Customer Reviews

Terria

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

THE BAND: Devin Townsend (vocals, guitars, keyboards & samples), Craig McFarland (fretless bass), Jamie Meyer (piano, keyboards), Gene Hogian (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (2001) 10 tracks (plus 1 untitled hidden track) clocking in at just under 72 minutes. All songs written and produced by Townsend. Included with the disc is an 18-page booklet contain song lyrics, some neat dreamy futuristic landscape type photos, one picture of Townsend, a listing of the musicians, and thank you's. A 2nd 'bonus" multimedia disc is included as well - containing 3 chapters for your PC - an album picture gallery; a "Listen to Devon" introspective - Devon himself telling the behind the scenses stuff, making of, people involved, artwork, etc; and video footage of Townsend in concert Tokyo 1999 (5 songs: "Seventh Wave", "Regulator", "Truth", "War", and "Hide Nowhere"). "Terria" recorded at various studios in Vancouver B.C. Canada. Label - InsideOut Music.

COMMENTS: A monumental album. An art rock/metal masterpiece. A journey by the man... the musician and the businessman. Life experiences put into music. One of my two personal favorites from Townsend; the other being the more mainstream "Acclerated Evolution" (2003). "Terria" is quite simply creative, aggresive, daring, emotional, soaring, original and consuming. "Terria" starts out with the short and mellow intrumental "Olives", some light guitar strokes, some mumbling, and birds chirping in the background... building up to the other band members joining in for a typical Townsend heavy metal ending. "Mountain" as you'll hear on disc two is about life and his dog "Happy" who had cancer. If you listen closely, you can hear him howling on this track. "Earth Day" is nine-and-a-half minute melodic rocker - one of my favorites here. The slower songs - "Deep Space" is a power ballad (if you will) and perhaps the softest song - along with "Down And Under", and "Nobody's Here"... some beautfiful moments on each (acoustic and electric guitars galore). The album closer is "Stagnant" - mid tempo rocker and catchy as all Hell. The untitle bonus track is a minute-and-a-half clowning around acoustic track followed by 4 minutes of wasted static and space. An incredible album filled with originality... like nothing else you own. Buy "Terria" and "Accelerated Evolution" together. They may not leave your CD player for weeks (5-stars).

Devin Townsend is an enigmatic musical genius. He createst startling original and equally weird music. "Terria" is his latest concoction and in my opinion, his most fully realized vision of musical schizophrenia. As "Ocean Machine" was the music of the sea, "Terria" is the music of the Earth. This is an organic work that lives and breaths. Devin tackles vocal duties, constantly shifting styles and proving himself a vocal god. He also provides amazing guitar work and lush keyboards. In addition, Devin produced this album. He has a trademark production that is quite warm, thick and lush, while still remaining a crisp punch. You can also experience this production on Soilwork's "Natural Born Chaos".

Admittedly, I start this album on Track 3. I really don't get much out of the first two tracks, which are mainly just experiments in unstructured noise. The 3rd track, "Earth Day" is where it all begins for me... and it begins with a sledgehammer! This 9 minute opus is the heaviest and perhaps strangest of all the tracks on "Terria". It features lyrics that seemingly make little sense (not true for much of the album though). Devin employs many vocal styles in this song, including a raspy black metal style in the pre-chorus that is blood-curdling. This song is heavy, crazy and dynamic.

"Deep Peace" is the yin to "Earth Day"'s yang. This is indeed a composition of deep peace and peerless beauty. The listener can just drift away along with the calm and soothing music. However, the defining moment is the guitar solo midway through the song. This neoclassical solo is the apex of talent and creativity. It is quite long, quite lyrical and extraordinarly enjoyable. Devin proves that he is more than just a versatile vocalist and cunning composer, he is also a GREAT guitarist!

"Canada" is a gorgeous ode to his country. This is a mid-tempo song with some great atmospherics and lush vocal treatments.

"Down and Under" is an instrumental piece. This is primarily acoustic. This is another atmospheric piece, and features plunging bass and some tasteful drumming by metal percussion legend Gene Hoglan.

"The Fluke" is a fast and catchy song. Starting off with a fuzzy guitar riff, this song blasts off with the thick Devin sound. The chorus is huge. But the real highlight of this song is at about the 3:25 mark, which features some amazingly beautiful counterpoint vocals. This part is sublime.

