Devin Townsend has been one of the leaders of the progressive moment since he first picked up a guitar. He is held in the highest regards of metal fans around the world, as has been seen by the incredible fan fare that surrounded last year's 'Addicted' and the touring that surrounded it. Now Devin has multiple albums and touring in the works for 2011 and is ready to kick things off.
First of all, a
free five-song acoustic EP has been made available for download online. Featuring the tracks "Supercrush," "Kingdom," "Truth," "Om," and "By Your Command,"
the EP can be downloaded here.
Devin is also hard at work on two albums that are slated for 2011 releases, 'Deconstruction' and 'Ghost'.
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"Devin and I went over the 5 demoed songs and provided beats and structures to some new tunes. 'T was all good times and loud laughs. I chose a Meinl Classics 8" Low Bell to complement my 22" Mb20 Heavy Bell Ride.
In respect of Gene "The Machine" Hoglan's legacy of thunderous beats, it would've been blasphemy not to have some double ride style bits on this record. Other cymbals I used include a Meinl Generation X 6/10"Attack Stack- producing a wet, crisp percussive sound- and a 20" Mb20 Heavy Crash which almost sounds like a ride, and completely sounds killer.
I placed a Tama Warlord Brass snare on the far right, almost out of reach, and ended up playing it in mostly silly ways. For the speedy double kick parts, it's bliss to have the brand new Tama Speed Cobra pedal which, in combination with my dB drumshoes, has become my new weapon of choice. I usually go with Evans EC2 on the toms, but this time I used the basic G1 heads, allowing the natural tones of the kit to shine through. Snare and kick were equipped with the superb Evans Hybrid and GMAD respectively.
All in all, this was a spontaneous, creative and exhilarating affair. Devin's continuous enthusiasm and humor throughout made for a very relaxed and fun vibe for everyone. But don't be mistaken: the music is as relentless as it gets. There will be some serious damage when this baby gets released!" Dirk
Below you will find a video update from Devin himself as he workd on the orchestral recording for 'Deconstruction'.
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