DEVIN TOWNSEND — Ziltoid The Omniscient (review)

DEVIN TOWNSEND — Ziltoid The Omniscient album cover Album · 2007 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Phonebook Eater
8/10

"Ziltoid the Omniscient" is 53 minutes of fun, energy, and excellent head banging action.

Whoa! I've never heard Devin so energetic, powerful, and so damn Heavy Metal!! Yes, definitely a change, compared to the odd soundscapes of "Synchestra" and the epic, apocalyptic tracks that made "Terria" Townsend's supreme masterpiece . With "Ziltoid The Omniscient", Devin starts to have a little more fun: you can hear it from the enjoyable and not so serious concept, which narrates the story of an alien, Ziltoid The Omniscient, and of course you can hear it from the sound, so powerful, (some might even call it a little banal) and traditionally heavy. But this wasn't enough to satisfy Townsend: he also recorded ALL the instruments, including a crazy sounding drum machine, wrote all the songs, as usual, and arranged everything. It literally is a solo album.

Usually, an album like this wouldn't be good in many ways, since it would almost sound like a joke, but in this particular case, the album is a masterpiece of Experimental/ Progressive Metal, surely one of Townsend's most successful albums musically speaking: each song, except some of the brief interludes and the closer, is a brilliant effort, starting from the short opener "ZTO", and the following "By Your Command", one of the Canadian artist's best songs, to the ending song "Color Your World", excluding the real closer, "Tall Latte".

Surprisingly, the structure is impressive: eleven songs, full of interludes as well as long, complex songs, technically speaking, as well as amazing and simple songs, with a highly emotive impact. Some heavy craziness, as well as some melancholic, adolescent like songs (Hyperdrive), some great melodic lines, some fast, incredibly energetic moments.

This is "Ziltoid the Omniscient", 53 minutes of fun, energy, and of course, of excellent head banging action. Enjoy!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Man I love this album too. I understand your enthusiasm.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 9 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed