Metal Mursday

Happy Mursday everybody!

Now, I know you’ve all been sitting there patiently waiting for the next metal band to listen to for 15 minutes until you move onto something else, and I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you.  But I’m hopeful we can put our differences aside for a few minutes and enjoy some sweet, sweet metal action.

Today’s band is Canadian tour de force Strapping Young Lad led by singer and guitarist Devin Townsend.  I first became familiar with Townsend in a Guitar World interview with him and Steve Vai promoting Vai’s upcoming album Sex and Religion. When I was going through my Vai phase, I never really liked this album because it had lyrics and I was a pretentious young fuck.  But over the course of time, I eventually got into this album and a lot of it had to do with how fucking awesome Devin Townsend’s voice is.

See, metal is a cacophony in every sense of the word.  It takes a lot for someone to stand out from the teeming maelstrom of blistering guitar riffs and thunderous drums, be it a guitarist with a creative or technically brilliant style or a singer with a voice that’s both clear and distinct.  Townsend’s singing, in my opinion, is just as perfect a fit for the band’s music as King Diamond’s was for Mercyful Fate or Bruce’s was for Iron Maiden.

Strapping Young Lad was born out of Townsend’s disgust with being a mercenary for hire in the musical industry and it’s reflected in the band’s use of sensitive topics in the lyrics and their dissonant, aggressive wall of sound.  The band, at first listen, is a very competent and cohesive death metal unit but it isn’t until you give their music additional listens that you realize how deep these guys really are.  It’s a very complex, layered sound with moving parts and modulating time signatures where the band works as one piece instead of a collection of parts.

They’re one of my favorite new bands and I can’t get enough of Townsend’s singing.  Give em a listen and happy Mursday!