of course still means a sonic complexity which is higher than what most artists produce, but Townsend obviously aimed at a more direct and punchy attack on this album. Upon conclusion Townsend arguably succeeds in his mission to release a more accessible progressive metal release and while "Accelerated Evolution" may not possess quite the same stylistic depths of "Terria", it´s still a high quality album and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

AtomicCrimsonRush Accelerated Evolution is a loud heavy work from the great mad scientist of metal, Devin Townsend and it is a terrific follow up to the excellent Terria. This is rather a solid head banging album but not up to masterpiece standard after listening to some of Devin's greater albums such as Terria that have more experimentaion and creative madness. As a follow up to this fabulous work, I was disappointed that Devin was just trying to emulate previous sounds and concepts, but not developing these further. This album is a step backwards from Terria. However, the great thing about this album is it is full of energy and dynamic metal riffs. Admittedly everything is Devin-perfect, the instruments, the lyrics, and Devin simply rips out his pharynx on vocals. There are rehashed ideas but it delivers with some exceptional killer tracks.

The opening track is a scare your neighbours brutal loud crashing cacophony of mayhem, and I love it! Depth Charge is a missile shooting through the ocean to destroy all enemies, and the song is likewise destroying all unbelievers; Devin is not going to go away anytime soon. The track Storm follows and once again is a very well structured assault on the senses. The death metal growls are brutal, aggressive and sinister but after a while I longed for his clearer vocals which sound excellent on other albums. Thankfully Devin settles in this song and some beautiful vocals are heard alongside the screaming. Anger is a choice and Devin gives it a voice but too much of anything is not necessarily a good thing. I love the fact that Devin can really filter his albums with melancholia moments and gentle breezes amidst the blistering hurricanes.

The best thing about the album are the metal riffs which are terrific, and lock on brilliantly to a drum sig and heavy bass. For a great example look no further than Deadhead, with a killer riff and awesome melodies with Devin's growling rage. The sound is comparable to Devin's heavier works, such as with Strapping Young Lad. Deadhead is very popular and goes down in the annals of Devin's history as one of his greatest triumphs. The crunching monster riffs on this are astonishing and I could play this over and over and still be blown away by it's sheer power.

Away showcases the experimental nature of the man and features an incredible guitar solo, indeed it is really a vehicle for Devin to shine on lead axe and shine he does! It is a stunning lead guitar solo and the melody is as infectious as anything I have heard from Devin. The album ends as it begun; loud. Overall it is a noisy album without the subtle textures of Terria, and lacking the endearing conceptual ideas of Synchestra or the wild experimentation of Ziltoid to come. I can still recommend this for those who love their music heavy and aggressive. The passion is exceptional on this, the instrumental prowess is admirable and Devin injects everything into this project with no holds barred ferocity.

Negoba Prototypical Hevy Devy…Bang Thy Head!!!

Devin Townsend has always been a man of many personalities on the surface. His first solo project, Strapping Young Lad, recorded some of the heaviest music ever made. After SYL developed into a band proper, he began recording new solo projects under various monikers with the common factor being that all were at least somewhat “softer” than SYL. About midway through the Devy discography you will find the disc ACCELERATED EVOLUTION under the moniker Devin Townsend Band. This is the first disc after the astronomical TERRIA, and many criticize AE for being a little too safe. All agree, however, that AE is probably Devy’s heaviest disc outside of SYL, and in this I think it best represents Devin as an artist. It’s not trying to be the heaviest, nastiest piece of sonic work ever (the modus operandi of SYL) or trying to be mature (which is fuelling much of the new DT Project). It’s just a balanced slice of Devy music. That is, it contains plenty of Devy’s overwhelming intensity, but also the shear beauty that I love him for. This is the magic of OCEAN MACHINE made several notches heavier. This is some of the best of Devin Townsend.

Some of Devy’s best songs ever are on ACCELERATED EVOLUTION. “Depth Charge,” “Storm,” and “Suicide” are simply magical, and very different looks at the Devy sound. “Depth Charge” is an energetic rocker that announces from the beginning that this is a record of heavy guitars and plenty of angst. “Storm” is simply the best Devy “ballad” in the catalog. “Suicide” is a multi-part mood piece that plumbs the depths of Devy’s mental illness as directly as any song he’s written, an honest and look at the price that the muse has taken on the man. In fact, the entire first of the album (5 songs) are all almost perfect. Though the second “side” is much slower and spacy, there are still great sounds to take in. “Away” is an ethereal piece of metal where we hear DT’s singular guitar work simply sing. No where else does tapping sound like the music of heaven except in Devy’s hands. “Slow Me Down” is a nice piece of metal-pop that brings the album to a nice close.

I concede that Devy doesn’t create any new sounds on ACCELERATED EVOLUTION. We’ve heard the building blocks of his music before, there aren’t any huge surprises. He’s not pulling Anneke out of his back pocket or some insane line like “Eat Your Beets.” (He does get in the great “I’m not insane, I’m just smarter than you.”) The heaviness inspires head-banging groove, not grinding your forehead into broken glass. (Yes I’m afraid that’s what some SYL fans want). Some of the later songs are a little long and can drift into the background rather than grabbing hold of your attention. But despite all that, these songs overwhelm me with their beauty time after time, they fill me with energy, they inspire me to want to go play my own guitar and do my own music.

The short version: Typical Devin Townsend wall of sound, a bit heavier than most of his solo albums, sublime songwriting.