As someone who has come very late to the Devin Townsend game (starting with the first release in this series a few short months ago), I am liking what I hear a lot. With the possible exception of fellow Progmeister Neal Morse, I don’t think there is a more prolific musician than Devin Townsend. He’s penned twenty-five or so studio album recordings, almost as many live ones and still finds time to crop up in other people’s projects. The Devolution Series is all about sharing material that he would not normally count as a major release, but whilst many acts right now are scraping the bottom of the barrel to find that sort of material to keep fans interested and their profile’s alive and relevant, this slightly eccentric Canadian has so far turned out two releases in the Devolution series alone this year, a trend likely to continue as long as the pandemic I suspect.
As with the first Devolution release, this one is also a live show delivered very recently, but whereas Volume 1 was an acoustic show from Leeds, this one is taken from his recent Live Stream performance, delivered entirely remotely with musicians all over the world in recompense for having to pull the plug on the back end of the Empath Tour in 2020. The reality was this was assembled over a period between July and August last year, and tightly welded together to create that feel, so perhaps ‘as live’ rather than ‘live’ would be a better description. It doesn’t sound like it – as ever with a man of his skills and talent, the sound is rich cohesive and feels like a proper live gig – even if you go and check out some of the songs from the show on YouTube, which saw the various artists all green-screened from wherever they happened to be in the world to a futuristic and highly animated CGI set.
The set list peppers a breadth of material from Strapping Young Lad days, the Devin Townsend Project and the current solo incarnation and all fits the moody and futuristic feel, but there’s also some new material in here premiering in this live format first as a preview to what hopefully we will get to see at Bloodstock later this year if there’s a fair wind, given that that was part of the Empath Tour. It’s a really tight show despite this fragmented production and I get absolutely zero sense that these guys are not perfectly and musically in synch with each other throughout. Maybe some of you who have followed him for a long time may be more weary of live album’s, but for me this is all a relatively new experience and I have to confess to having been thoroughly converted to this man’s work. Even these don’t qualify as major releases, if they can win me over from the bottom of their barrel, then there is something undeniably brilliant in there. 9/10
Lacuna Coil - Live From The Apocalypse (Century Media) [Paul Hutchings]
If you search through the pages of this site, you’ll find Matt’s glowing review of Lacuna Coil’s ninth album, Black Anima back in October 2019. That’s probably all you need to read because whilst this is a ‘live’ performance of the album in full, there’s not a lot else different, certainly not for the audio segment of this release. Another live album recorded during the pandemic, Live From The Apocalypse joins three previous live albums by the Italians … at least they had an audible audience. Recorded in September 2020 at the Alcatraz Club in Milan, this is Lacuna Coil going through the motions in a similar way to many others during these unprecedented times. It went out as a live stream and for hundreds of thousands of Lacuna Coil fans, this was the best thing they could have had at the time.
I have no doubt the event was cathartic for vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro, guitarist Diego Cavallotti, bassist and keyboard player Marco Coti Zelati and drummer Richard Meiz. After all, a band without live action is permanently disabled.
It’s perfectly recorded, beautifully performed and showcases the strength of the album, which is magnificent. It just lacks heart. And that’s no-one fault. It’s just the way it is. Like albums recorded during other live streams, see Paradise Lost, Lamb Of God and Katatonia, there’s that horrible silence after each song, the occasional comment, “how are you doing, world?” and the lack of interaction. After all, you can’t generate much response from a TV camera. Musically, as I said, its stellar. Crisp and clean, with the usual polished production from Coti Zelati even though there is a whiff of antiseptic about it. Scabbia and Ferro are in fine form, the former’s soaring soprano cutting through the sky and the latter having at long last really perfected those growls. If you are a fan of the band, this is probably worth picking up, even if just to contribute £10 to their crew and overall income. If you aren’t a diehard, then even the beautiful piano version of Save Me (with Silvia Zanaboni) at the finale won’t be enough to change your mind.
Maybe the DVD will be more enjoyable. 7/10
Stöner - Stoners Rule (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Paul Scoble]
Two of the members of Stöner will be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Rock music, particularly Stoner Rock as two of the members are Brant Bjork and domestic abuse enthusiast Nick Oliveri, who between them have played important roles in Kyuss, Mondo Generator, Chè, Fu Manchu and Bloodclot. The two ex-Kyuss members are joined by Ryan Gut, who also plays in Bjork’s solo project, on Drums. As you’d expect the music on Stoners Rule is Stoner Rock. The sound is very simple, Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals and that is pretty much it, the guitar and the bass have a very similar sound with very little distortion which does mean that in a few places it sounds more like just Bass and Drums. This gives the album quite a subtle feel, in some ways closer to blues than Stoner rock which usually have big fuzzy guitar and bass sounds. The vocals are all clean and are handled by Bjork and Oliveri, on most of the songs the lyrics are quite sparse, and are more like chants. It reminds me a little of the vocal style of psychedelic rockers Here Lies Man, but it does give the feeling that this is an album of choruses rather than an album of full songs.
