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Devin Townsend

Born in New Westminster, British Columbia

Devin Townsend's Genre:

Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Guitar/New Age

Biography

Industrial metal singer/guitarist Devin Townsend was born May 5, 1972 in Vancouver, British Columbia; after picking up the banjo at age five, he moved to guitar at 12, and within a few years was leading the band Grey Skies, later known as Noisescapes. Sending the group's demo to the Relativity label, Townsend was not only offered a solo deal but was also tapped to sing on Steve Vai's 1993 LP Sex & Religion, a collaboration which further extended to the guitar god's 1996 effort Fire Garden. In between, Townsend worked on a series of projects with Front Line Assembly, and in 1995 issued the solo Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing under the alias Strapping Young Lad. A stint with the satiric punk band Punky Bruster yielded the Cooked on Phonics LP before Townsend began work on the second Strapping Young Lad album, 1997's City. In a move away from the industrial and death metal of previous recordings, he next formed Ocean Machine -- with J.R. Harder and Marty Chapman -- for the accessible Biomech, which was issued later that year.

Townsend’s first solo album to be released under his own name was 1998’s Infinity, and it directly followed a difficult period for the artist, in which he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He would later identify his condition as an explanation for the difference in sound and approach between Strapping Young Lad and Ocean Machine. 2000 saw a mentally stronger Townsend release, the sharp, focused and melodic speed metal album, Physicist, while 2001’s Terria channelled an ambient pop sound. Next, February 2003 brought an eponymous Strapping Young Lad record which returned to a traditional death metal template. Sessions for this release took place during the same period as those for the acclaimed first album under the Devin Townsend Band moniker, Accelerated Evolution. This record was issued just a month after the SYL release, and Townsend received praise for creating a modern metal album that wasn’t afraid to nod to ’70s and ’80s arena rock, in a post-grunge world. While 2006’s Synchestra didn’t quite reach the same high standard, Townsend continued to keep things fresh by following a straight-up ambient record - The Hummer - with Ziltoid the Omniscient, a rock opera about an alien who travels to Earth in search of “the ultimate cup of coffee”.

In the immediate years that followed Ziltoid, Townsend took a break from the music industry to rest, recharge and rediscover the cathartic aspect of composition. In March 2009 a shaven-headed, now teetotal Townsend announced an intended four-album sequence from the Devin Townsend Project, billed as an opportunity to show that he could create new music without the assistance of drugs. The strongest of these four releases was November 2009’s Addicted, on which he collaborated with former Gathering vocalist, Anneke van Giersbergen. Giersbergen returned for a central role on an unexpected, fifth Devin Townsend Project album in 2012, the pop-infused Epicloud. ~ Jason Ankeny & James Wilkinson

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Devin Townsend

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Project, Opeth, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Devin Townsend Band, Symphony X, Meshuggah, Liquid Tension Experiment, Mastodon and more.

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Devin Townsend's Selected Discography (18)

Infinfity

2010 Inside Out Music201213 Songs

Deconstruction

Ghost

2011 Inside Out Music201112 Songs

Terria 2

200221 Songs

Artists Related to Devin Townsend (50)

