ZILTOID THE OMNISCIENT

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!