DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: GHOST

This is what Devin Townsend sounds like with the wall of guitar layers taken out, lush, beautiful, soothing, relaxing. You could call it ambient, but it's not minimalism because most of the tracks here are very full and layered. The vocals are similar to the sound you hear in the song "Deep Peace" from his masterpiece album "Terria" but this time instead of one song, you get a full album of music that sounds like this. Some compare it to Enya's sound, and I suppose it is to some extent, but not as much as what others have suggested. The layering effect here is what reminds one of that Enya sound. Others call it New Age-y, but I disagree with this completely, except for the one throw away track "Monsoon" which is the one embarrassing track on here. This, for the most part, is music you have to be in the mood for, but when you are, it is some of the most heavenly music you will find, and it's coming from the same guy that plays music that puts your speakers and eardrums in danger, though always in an immensely pleasing way.

It's true that there isn't a lot of progressive metal here or progressive rock for that matter. But it is inventive and it's some of the best mellow music I have heard in a long, long time. Well produced and orchestrated, it floats along freely, sometimes surprising the listener with a few upbeat passages and songs, like in the title track (after an ambient opening) and "Blackberry" (which also incorporates a banjo and a driving Americana type beat) , but mostly soft with some of the most beautiful harmonics imaginable. Devin still incorporates layers in his vocals and occasionally uses female vocals in there too.

The atmosphere remains through the album, and even though I would rather hear an album from him that utilizes his various types of music because I would rather have variety, I still find this very enjoyable and relaxing. This album is part of a series of albums where Devin concentrates on one style throughout, and, in fact, this was released at the same time as the album "Deconstruction" which is the exact opposite of this album full of noise and over the top metal. Other albums in the series include a more poppier side or more experimental. I would rather hear them interspersed on an album together and then linked together inventively through ingenious composition methods. This is not driving music, and is really at it's most effective if you want to relax to lush soundscapes that really approach early Porcupine Tree instrumentals a lot more than it does new age music. I also hear some similarity to the more ambient works of Ulver, which anyone who has heard them knows that their music is much more inventive than just plain new age music, and that is the case with this album.

Simply beautiful is how to describe this album. Listen to it and let yourself get lost in it's lushness and layers of atmosphere. I can't quite give it 5 stars, because it is missing variety, but it is one of the best atmospheric albums I have heard that concentrates one type of music. 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 because of the variety issue. But I still love this!