DEVIN TOWNSEND — Ghost (review)

Album · 2011 · Non-Metal

4/5 · 2011-12-12
Phonebook Eater

8/10

Ghost is one of the very best mellower albums by a metal musician.

Devin Townsend’s newest project finds itself to an end with the final chapter “Ghost”, one of the best albums by the musician and the calmest he’s ever been. The four albums of the project wanted, as Devin said, to represent each “side” of him. If “Ki” is also a mellower effort, “Addicted” is a heavy but very straight-forward one, and “Deconstruction” is as wild Avant-Gardish and chaotic as Devin had never been before. But “Ghost” wanted to represent Townsend’s softer, peaceful side, and what a beautiful sight it is.

There are, of course, no traces of any kind of metal: “Ghost” is influenced by genres such as New Age and a lot of Ambient music too. I dare to say that some vocal melodies are a little reminiscent of Ambient Pop and Dream Pop. If there are any guitars, they are always clean; if they are any drums, they’ll mostly be played with jazz brushes, and always laid back completely. The key instruments I hear are the big chunk of synthesizers, flutes, some very light loops here and there, electronics, and the guitars of course. But the vocals I hear are the most magical addition: I always liked Townsend’s cleans, but here, they are special, and perfectly go along with the enchanting female vocals. The production is crystal clear, as it was definitely intended to be for creating the atmosphere Devin wanted to capture so much.

“Ghost” is one of the most peaceful and quiet albums you’ll ever hear. It is a soothing journey that most fans of the musician wouldn’t expect. The atmosphere this album creates, as a matter of fact, is absolutely priceless: You feel like you’re on an island, by yourself, without technology, without surrounding people, just nature. This feeling Devin attempted to create has very much succeeded, and like no other album that has attempted to do so. It’s great to hear also how even though maintaining pretty much the same concept throughout the album, there is in the music great amount of variation: some melodies are sad, some are ethereal, some are cheerful, some are melancholy. With these handful of moods, I’m happy to say that Devin created out of them a wonderful rainbow of sounds.

There is clear distinction between the first and second half of the album: while the first is more emotive, melodic, and straight-forward, the second half is more Ambient driven, with less vocals, less clear melodies, just pure atmosphere. The delights can be found practically anywhere, from the opener “Fly”, setting a very proper mood for the rest of the album. “Feather” is a very melancholic, multi part piece, where the Ambience is something indescribable. The title track and “Black Berry” are somewhat more cheerful and happy, especially the latter, thanks to it’s great banjo addition. Then, there are more Ambient focused songs, like “Infinite Ocean”, “Texada”, even though the term Ambient can be used on this one very widely, “Moonsoon”, and the final track “As You Are”.

An album I thought was going to hate, but I actually ended up falling in love with; a definite must listen for any Devin Townsend, despite being different from every other recording he’s done. But it you’re a fan of this man, there is no way you can know him without listening to his peaceful other side. One of the great highlights of the year, an album that would be remembered hopefully in the future, as one of the very best calm albums by a metal musician.