DEVIN TOWNSEND — Deconstruction (review)

DEVIN TOWNSEND — Deconstruction album cover

Album · 2011 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2011-06-30
Phonebook Eater

8/10

“Deconstruction” is one of the LP’s thanks to which Devin Townsend will be remembered.

I could have reviewed this a little earlier, but my opinion and rating would have been very different. This for me was what you call a grower, it took me quite a few listens to get into it fully. In fact, now I consider “Deconstruction”, third album of the Devin Townsend Project, one of his best works, and one of the finest albums of 2011.

I’ve always been a Townsend fan, but I lost a little track of him when the DTP started, with “KI”. When seeing that this third album was coming up, I picked up “Addicted”, and I really enjoyed it. This though is even better. “Deconstruction” is most definitely Devy’s most ambitious and progressive album to date; landmark albums of his like “Terria” and “Ziltoid” were much more accessible than this monster. Musically, Devin changed a lot; his style, despite being more experimental and progressive, is heavier, more chaotic and confusing than ever. “Deconstruction” is pretty out there, enough to be labeled Avant-Garde Metal. But there’s much more; there’s Ambient, Electronic, Industrial, Death Metal, and quite possibly even Thrash/ Speed Metal. It’s a complex and massive album full of everything. However, they are still some classic Devin elements, like the surreal melodies, the vocals, and the typical wall of sound that makes Townsend’s music so mind blowing.

There are countless guest musicians on this album, which shows how the Canadian metaller intended this to be the masterpiece of the Project. And what guests: Mikael Akerfeldt, Tommy Giles Rogers from Between The Buried And Me, Ihsahn, Joe Duplianter from Gojira, Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan and many others. I’ve got to say that my two favorite guest spots are the ones of Ihsahn and Joe Duplianter, both excellent growlers. Yep, almost like an Ayreon album.

The album is full of humor, an element that isn’t new in Townsend’s music. In fact, the album is a concept album about a man that ends up in hell, meets Satan, that offers him a cheeseburger, which will make him know the secret of the universe. But the man can’t eat it because he’s a vegetarian. Almost hard to believe, but that’s how it really is. The first two songs, “Praise The Lowered” and “Stand”, are for me perfect songs, flawless in every way. All the other songs have many moments that are most definitely worthy of competing with these two, and even surpass them, but some other moments lower the quality of the track, like in the long songs, the excellent “Planet Of The Apes” or the epic sixteen minutes of “The Mighty Masturbator”. “Juular”, which features Ihsahn’s growls, is another great song. “Sumeria” has some weaker moments, but Joe Duplianter’s vocals put this up to a whole other level. The title track is the most chaotic, along with the closer “Poltergeist”, which honestly I don’t care much for.

Despite some flaws that can be found along the album, “Deconstruction” is an excellent album, one of the LP’s thanks to which Devin Townsend will be remembered, years from now.