	Strapping Young Lad	Having been known for running his own label Hevy Devy Records, helping out with such acts as Steve Vai and Front Line Assembly and fronting two other bands (Infinity and Ocean Machine), Strapping Young Lad frontman Devin Townsend seems to keep himself busy with the rock & roll lifestyle.
	Devin Townsend Project	Sixteen years into a recording career that began with an appearance on Steve Vai’s 1993 album Sex and Religion, the Vancouver-born, eccentric, prolific metal performer and producer Devin Townsend revealed details of the Devin Townsend Project.
	Opeth	Brought together in Stockholm by guitarists Peter Lindgren and Mikael Åkerfeldt in 1990, Opeth added progressive influences and acoustic instrumentation to their brand of Swedish death metal.
	Dream Theater	The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal.
	Porcupine Tree	Though he initially came to wider attention (at least in the U.K.) with No-Man, his long-running collaboration with Tim Bowness throughout the '90s, singer/guitarist Steven Wilson gained as much of a reputation for Porcupine Tree.
	Devin Townsend Band
	Symphony X	Michael Romeo formed Symphony X in New Jersey in 1994. The original lineup of the group also included Thomas Miller (bass guitar), Rod Tyler (vocals), Jason Rullo (drums), and Michael Pinnella (keyboards).
	Meshuggah	Offering a complex form of metal that combined the sweeping adventurism of math rock, the oddball tempos of experimental jazz, and the stunning brutality of thrash metal, Meshuggah raised the bar for metal bands everywhere upon their debut.
	Liquid Tension Experiment	A sort of instrumental prog-rock/prog-metal supergroup, Liquid Tension Experiment features Dream Theater's John Petrucci (guitar) and Mike Portnoy (drums), keyboardist Jordan Rudess (who has worked with the Dixie Dregs and has since joined Dream Theater), and bassist extraordinaire Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and many others).
	Mastodon	Atlanta-based sludge/stoner/alternative metal outfit Mastodon formed in 1999 around the talents of guitarist Bill Kelliher, drummer Bränn Dailor, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, and guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds.
	Gojira	Taking their name from the original Japanese pronunciation of Godzilla, French heavy metal quartet Gojira have risen from utmost obscurity during the first half of their career to widespread global recognition in the second, including regular mention amongst the genre's leading new millennium upstarts.
	Pain of Salvation	In 1984, Daniel Gildenlow formed the band Reality at the whopping age of 11. The group stayed together under that name for seven years, albeit not without personnel changes.
	Ayreon	The progressive metal outfit Ayreon is essentially just Dutch multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen (formerly of the more mainstream metal band Vengeance), plus a revolving-door cast of collaborators and guest musicians that changes from project to project.
	O.S.I.	The word "supergroup" has often been used to describe O.S.I., one of the best-known progressive metal/progressive rock acts to emerge in the United States in the 2000s -- and considering who has been leading O.
	Cynic	Another product of the prolific Florida death metal scene, Cynic distinguished themselves for their unique experiments in combining technically proficient death metal with progressive rock touches, bordering at times on jazz fusion.
	Fates Warning	When prog rock first reared its head during the early '70s, it contained elements of hard rock, but few bands crossed the line into heavy metal.
	Riverside	Drawn together by a shared love of metal and prog rock, Riverside were founded in 2001 in Warsaw, Poland, by Mariusz Duda (vocals, bass, guitar), Piotr Grudzinski (guitar), Piotr Kozieradzki (drums), and Jacek Melnicki (keyboards).
	Spock's Beard	Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio.
	Nevermore	Nevermore straddles the line between power metal, traditional heavy metal, and the contemporary hard rock scene, eschewing the silly theatrics of the "power scene" in favor of a darker tone, while reaping the rewards of melody and the high-flying vocal range of singer Warrel Dane.
	Shadow Gallery	Shadow Gallery is a progressive rock band that stresses songwriting, production and performance in their music.
	In Flames	After leaving Ceremonial Oath to form In Flames, founding member and guitarist Jesper Strömblad saw this project as a way of expressing his songwriting creativity rather than being stuck in the background.
	Planet X	Set a course for Planet X, full speed ahead. No, Planet X is not the newest sci-fi film; it is actually a progressive rock/fusion band headed by keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Kiss, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Platypus).
	Dethklok	Described as "the world's greatest cultural force," the virtual death metal band Dethklok star in the Adult Swim television show Metalocalypse.
	Iced Earth	Fashion trends may come and go, but Florida's Iced Earth has remained steadfastly committed to championing the cause of heavy metal through thick and thin.
	Steve Vai	Six-string wizard Steve Vai, along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s.
	Dimmu Borgir	Blending black metal's most brutal tendencies, the melancholic beauty of opera, and industrial metal's production techniques, Dimmu Borgir carved a niche in the metal world as one of the most savage and creative acts to hail from the Norwegian scene.
	Derek Sherinian	Keyboard virtuoso Derek Sherinian made a name for himself in the post-Dream Theater world of progressive metal both as a sideman and a solo artist in his own right.
	Between the Buried and Me	Between the Buried and Me is a thinking man's hardcore unit hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band began in 2000 after the dissolution of vocalist Tommy Rogers and guitarist Paul Waggoner's previous group, Prayer for Cleansing.
