STRAPPING YOUNG LAD — Strapping Young Lad (review)

STRAPPING YOUNG LAD — Strapping Young Lad album cover

Album · 2003 · Industrial Metal

4/5 · 2024-01-04
UMUR

"SYL" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Canadian extreme metal act Strapping Young Lad. The album was released through Century Media Records in February 2003. It´s the successor to "City" from 1997 and features the same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor, although Strapping Young Lad had a longer hiatus between 1999 and 2002. In the intermediate years the other members of the band worked on various other musical projects, while lead vocalist/guitarist Devin Townsend recorded and released a couple of solo albums and worked as a producer for other artists too (including artists like Soilwork and Stuck Mojo). Townsend also struggled with his bipolar disorder and even admitted himself to a psychiatric hospital in early 1998. After being released and taking medication for the disorder, he was able to work again, but continued his substance abuse, which combined with his disorder made his behaviour erratic. The material for "SYL" were written using a more collaborative approach than the preceding releases, which were more or less solely written by Townsend.

Stylistically the material on the album is unmistakably the sound of Strapping Young Lad. A few more death metal influences and not as many industrial metal influences, but other than that this is Strapping Young Lad as we know and love them. It´s often pretty extreme music with thrash, groove, and death metal riffs, powerful fast-paced drumming, and Townsend screaming his lungs out with great passion and conviction. There is so much more to the music on this album than that though. Townsend as always have created a layered and larger than life sound production and has added keyboards/synths, choirs, and electronic effects to the music. His vocals are also very diverse, ranging from screaming, death metal growls, aggressive raw vocals, and melodic clean singing. Townsend is without a doubt one of the most versatile extreme metal vocalist on the scene, and while his performance here isn´t among his most varied and adventurous, he is still leagues ahead of other vocalists in the genre.

"SYL" opens with the short, powerful, and pummeling intro "Dire", before exploding and blowing the listener back in the seat with "Consequence". Strapping Young Lad surely know how to open an album with a statement of intent...and with "Relentless" and "Rape Song" it´s made abundantly clear that that intent is to beat the listener to a pulp with intense sonic violence. "SYL" is in many ways an incredibly extreme album, but the pace is lowered a couple of times during the playing time and tracks like "Aftermath" and "Force Fed" are a little more accessible and mid-paced heavy. Album closer "Bring On the Young" is a slow building, repetitive, and at its climax almost symphonic track.

"SYL" is probably the most stylistically consistent album by Strapping Young Lad. While still unconventional and adventurous, it´s not quite as diverse as the other albums by the band. It´s an angry album, focused a lot on aggression and brutality and it´s certainly Strapping Young Lad at their most dark and heavy. If that´s a good or a bad thing I´ll leave up to the reader to decide, but I personally rank both "City (1996)" and "Alien (2005)" higher and perceive them as more accomplished releases (the two albums bookending "SYL"). "SYL" is still a high quality release though, and as anything else released by Strapping Young Lad, it´s completely unique and doesn´t really sound like anything else on the scene. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.