Devin Townsend Project – Deconstruction CD review

In June of 2011, metal madman Devin Townsend released two albums; that along with the likes of Ki and Addicted would end a musical chapter in the very large story of the Devin Townsend Project. Deconstruction is the third out of these four albums, and it is the darkest, heaviest and most destructive piece of musical art that has sprung forth from the mine of Mr Townsend. With machine like guitar lines, stomping rhythm sections and Devin’s demonic voice, this is an album you don’t want to miss out of your collection.

Unlike previous albums in this musical series, Deconstruction’s main aim is to go full out hard and heavy, without giving a damn, how loud or aggressive it gets. Sure, lyrically in songs like ‘Juular’, ‘Pandemic’ and ‘Stand’ Devin shifts from harsh; earth shattering growls to melodic angel like singing at the click of a finger, but this doesn’t stop the foot stomping, heavily distorted bouncy riffs from punching a hole straight through your earphones and smashing your ear drums into a million pieces. It’s a brilliant album to plug your earphones into and turn it up to 11, just because of its sheer bombastic brilliance!

There is so much going on in every song on Deconstruction, and with every send keeping you hooked and on the edge, you can’t help put stay and finish the song you are listening to. With aggressive shredding solos, spooky ambient keyboard sections and changes in time signature left right and centre, Devin Townsend has well and truly proved that he is the best, not one of the best, the best metal musician ever, combining his magical guitar skills with his killer voice to bring forth the inner rock beast in every song that he writes.

The only problem with Devin Townsend is that with Deconstruction despite the dark music in the background, it is totally cheesy and some of the songs are a bit of a gimmick. With titles like ‘Mighty Masturbator’, not to mention the pretty bonkers lyrics in the tracks ‘Planet of the Apes’ and ‘Deconstruction’. You can’t help but think that Devin Townsend is going a bit “Childish” with this release. Sure, it’s good to have a bit of fun when you are playing music. But with Deconstruction Mr Townsend just takes everything over the top, and instead of paying attention to the killer music that he is playing you are no doubt going to be laughing to his silly antics throughout the record.

Musically Deconstruction is one of Devin Townsend’s best albums, but occasionally the rather crude and childish humour spoils the atmosphere of this supposedly “dark record”.  Stick to what your best to man, playing the guitar and singing like a god is far better than farting at the opening of a track! [7/10]

About Del Preston

So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So, Jeff Beck pops his head 'round the door, and mentions there's a little sweet shop on the edge of town. So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me and Keith Moon and David Crosby, breaking into that little sweet shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shop owner and his son, that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business really. But sure enough, I got the M&Ms and Ozzy went on stage and did a great show.