Townsend Labs Sphere L22

Legendary St. Louis country bluesman’s 1980 album remastered from original tapes with 8 previously unissued tracks.

All credit to DEVIN TOWNSEND – the general disarray of the pandemic has done nothing to hamper his high levels of productivity, both releasing new material online and hosting a number of livestreams throughout the last year. As the second official release in his Devolution Series (itself a catalogue of both quarantine activities and material from the vaults), Galactic Quarantine documents one of those aforementioned livestream concerts. Making up for the understandable cancellation of the Empath Vol. 2 tour – one intended to focus on the heavier side of Townsend material – Galactic Quarantine sees ‘Hevy Devy‘ accompanied by a fierce trio of metal musicians to deliver a semi-live performance of metal that skirts mostly between prog and extreme…

Although the two aren't musically alike, Neil Young and Devin Townsend follow a similar approach to making music. Young uses his hard-rocking band Crazy Horse to recharge his batteries, so that he can go off and pursue other musical areas of interest as a solo artist. And Townsend has the same setup - returning time and time again back to "the band thing" (heavy metallists Strapping Young Lad) before tackling other styles as a solo artist. While Townsend's 2006 solo outing Synchestra does let quite a few headbanging elements slip through the metal detectors, Townsend's quirkiness continues to bubble to the surface throughout. Since Townsend first broke on the scene as a member of Steve Vai's band (1993's Sex & Religion), it's understandable that a few obviously Vai-ish bits should be detected, such as the track "Babysong"…

Although the two aren't musically alike, Neil Young and Devin Townsend follow a similar approach to making music. Young uses his hard-rocking band Crazy Horse to recharge his batteries, so that he can go off and pursue other musical areas of interest as a solo artist. And Townsend has the same setup - returning time and time again back to "the band thing" (heavy metallists Strapping Young Lad) before tackling other styles as a solo artist. While Townsend's 2006 solo outing Synchestra does let quite a few headbanging elements slip through the metal detectors, Townsend's quirkiness continues to bubble to the surface throughout. Since Townsend first broke on the scene as a member of Steve Vai's band (1993's Sex & Religion), it's understandable that a few obviously Vai-ish bits should be detected, such as the track "Babysong"…

Positively intense and powerful music showing off Devin Townsend's aggressive guitar, skills at production and mixing, and perhaps his most up- front vocal performance ever. Despite the overall excellent sound of the album, it lacks the unpredictability in songwriting of Devin's most popular releases, which might make it come across as deceptively simple; after all, there are some big hooks and sing-along melodies throughout this album - which may actually make it the most accessible offering in DT's entire library. However, after a few careful listens it will be evident to fans that "Accelerated Evolution" has Townsend's mighty signature all over it, and there isn't anything simple going on here (scream along if you can!). Recommend to those interested in exploring Devin Townsend's music for the first time - it is easy to listen to and will more than likely hook you to this very talented musician's unique sound.

Positively intense and powerful music showing off Devin Townsend's aggressive guitar, skills at production and mixing, and perhaps his most up- front vocal performance ever. Despite the overall excellent sound of the album, it lacks the unpredictability in songwriting of Devin's most popular releases, which might make it come across as deceptively simple; after all, there are some big hooks and sing-along melodies throughout this album - which may actually make it the most accessible offering in DT's entire library. However, after a few careful listens it will be evident to fans that "Accelerated Evolution" has Townsend's mighty signature all over it, and there isn't anything simple going on here (scream along if you can!). Recommend to those interested in exploring Devin Townsend's music for the first time - it is easy to listen to and will more than likely hook you to this very talented musician's unique sound.

Devolution Series #2 - Galactic Quarantine was recorded between July and September 2020 in various places around the world. Originally streamed on September 5th, 2020 on StageIt.com as a replacement show for the COVID affected “Empath Vol 2 European Tour” and various cancelled Summer festivals. The show features Devin on vocals and guitars, Samus Paulicelli III on drums, Wes Hauch on guitars and Diego Tejeida on keys.

Devolution Series #2 - Galactic Quarantine was recorded between July and September 2020 in various places around the world. Originally streamed on September 5th, 2020 on StageIt.com as a replacement show for the COVID affected “Empath Vol 2 European Tour” and various cancelled Summer festivals. The show features Devin on vocals and guitars, Samus Paulicelli III on drums, Wes Hauch on guitars and Diego Tejeida on keys.

Devin Townsend, possibly more widely known as the frontman for the extreme metal act Strapping Young Lad, began creating solo albums in 1997. Sometimes referred to as the 'Mad Scientist of Metal', Townsend produces a wide variety of music. This ranges from soft ambience designed, as he has stated, to put the listener to sleep, to high levels of thrash and extreme metal reminiscent of SYL. His works often feature a 'wall of sound', built by adding many layers of guitars and keyboards that are playing in unison or harmony. The end result is a number of carefully produced and mixed albums that favor high-end sound systems. Devin Townsend Project is another venture of Devin Townsend, considered separate from the material released as Devin Townsend. The project was originally conceived to comprise four albums of differing musical styles, each with a different set of guest/session musicians backing Townsend, but ended up continuing beyond that.