We'll Do It Live Fridays (On Sunday?): Anthropocentric Deconstruction

Wait.....a We'll Do It Live Fridays post on Sunday?  Yes, you're eyes do not deceive you.  I was planning on throwing this up by Friday but I got ridiculously busy, so here we are.  This week's post will be a little different in that I'll be throwing up two live clips from two seperate bands to promote their tour that's going around.  You'll want to check this out.

Exclusive Interview - Devin Townsend

Yeah this pretty much sums up how awesome Devy is live.

It's been a while since we've had an exclusive interview, but we've sure come back with one in style.  Two nights ago I wandered on down to the House of Blues in Chicago to catch Devin Townsend since he was coming through on his tour with Children of Bodom, Obscura, and Septicflesh (weird lineup for him right?).  With his new albums, Deconstruction and Ghost, having been recently released, there were plenty of things to talk about.  Needless to say, Devin is a really fun guy to chat with.  His live performance was also really awesome.  If you've never seen him live, the picture above should be your indicator that you need to. His stage presence can only be described as purely energetic and fun.

Be sure to check out his new ablums, Deconstruction and Ghost, if you haven't already.  They are pretty incredible.   





-Mick        

New Devin Townsend Tracks? Yes, Please.

With Devin Townsend's albums Deconstruction and Ghost dropping on June 21st (June 20th in Europe) there's still plenty of reason to be excited for what this year still has in store for us.  On a somewhat related sidenote, can you remember a year where so much good material has come out in such a short amount of time (and there's still a crap load left)?  I certainly can't.  But back to the task at hand.  Hevy Devy has released two tracks for free download here.  One track, "Feather," comes from the extremely chill Ghost record while the other, "Juular (featuring Ihsahn),"  comes from the extremely heavy Deconstruction.  It should go without saying that both tracks are ridiculously awesome.  Check them both out after the break.

Devin Townsend Releases New Album Artwork

Above is the new slipcase artwork for our good friend Devin Townsend's upcoming album Ghost.  And me let me just say that I absolutely love it.  It's very simple but still awesome at the same time.  Devin released this new artwork this last Saturday saying that it was inspired by some pictures he was shown by someone on Twitter.  More news to come on Hevy Devy's upcoming albums Ghost and Deconstruction!

-Mick

The Heir(s) to the Meshuggah Throne?

Following the Devin Townsend Project show in Chicago the other evening (which took place following our interview with Devin that you can find below and at our YouTube channel), I came away with two immediate thoughts; 1) no one in this entire universe is on the same wavelength, musically or mentally, as Mr. Townsend, and 2) TesseracT is a band everyone should watch the balls out for.

Srsly. These guys pwn.

 While The DTP undeniably killed it at Lincoln Hall, TesseracT left many people in the crowd visibly impressed. My first experience of their unique mixture of clean, melodious vocals, unconventional song structures and poly-rhythmic chug-a-lugs was overwhelmingly positive. I spoke to other attendees who also voiced a similar sentiment. And... wait a second... that sounds a whole hell of a lot like a description of Periphery (as pointed out by TesseracT's very own Acle Kahney)! MetalSucks (terrorist fist jab to those guys) and many other metal blogs have helped popularize the term "djent" to describe the sound of bands inspired by Meshuggah, the pioneers of all things heavy + extremely challenging in terms of music theory. Conincientally, djent was actually coined by Periphery's own Misha "Bulb" Mansoor. TesseracT and Periphery, along with a handful of other metal acts such as Monuments or even Animals as Leaders, combine the heaviness and creativeness of Meshuggah with new elements of their own. These guys have taken the ball and run with it in terms of djent, and are fortunately garnering a great deal much deserved press.

Meshuggah is by no means close to their end (as far as we know) despite numerous bumps in the road. But I doubt (and essentially know for a fact) that we here at the 'Topia are not alone in thinking that Periphery and TesseracT together are poised to assume the reigns from Meshuggah in terms of groove based metal with arduously crafted rhythms and the catchiest fucking headbanging passages one could ever ask for. Watch out for TesseracT (who are heading to India in December and should be back to tour Europe and the Americas following the drop of their debut full length entitled One in 2011) and Periphery (who are currently out on tour with Darkest Hour and native Chi-townians Veil of Maya). The future of djent depends on them. /Luke Skywalker joke

- Jack Attack

Wagga Wagga : The Exclusive Devin Townsend Interview

So, as we said previously, we interviewed the science-fiction-loving, heavy metal schmuck himself, Devin Townsend, last eve at Lincoln Hall in Chicago. Needless to say, it was wonderful. You can see the two parts of the interview below, via our Youtube account.

Big thanks to Devin and his crew for bearing with us when they were setting up. Get stoked for Z2, and everything else he has coming out!