Then follows a serene and soft ballad called "Nobody's Here". This is an emotional tranquilizer. The lyrics are very personal, and something most people can relate too. Devin puts in an beautiful vocal performance. The song swells with lush synths and blossoms into a magnificent chorus. A passionate guitar solo envelops the listener.

"Tiny Tears" is even more fragile, opening with a crying guitar. Each note is like a tear falling down one's face. Devin's voice is very soothing as he sings, "baby baby don't you cry, wipe away that tear from your eye". This is yet another emotional tranquilizer and a masterpiece of modern rock. Music like this requires attentive listening, this is not background music. This is a finely crafted work of atmospheric musical art. "I can't believe I made you cry."

Closer "Stagnant" may be my favorite from the album, and in a perfect world would be all over radio, because this is one catchy pop-rock tune. Devin really has a knack at crafting memorable choruses. This song has such a spritely sound and ends the album perfectly.

"Terria" is indeed a masterpiece of bizarre, original, creative progressive music. It may take a couple listens to sink in. Some of it may be uncomfortable to listen to. But this is the naked essence of emotional progressive art.

Devin Townsend albums generally fall into two categories. There's the accessible variety that's straightforward and easy to like (e.g. Physicist or Accelerated Evolution).. and there's the kind that's more of an in-depth experience. These have the same qualities - offbeat writing, stellar engineering/production, an approach to metal that's heavy and atmospheric and addicting and melodic all at once - and although they may not be as catchy, time reveals a wealth of depth and detail that you'd never suspect at first.

Whatever you call it, Terria is one of these. It's something that touches on rock and pop and metal and even a helping of the ambient, lightened up with an occasional skewed melody or lyric, or a bizarre stop-on-a-dime change or the addition of some odd sound that's unexpected. There's a definite sense of fun here that some Townsend albums can lack. "Olives" sets the quirky tone right away with a distorted voice and a haze of odd disjointed noises, sloooowwwwly congealing into an introductory melody using a kind of reverse entropy.

"Deep Peace" builds from acoustic to electric with a soaring bridge that's almost Baroque. "Earth Day" covers a similar range from slow mood-metal to fast-paced shrieking (with the aforementioned humor tossed in too, as evidenced by Devy evilly screaming lines like "eat your beets.. RE-CYYY-CLLLLLLEEEEEE"). The quicker "Down and Under" is easy to overlook - it's the lone song not to break the five-minute mark - but pay attention before it slips past and you'll hear him weaving a masterful buildup, from single-guitar groove to ethereal chorus of voices to an enormous crashing metallic wall of sound.

In a way it's almost disappointing to end with "Stagnant," a simple power ballad where you can see the chord changes coming a mile off, followed by a goofy throwaway hidden track. But that's just another reason to hunt for the album's expanded two-disc edition - that way you get "Universal" as a bonus, and it's a fun ride. (A bouncy c'mon-everybody-sing number when it gets the Townsend mad-scientist treatment is definitely something worth hearing.) The bonus disc is rounded out with an audio commentary on making the album, plus seven video tracks of the DT band live in Tokyo - Seventh Wave, Regulator, Truth, War, Hide Nowhere, Bad Devil, Christeen.

When I first heard Terria, I would have rated it as a halfhearted project that searched and drifted but didn't really find itself. After a while longer I would have called it a solid disc but not too outstanding. Now, quite simply, I call it one of Townsend's masterpieces - it can't really be compared to anything else, but it shouldn't be. This is one of those rare gems that's so pure it can only be taken on its own. Just be sure to give it enough time to reveal all its faces.

Whoa dude. This album was totally not what I was expecting. Awhile ago, I purchased Strapping Young Lad's "City" and was so impressed that I ordered this soon after. Well, this is quite a bit different than SYL, but I'm not at all disappointed. This album has showed me how diverse and talented Devin Townsend is. (By the way, I can safely say that, yet I only own this album and "City" from him).

Some call this "Progressive Metal". Could be. But that term definitely doesn't do it any justice. This music cannot be easily categorized. There is everything from metal (Complete with Devin's signature blood-curdling scream - but not nearly as much as SYL), rock, slight country influence, ballads, and more. Some comments on my favorite tunes:

Mountain - Noisy melodic metal. There's obscure beauty in the melody, but it's buried under a wall of noise. At the end Devin lets out some terrifying screaming ("IT'S JUST ANOTHER MOUNTAIN!!) Cool song, but kind of hard to listen to at times.