	Katatonia	Considered by many to be one of the heavyweights of Swedish metal, Katatonia had a long and storied career that saw them move from a rough, sludge-like doom metal sound to a more streamlined approach, losing the guttural vocals and adding a more accessible, riff-based sheen to their brand of gothic doom.
	Tool	Tool's greatest breakthrough was to meld dark underground metal with the ambition of art rock. Although Metallica wrote their multi-sectioned, layered songs as if they were composers, they kept their musical attack ferociously at street level.
	Rush	Over the course of their decades-spanning career, Canadian power trio Rush emerged as one of hard rock's most highly regarded bands; although typically brushed aside by critics and rarely the recipients of mainstream pop radio airplay, Rush nonetheless won an impressive and devoted fan following, while their virtuoso performance skills solidified their standing as musicians' musicians.
	Arch Enemy	Formed by ex-Carnage, Carcass, and Candlemass guitarist Michael Amott (concurrently of Spiritual Beggars) with his brother Christopher (Armageddon), Arch Enemy took a straight-ahead approach to death metal reminiscent of Entombed or late-period Carcass, blending catchy, classic-style metal riffs with crushing grooves for an intense yet accessible sound.
	Children of Bodom	Combining elements of melodic death metal, power metal, neo-classical, and thrash, Children of Bodom have been one of the world's most expansive and hard to define bands since their formation in 2003.
	King's X	Few hard rock bands are as widely respected yet criminally overlooked as King's X. The trio (bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick, guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor, and drummer/vocalist Jerry Gaskill) seemed destined for the big time with their irresistible blend of melodic Beatlesque harmonies, metallic riffing, and prog rock detours, yet for reasons unknown, never truly broke through to a mainstream audience.
	Arena	With nearly as many lineup changes as one of their influences, Yes, Arena was one of the dominant neo-prog groups of the 1990s.
	Lamb of God	Originally known by the less-than-subtle moniker Burn the Priest, Richmond, Virginia-based Lamb of God decided to change their name shortly after the release of a self-titled debut in 1998.
	Amon Amarth	Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth originally formed in 1988 under the name Scum; by the time the new moniker was adopted four years later, the line-up consisted of vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olli Mikkonen and Anders Hansson, bassist Ted Lundstrom and drummer Niko Kaukinen.
	Scar Symmetry	Sweden's Scar Symmetry was founded in 2004 by vocalist Christian Älvestam, guitarists Jonas Kjellgren and Per Nilsson, bassist Kenneth Seil, and drummer Henrik Ohlsson -- all of them veterans of numerous prior heavy metal bands (Carnal Forge, Centinex, Altered Aeon, Incapacity, etc.
	Soilwork	The Swedish metal sextet Soilwork formed in early 1997, fusing the country's signature ultra-heavy death metal sound with the power-groove riffs of late-'70s, early-'80s British and European metal.
	Queensrÿche	Although they were initially grouped with the legions of pop-metal bands that dominated the American heavy metal scene of the '80s, Queensrÿche were one of the most distinctive bands of the era.
	King Crimson	If there is one group that embodies progressive rock, it is King Crimson. Led by guitar/Mellotron virtuoso Robert Fripp, during its first five years of existence the band stretched both the language and structure of rock into realms of jazz and classical music, all the while avoiding pop and psychedelic sensibilities; the absence of mainstream compromises and the lack of an overt sense of humor ultimately doomed the group to nothing more than a large cult following, but made their albums among the most enduring and respectable of the prog rock era.
	Mike Portnoy	Mike Portnoy is the drummer for Dream Theater. He was born in 1967, and began playing drums in his teens.
	Marillion	Marillion emerged from the short-lived progressive rock revival of the early '80s to become one of the most enduring cult acts of the era.
	Transatlantic	Drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment) had a brainstorm that gave birth to the band Transatlantic.
	The Dillinger Escape Plan	The Dillinger Escape Plan create maniacally intense, crushingly metallic, and decidedly hardcore punk-infused jazz-time-signature-invoking compositions displaying an unparalleled musical bravery, precision musicianship, meticulously thought-out, and complex structuring, and rigorous physical endurance.
	Joe Satriani	Along with teaching some of the top rock guitar players of the '80s and '90s, Joe Satriani is one of the most technically accomplished and widely respected guitarists to emerge in recent times.
	Blind Guardian	Forming in the small German town of Krefeld, Blind Guardian perfected a fusion of gothic- and fantasy-tinged European power metal with the velocity and technical precision of speed metal.
	Neal Morse	Los Angeles singer/songwriter and guitarist Neal Morse began his musical career early, taking piano lessons at five and performing in musicals and beginning guitar by the age of nine.
	IQ	Formed in the 1980s, IQ is comprised of Martin Orford, Paul Cook, Mike Holmes, Peter Nicholls, and John Jowitt.
	Vanden Plas	Formed in 1990, German progressive metal band Vanden Plas combined the creativity of progressive rock with the aggression of metal.

from: Working Man: A Tribute to Rush

1996 Magna Carta

from: Addicted

The Way Home!

3:13

from: Addicted

Resolve

3:11

from: Addicted

Numbered

4:54

5:07

from: Infinfity

2010 Inside Out Music