Every once in a while you will come across a musician that defies the norm, somebody who refuses to stick to the blueprint, a musician that blatantly refuses to be categorised and for that they should be applauded, nah not just applauded they should be celebrated. One such musician is fantastically eccentric Metal cult hero that is Devin Townsend.

Firstly arriving on our radars as an unknown young Canadian lad with a weird hairstyle fronting the Steve Vai band, he would later hook up with his musical partner in crime Ginger Wildheart (who happened to be supporting Steve Vai at the time), to briefly become a Wildheart himself, before bludgeoning our eardrums with the ferocious Strapping Young Lad along with his solo Death Metal projects.  Even when the guy isn't firing on all cylinders as displayed at last year's Bloodstock appearance where technical problems hindered his set, he still received the accolade of being one of the weekend's highlights, something which sees him invited back on the main stage for this year's event.

Anyone who was dismayed when Devin Townsend disbanded Strapping Young Lad in 2007 will be overjoyed with the first of his latest offerings 'Deconstruction' a slightly different beast than Strapping Young Lad but equally as terrifying.  And he's invited his musical peers to the party including Emperor Legend Ihsahn, Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt and Dillinger Escape Plan's Greg Puciato.  Teasing the listener with the opening number 'Praise The Lowered' a far more solemn affair than the rest of the album and sounding not unlike Peter Gabriel in places, this track would perhaps have sat more comfortably with the accompanying 'Ghost' album which as the man says himself "is a really beautiful, folky, acoustic record with flutes containing a real peaceful sentiment."

It is when we reach 'Juular' that things really start to hot up as this could have been renamed Jugular as that is exactly what this baby goes straight for, and we can feel the buzz of the musical kill surging through Devin's veins, this is quickly followed by 'Planet Of The Apes' which is simply a modern metal masterpiece.

It's when the album arrives at the halfway point that Devin really cranks through the creative gears though and I'll just ask you to imagine a track so overblown and self indulgent that it commands a running time of a staggering 16 minutes and makes Queens 'Bohemian Rhapsody' sound like a throw away track knocked out by 80's music destroyers Stock Aiken and Waterman in their lunch break, you my firend are in the world of 'Mighty Masturbator' and Devin Townsend is just waiting to rub the UK music press up the wrong way with this baby.  We then arrive at what I can only describe as Death Metal meets Prog Rock as 'Pandemic' greets us with a Muse turns Black Metal vibe. This is followed by the equally bizarre title track 'Deconstruction' a Symphonic Metal number exploring the delights of cheeseburgers that also features the appropriate line "You want mental? Have some fucking mental'.  Finishing off the brutality of 'Deconstruction' is the full on Metal onslaught of 'Poltergeist' proving that Devin still has his finger very much on the musical pulse.

After listening to such a modern day Metal masterpiece as 'Destruction' then you need to sit back, relax and listen to something a touch more soothing, in other words the accompanying album 'Ghost'. This is a complete musical juxtaposition to 'Deconstruction', beginning with the pan pipe opening of 'Fly' that takes you on a ride through serene tranquil beauty and also features the gentle acoustic guitar picking of 'Heart Baby' and the new age brilliance of 'Blackberry'.

'Ghost' may not be for the more Metal orientated fans of Devin's previous musical outpourings, but just sit back and relax and let the soothing melodies of 'Ghost' heal the wounded senses you've just destroyed with the brutality of Deconstruction'.

If these albums really are as Devin expects us to believe "the end of chapter one in his career" then whatever musical genre Devin Townsend chooses to tackle next I'm sure he will do so with suitable aplomb.  In the meantime you should immerse yourself in the overblown spectacle of 'Deconstruction' and 'Ghost' and leave Devin to worry about his future.

http://www.hevydevy.com/