Earth Day - An epic metal song. Very diverse vocals. It can go from beautifully powerful to painful to the ear in a matter of seconds.

Deep Peace - Ah, now things get a bit slower. A more relaxed song, that has a great guitar solo and a powerful finish.

Nobody's Here - An absolutely beautiful ballad. One of the best I've ever heard. Stop and think for a second. How many musicians do stuff like SYL, and stuff like this? This song is absolutely amazing. Words cannot describe it.

Tiny Tears - Another Epic, this time a ballad. The guitar solo is NASTY. But good, in some weird, weird way.

Stagnant - A great pop/rock song. Begins with a line I never thought I'd hear Devy say. "Summer's gone, the sunlight greets the day/ Winter's gone, there's no more rain today..." ! A great, accessible, catchy rock tune. Devin's voice kinda reminds me of James Hetfield's singing voice on this song.

So, I highly recommend this album. No, you don't have to be a deathmetalhead who loves SYL, in fact, you'll probably like this better if you don't. Occasionally this album kicks it up to some pretty brutal metal, but overall it's more atmospheric, beautiful and accessible rock. So, check it out. If you really like metal, also check out Strapping Young Lad. Also see Devin's other solo albums. I definitely will.

Devin Townsend was always great. He showed the world his talents with fine works such as "Ocean Machine" and "Infinity", but with "Terria" he took it up a few notches. The general feel and sound of the album is undeniably Townsend. For those new to his work, he is one of the few artists that can create a 'wall of sound' that is both powerful and melodic, and often emphasises the already prevailing emotions. Many bands attempt the wall of sound effect, and end up creating messy sludge. Devin is a genius though, so its all good.

"Terria" is essentially a sophisticated, emotional delve into Devin's personal life at the time. His lyrics are thought provoking, ranging from sincere anger and resentment 'take your seat/after all your just talking meat' to reflective, self-harming moods, 'to feel like there's nobody here/to feel like theres no more fear'. Poignant lyrics are only powerful if delivered properly, and well, Devin has one hell of a voice box in him. His range and diversity is superb, delivering the lyrics with a great deal of panache and sincere inner torment.

Musically "Terria" is a tour-de-force of Devin's own style of hard rock/metal fused with some progressive elements. "Earth Day" is a fine example of everything sumptuous about this album, overtly progressive in style and structure; the song weaves in and out of themes, each as compelling as the next and all complemented by an overwhelming vocal performance. Certainly one of the defining moments in the album. "Deep Peace" is another fine progressive styled song, starting softly and gradually building to a great climax, the guitar solo is jaw-droppingly good.

My other personal highlights include the fun rocking "Fluke" which has some wonderful bridge work and a powerful chorus where Devin shouts 'FREAK! / FLUKE!' Most 'rocking' song on the album. The two ballads that approach the end of the album, "Nobody's Here" and "Tiny Tears" are two superb songs. The former is a rock ballad epic, no messing around, nothing terribly experimental, just a few great hooks where Devin sings his heart out, spilling overboard with emotion, 'I feel like there's nobody here' he yearns. The latter is a more experimental take on a rock ballad, but once again has some powerful distressing lyrics and vocals. Stunning way to draw a close to the album.

If you're a fan of progressive music in any form, this a must have. If you want something innovative with actual sincere emotion, I recommend this very highly.

After my first listen I had a hard time getting past the "wall of noise" where the music seems to ebb and flow against a constant growling background. A few more spins revealed the extraordinary depth and quality within each of the songs. It keeps getting better the more I listen to it. It's really not a heavy metal or harsh album even though the music is often "loud". The layered vocals, solid grooves, superb melodies, unrestrained emotions, and consistent production quality make this a truly great album.

