Hierophant Nox

ALBUM REVIEW

Devin Townsend - Addicted
InsideOut

So, this is Hevy Devy’s much mooted “Nickleback Album” is it? Methinks he was speaking with tongue lodged firmly in cheek when he said that! So what do we have in “Addicted” then? Well curiously, my first thoughts were of Robin Zander/Cheap Track gone Fuck Off Dance Metal – seriously! Absolutely no joke at all. ‘BUT’...and its a HUGE ‘BUT’...its still insanely heavy as only Devy knows how, insanely technical almost Meshuggah-esque Metal, BUT with colossal POP ala Wildheart sensibilities! It really shouldn’t work at all, but it truly does!

The musicianship, vocal performances, and production are all absolutely razor sharp and thoroughly pristine. This is indeed a 21^st-century Modern Rock/Metal classic. In fact I’d go so far as to say that it’s almost like an extreme metal “Hysteria” for the modern era – listen enough times and you’ll see what I’m trying to say... it should and probably actually will set standards for others to try to attain.

By now, its common knowledge that the album features dual male/female vocals throughout, and again, it works sublimely well. The ‘other voice’ is the simply supreme Anneke Van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering of course), and, naturally enough, her performance is nothing short of stellar! I keep finding new things ‘hidden’ within the ‘grooves’ of this album – right now I’m feeling it’s kind of like his DTB Project, but so SO much heavier – it sort of encapsulates almost every aspect of his career to date.

The term genius is overly used in this day and age, but Devin Townsend is truly worthy of such superlative praise, the guy is truly a legend in our lifetimes!