Loading cart
Infinity
"Aside from Mr. Devin Townsend's proclivity to appear naked on album covers, the very talented Canadian musician has done nothing but show an immense amount of musical talent and ability in his various projects. His most familiar project, Strapping Young Lad, is a portrait of irrational emotions set to a bombastic musical landscape while Ocean Machine was an ususual attempt to capture the music the oceans themselves might make were they given a couple guitars and a a microphone. Townsend's proper solo release, Infinity is not infinitely different than the other two ventures, which is reassuring as it offers exactly the same amount of allure as the others.
Since the same man writes and creates the music and vision for the various projects, it is no suprise that Infinity has that familiar Devy crush and symphonic devourment of the ears. However, Infinity is a bit more honed and sheds a bit of the angst for a more introspective look into the artist's heart. Townsend's vocals range from very straightforward and melodic, such as the catchy "Christeen" to painfully torn as on "Soul Driven". But his vocals are only part of the picture as the music throughout goes through a variety of stages, all building towards the climax on "Unity". (Yes, "Noise Pink Bubbles" is, for all intents and purposes, a "hidden" track that is an aside from the crux of the album.) "Truth" begins the album with an affirmation of music and chants of "hallelujah" before segueing into "Christeen". The next two tracks, "Bad Devil" and "War", are surprising in their ability to rock and boogie down. "Bad Devil" is nearly a heavy metal gospel track and is guaranteed to shake your little booty. The midsection of the album becomes a lot more convoluted, dense and troubled. As individual songs they would not hold up but in the scheme of how the songs work as a cohesive whole, they're very important to how the emotions are wrenched by Infinity. As with Ocean Machine's Biomech, the album moves through a variety of stages before reaching the final resolution on "Unity". And as stated before, the actual closer on the album is "Noisy Pink Bubbles", which doesn't fit the overall big picture, but ends up closing things out on a great note.
Infinity is the sort of record that will initially capture you with its more instantly accessible moments at the beginning of the record and if you allow it to play as a whole, its magic becomes insurmountable. Ultimately fulfilling albums such as Infinity are quite difficult to come by, so anyone who is looking for a meaningful and extremely well conceived and executed record best be looking for a copy of this." - Satan Stole My Teddy Bear