Olives - 5/5 - Interesting opening for the album. I like it.
Mountain - 4/5 - One of the heavier songs on the album. Good vocals.
Earth Day - 5/5 - Great chorus mixed in with NineInchNails/MarilynManson-like music.
Deap Peace - 5/5 - 1st half isn't particularly noteworthy but really picks up halfway through with waltz-like guitar work.
Canada - 5/5 - My favorite song on the album. An incredible groove with majestic vocals.
Down and Under - 5/5 - An instrumental with a nice gradual buildup.
The Fluke - 4/5 - One of the more aggressive songs. Definitely has its moments.
Nobody's Here - 4/5 - Slower song with a consistent, driving melody.
Tiny Tears - 5/5 - Excellent progressive ballad. I especially like the buildup at the end.
Stagnant - 3/5 - Not bad, but a bit too mainstream for my taste.

Highly recommended!

Calm, quiet tinny music opens. You hear someone saying seemingly random words in a strange voice through a distorted microphone. The background music changes to a tinny buzzing sound. Upon the voice saying "Olive?", a clean guitar chord is struck. This builds up into the cacophonous wall of noise that is "Olive".

Terria is one of the densest, most heavily layered and most interesting albums I've ever heard. It isn't catchy, yet something draws you back to it. It isn't especially technical most of the time, yet the instrumentation hypnotises you. You find sound effects, samples, pieces of music and god knows what else buried in the mix that you didn't hear the first, second, third... hell, twenty-seventh time you listened. Perhaps the most incredible thing is that the music is still fairly easy to listen to once you've got your head round it, despite the massive amount of things going on.

And what does it sound like? Well, there is more variety here than a lot of bands have in their entire catalogue. That isn't to that this is a psuedo-eclectic mish-mash of ideas thrown together - these songs still have a common sound. They still feel like a complete album. The don't sound like they could ever be separated, put into a different order or like there's anything missing. But the variety is abundant. Strange mixtures of progressive rock and industrial can be found, alongside epic metal assaults and soothing, emotional soundscapes. This music is damn near impossible to either accurately describe or do justice with words.

This definately isn't for everybody. You need a varied music taste and an open mind to boot and even with that it may not be your thing. I've recently bought Accelerated Evolution and while I don't think it is on quite the same level as this, I recommend it before this (to metalheads at least) as it is definately more accessible. But for anyone willing to a chance with some of the most intense but also most beautiful music money can buy, I'd highly recommend this masterpiece.

Masterpiece... That's the only way to describe SYL's front man's 4th solo release. This CD is meant to be listened to from beginning to end, it is amazing the amount of effort that Devin put into this work to make it such a complete release. Terria is packed full of emotion and beautiful melodies that beg to be listened to over and over. Here is a quick rundown of the songs...

1. Olives - A strange track, but a nice opening. It sets an eerie mood with its digitally slowed down lyrics and simplistic riff that builds up towards the end into a wall of sound and leads into...

2. Mountain - This song opens with a belly-rumbling growl from Devin and a powerful guitar riff. Mountain is a nice mix of growls and Devin's melodic singing.

3. Earth Day - Epic. This has to be one of Devin Townsend's greatest songs. It is in itself a masterpiece. This song has so many mood changes it's unbelievable. It shifts from haunting to driving to angry to pleading to comforting. "So just shut your face and take a seat, because after all you're just talking meat... and music? Well it's just entertainment folks." Unbelievable, amazing, incredible... take your pick.

4. Deep Peace - This song really calms things down - a simple acoustic guitar riff with relaxing dolphin noises and Devin singing peacefully. Towards the middle it picks up and then launches into an amazing guitar solo that has more time signature changes than you can shake a metronome at.

5. Canada - This song has a catchy guitar intro that then builds into a very catchy guitar riff. I presume Devin is a tribute to his homeland as he sings "The road, it's home, the mountain high, river low." Halfway through the song the ultraslow voice similar to the intro makes a return and then the song changes into a driving bridge before returning to the catchy riff to end.

6. Down and Under - This is an instrumental track. Like Deep Peace starts off as Acoustic and builds up but it is more up beat and lively.

7. The Fluke - This is a fairly heavy upbeat song that has a more driving fell to it. Devin's screaming of "FREAK! FLUKE!" in the chorus is very catchy and effective. The breakdown is a very dramatic symphony of voices humming the same line. However, the last 2 or so minutes of the track are just ambient keyboards, which then fade into the sound of static (it almost sounds like rain.)

8. Nobody's Here - This is another relaxing song where Devin tones down his singing and, like Deep Peace, takes on a soothing feel. But you just can't keep him down this track builds up into a more dramatic ending, not heavy, just dramatic, that has a chorus of Devins singing.

