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Change of heart
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By synthesizing different elements of metal, including death, industrial and thrash, Strapping Young Lad’s innovative extreme-metal stew has quickly earned a rabid and dedicated following. What really registered with the headbanging masses, set SYL apart from their Marshall-stacking brethren, were main songwriter Devin Townsend’s deeply disturbing personal lyrics, largely informed and influenced by his bipolar disorder. After 15 years, and just a year after the release of the band’s critically acclaimed 2006 album, The New Black, Townsend surprisingly pulled the plug on his juggernaut and geared down on the brutal blast, while expanding his musical panorama, with the Devin Townsend Project. His second record under that moniker, Addicted, still bludgeons like a fistful of nickels, but Townsend also proves himself a challenging artist by letting the light trickle in and overcome the darkness. The Mirror spoke to Townsend over the phone during a tour stop. Mirror: You’ve explored new musical ground, compared to the more extreme metal sounds of Strapping Young Lad. Why the change? Devin Townsend: Strapping Young Lad was honest and from the heart, but I started that band when I was 23 years old. As you get older, life changes. I stopped drinking and smoking weed, and had a baby. The most honest thing I can do as an artist is just represent who I am at the moment. Towards the end of Strapping, I just found it hard to represent that rage every night because I was just growing out of it. If I kept doing that, and not something that stems from honesty about who I am today, it just becomes a parody and would cheapen the impact, for both the fan and myself. M: Your two solo records seem to be a pretty brave move musically, with you delving far deeper than just metal. DT: Whatever I want to do musically, I’m going to do. There’s no ulterior motives or thoughts about providing me with a hit song. I just provide a soundtrack to where my life is at. I still get friction from the industry but I can be pretty pigheaded. I’m actually surprised that a lot to the fans of Strapping Young Lad have been enjoying what I’m doing now and can relate to it. M: Addicted is the second installment in your four-part series. Are these four chapters sketched out in advance or is the approach more organic? DT: Well, given the two choices, I guess I would say “organic” as the records are really about personal change. I am actually making plans for the fifth and sixth record now. I just came up with the number four because if I didn’t have a number, I would never have started on it and would’ve just kept writing. M: It seems that you have become more optimistic, both musically and lyrically, on Addicted. DT: It would be so easy to just mope. Writing with that kind of positive affirmation is difficult but I find it’s infectious. For bands like Slayer, you know what to expect, it becomes a product with variations on that theme, and that’s fine. For myself, if I want to write a pop song, a country song or an ambient song, I’ll just do it. WITH BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, |