Two of the members of Stöner will be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Rock music, particularly Stoner Rock as two of the members are Brant Bjork and domestic abuse enthusiast Nick Oliveri, who between them have played important roles in Kyuss, Mondo Generator, Chè, Fu Manchu and Bloodclot. The two ex-Kyuss members are joined by Ryan Gut, who also plays in Bjork’s solo project, on Drums. As you’d expect the music on Stoners Rule is Stoner Rock. The sound is very simple, Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals and that is pretty much it, the guitar and the bass have a very similar sound with very little distortion which does mean that in a few places it sounds more like just Bass and Drums. This gives the album quite a subtle feel, in some ways closer to blues than Stoner rock which usually have big fuzzy guitar and bass sounds. The vocals are all clean and are handled by Bjork and Oliveri, on most of the songs the lyrics are quite sparse, and are more like chants. It reminds me a little of the vocal style of psychedelic rockers Here Lies Man, but it does give the feeling that this is an album of choruses rather than an album of full songs.
The album opens with Rad Stays Rad which is a simple piece of Stoner Rock, it has a nice, head nodding tempo, and feels quite minimal. Next track The Older Kids is also simple, but has a tauter and more driving feel than the opening track. As you would expect from the title, Own Your Blues is slow swaggery, piece of blues rock. The tempo is straight out of Alannah Miles hit from the Eighties; Black Velvet. Nothin’ is short and simple, the tempo is driving but over all it’s a little bland. Evel Never Dies is another short track that is uptempo and feels nicely alternative and punky. Stand Down, which is probably the best track on the album, has a minimal sound and feels controlled and introverted. The tempo has a great, funky groove to it, and the track has some nice dynamic development as it gets bigger and more powerful as the track nears its end, something that the other tracks are missing. The album is brought to a close by the 13 minute Tribe/Fly Girl, which has a softer sense to it, closer to a ballad than any of the other material. Although the track does have some build in dynamics nearer the end, for most of the song it feels plodding, over long and repetitive. Stoners Rule is so close to being a great album, but falls short.
Although there are lots of great tunes, riffs, grooves and chants, there aren’t enough to keep you interested. The feeling of being subtle and simple, quickly slides into bland and boring, which is a shame as this feels like a missed opportunity. It feels to me that this is an album that has been recorded too soon. Apart from the track Stand Down the material on Stoners Rule doesn’t sound finished, these songs feel like demo’s rather than finished tracks, like the band needed another month of writing and jamming before recording the album. There are lots of flashes of the brilliance that Bjork and Oliveri have shown in other bands, but ultimately Stoners Rule is a disappointment. 6/10
Fargo - Strangers D'Amour (SPV) [Matt Bladen]
Not a woodchipper in sight on this sixth record from Hanover rock act. In fact Rain Of Champagne is probably the fastest rawest song here with a running riff, opening the record to anyone that may have never heard of Fargo. You may have well heard of band leader Peter Knorn (bass) who put Fargo to rest after forming Victory in 1984, however after ending the Teutonic metal act in 2011, he reactivated Fargo along with vocalist/guitarist Peter Ladwig and drummer Nikolas Fritz they recorded Constellation in 2018, it was a well received comeback but not long after they set about making this follow up. Strangers D'Amour is classic Fargo sound, with the exception of the packet first song, the remaining tracks here are mid-paced rockers with influences such as AC/DC, Dire Straits and Golden Earring all filtered through a 2020's production sound. The music is mature and comes from clearly experienced musicians due to it's smooth delivery and measured approach.
Not a woodchipper in sight on this sixth record from Hanover rock act. In fact Rain Of Champagne is probably the fastest rawest song here with a running riff, opening the record to anyone that may have never heard of Fargo. You may have well heard of band leader Peter Knorn (bass) who put Fargo to rest after forming Victory in 1984, however after ending the Teutonic metal act in 2011, he reactivated Fargo along with vocalist/guitarist Peter Ladwig and drummer Nikolas Fritz they recorded Constellation in 2018, it was a well received comeback but not long after they set about making this follow up. Strangers D'Amour is classic Fargo sound, with the exception of the packet first song, the remaining tracks here are mid-paced rockers with influences such as AC/DC, Dire Straits and Golden Earring all filtered through a 2020's production sound. The music is mature and comes from clearly experienced musicians due to it's smooth delivery and measured approach.
With Fritz drumming linking with Knorn' bass work, there's a drive to these tracks that allows Ladwig's guitar to get some time to show off on tracks such as Time, he also adds some Fender Rhodes and Hammond organs to the proceeding as well as delivering Knorn's clever often mocking lyrics with a soulful refrain. I'd not been familiar with Fargo, possibly because their initial run was between 1979 and 1984 and very much part of the German rock scene. But Strangers D'Amour is a grooving, rock album that comes from a time when rock n roll was on the top of the world. For some it may not be heavy enough, for others it'll be too slow, but if classy hard rock with lashings of experience is what you're looking for then don't let Knorn, Ladwig and Fritz be strangers for much longer. 7/10
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