9. Tiny Tears - Tiny Tears opens with a very high-pitched guitar riff. This is a slower track that again has a choir of Devins singing the lines "I can't believe I made you cry." The whole song is almost lullaby-like.

10. Stagnant - Probably my favourite song on the CD. Is uplifting and happy and also a good ending and resolution to the CD. The song is in a major key and is very catchy, i found myself humming it in my head for days. Amazing.

11. [Bonus Track] - A funny track that sounds like Devin and the band having a little jam. Some interesting vocals by Devin near the end of the jam. After that it fades into a strange wall of sound that sounds like many songs together, its almost reminiscent of a orchestra setting up.

I cannot sing enough praise for this CD. Devin Townsend is truly a genius and this CD is his greatest work to date. Buy it. You won't regret it.

~Dynasty

Well, one things for sure. You never know quite what to expect with a Devin Townsend album. After 2000's very heavy and crushing "Physicist" album really surprised me with how lacking it was in Devin-like progressiveness, experimentation and craziness, I figured he'd maybe shelved that side of his music for a while. Along comes "Terria" and it's obvious that I was mistaken in that assumption. This album holds a plethora of treasures and defies both genres and description in general. For fans of his earlier albums, I'd describe this as containing characteristics from all of them. The experimental madness of "Infinity" is present although it doesn't contain the cabaret circus freak nature of that album. There are occasional sections of heaviness that remind me of "Physicist" yet it's nowhere near as constantly barraging as that release. Finally, Devin has also utilized his slightly industrialised rock sound that made "Ocean Machine" so awesome. So there's plenty to offer on "Terria" for any fan of Mr Townsend.

But that's not to say that this is a completely successful release. A few tracks here and there are really great. "Deep Peace" could in theory be labelled a ballad and yet the lead guitar is just beautiful, the track exuding so much feeling and emotion. "Down and Under" is a fantastic instrumental based on acoustic guitars and a full sweeping symphony of sound. Yet tracks such as "Nobody's Here" and "Stagnant" just don't do a lot for me. They are solid enough yet lack the uniqueness and entertainment value that is normally a requisite of Devin's work. I guess they're just a little too straight forward for my liking.

But these are minor qualms as "Terria" is generally a solid album filled with over an hour of music that will be of interest to anyone into pretty much any of Devin's prior releases. It's not my favourite Devin album, yet after reading a fair few reviews of his work it would appear that I'm part of a minority of his fans that enjoy "Ocean Machine" and "Physicist" far more than "Infinity" and "Terria". But I guess that's the beauty of opinion.

I have just recentely recieved "Terria" and "Synchestra" by Devin Townsend (although the latter flys under the moniker of "The Devin Townsend band). As my review suggests, this album has definetely captivated me:

Devin's vocals, as everyone knows never fail to impress. For those who know Strapping Young Lad, Devin has an incredible range for heavy vocals; his solo material still incorporates these harsh vocals, but in a much more "melodic" manner and his clean voice is among my top 5. The other members all have shining moments, especially Gene Hoghlan (Death, Dark Angel, etc.). He doesn't necessarily take a backseat on this album, but his drumming does not interefere with the delicacy of these compositions. The album still retains much heaviness though :). Craig McFarland's contribution will most likely be underrated, but his fretless bass adds to the "natural" atmosphere that pervades this album. As with every Townsend album, heaviness is key and no pun inteneded Jamie Meyer plays a key role with his keyboards. Many of Devin's heavy drop tuned guitar riffs are followed by Jamie's keyboard to bulk them up, adding a new dimension to the music, instead of just using a second guitar.

Lyricly, this is Devin's most mature and true albums. He even says so himself on the bonus cd. The lyrics are of a conceptual nature and are in fact about natural things that we experience everday: ex) track 5 - "Canada".

The only real drawback is not "Terria" itself, but the Bonus CD. It contains an interview conducted by Townsend himself which is quite useful and eye opening. The only problem lies within the live performances included. They have a default player that only fits a small portion of the screen and it is only CD-ROM friendly (you cannot play it on a DVD player). The footage is pretty nice and the band plays songs from previous album (Ocean Machine, Infinity, etc.) This is really dissmisable though unfortunately.

4 stars