PHYSICIST

As a dedicated fan of DT's solo offerings and only a casual fan of Strapping Young Lad, I found Physicist a very underwhelming listen, at least in regards demonstrations of Townsend's considerable talent as a songwriter and instrumentalist.

These songs are uniformly loud, savage, and unrelenting in their sonic assault. While not quite as volcanic or as intense as Strapping Young Loud, they have the dubious disadvantage of not being as creative either. Physicist lacks the variety, both in song structure and feel, of DT's later albums-- making it very repetitive. Only until late in the album with Planet Rain does DT use his singing voice, or even use a noticeably different tempo. The result is a release which is like Strapping Young Lad light-- but then, that begs the question: what's the point of that?

I listen to SYL to punish myself with crazy-fast metal of the most brutal and zany variety, and Devin Townsend for classy metal filled with variety and craftsmanship: Physicist is neither. It's an unoriginal orphan sandwiched between the artist's better works.

Check out DT's other albums first, which are without exception excellent, before getting this one.

Songwriting: 2 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2