In less than six months since the release of his solo
band's last acclaimed effort (The Devin Townsend Band's 'Synchestra',
which was released back in January 2006), musical chameleon Devin Townsend
has once again returned to the studio with his extreme outfit Strapping
Young Lad (consisting of Townsend on vocals/guitars, guitarist Jed Simon,
bassist Byron Stroud, keyboardist/sampler Will Campagna and drummer
Gene Hoglan). Expecting the unexpected is the only certainty one can
expect of every new Strapping Young Lad album. And as different as chaotic
and somewhat strange 'Alien' (released back in March 2005) was to the
stripped back and angry 'SYL' (released in February 2003), the Canadian
troupe's fifth effort 'The New Black' once again shows another detour
in sound while remaining true to the original design.
As their quick round of dates through Europe to announce
the imminent release of 'The New Black' finishes up, I caught up with
a rather exhausted Devin Townsend (to which he explained was a mixture
of singing too much, talking too much and a bad case of the flu) in
Germany to find out blurring lines being uncool and all things new and
black.
"When it comes to making Strapping Young Lad albums,
it's just a matter of me picking up the guitar and starting to write
something. Whatever feels like coming out at that given time dictates
the direction Strapping Young Lad takes. There's no real conscious decision
to make things sound the way they do. I simply start writing and go
for it. This time around, there a little more groove, a little more
melody and a lot of humour. It's simply what we came up with at the
time. Every album we've done has been unique unto itself, and 'The New
Black' is no different in that regard. It's never preconceived. It's
not like we sit down and determine whether it's going to sound like
this or sound like that. We had the opportunity to make this album,
and with that in mind, the most honest thing we could do is just let
it all come out and let it be what it wants to be. I think maybe this
album wanted to be a little more melodic, a little less chaotic and
a little easier to relate to. I think the humour plays a big part of
that equation. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this album. I'm not hoping
for this album to do anything more than what our other albums have done
in the past. I don't care about that. As soon as you put hopes on something,
it kind of breaks it down. 'The New Black' is just another album in
a long line of albums. I'm just happy that we did a good job on it,
and that it came out sounding good. The only hope I have is that people
enjoy it for what it is, and that we can move on from this."
Although Townsend is known for being prolific (four albums
and a DVD in the last two years speaks for itself), some have questioned
the speed at which Strapping Young Lad have managed to put together
'The New Black', and its timely release to coincide with the group's
appearance on this year's Ozzfest festival (which runs from late July
through to mid August).
"All we knew beforehand is that we had all these
tours coming up and we had to get some new Strapping Young Lad material
done. We just let it lead us where it wanted to, and 'The New Black'
is where it did! (Laughs) The album wasn't rushed. But having said that,
there was definitely pressure to get it done by a certain date. We had
enough time to finish the album properly. And I think it worked out
for the best in the long run. We had a bunch of touring commitments,
and basically, if we hadn't gone into the studio at the time we did,
we simply wouldn't have had the time to do this album whatsoever. I'm
happy to say that it all kind of lined up."
Although it's quite evident upon a first run through 'The
New Black' that humour and melody are a huge part of Strapping Yong
Lad's sound this time around, it's also just as obvious upon repeated
listens that the technical aspect of the band has been stepped up a
notch on past efforts - particularly in lead breaks and Hoglan's larger
than life drum sounds.
"That's right! That's the whole thing that makes
this album really stand out more. This album is different on consecutive
listens than it is on the first couple I think. As you said, on the
first couple of spins, you tend to think that it's fun, and kind of
a rocking Strapping Young Lad album. But it's only when you live with
it a bit more that you realise its just the same old Strapping Young
Lad, only presented in a whole new way! (Laughs) You can't compare 'The
New Black' with anything else we've come up with. For me, what makes
the Strapping Young Lad catalogue so effective is the fact that each
album is unique unto itself. This one is no different. There's no thought
of comparing it to 'Alien', 'SYL' or even 'Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing'.
I know I can't but that's because I think as an artist, it's not healthy.
If you end up comparing albums, you inevitably end up reproducing them
in some way. I think 'The New Black' has its own identity - only it's
coming from the same place."
Another big change to Strapping Young Lad's sound on 'The
New Black' is the list of guest appearances, starting with Gwar vocalist
Oderus Urungus (who is otherwise known as Dave Brockie) as 'The Maggot
Master' on the re-recorded studio version of 'Far Beyond Metal'.
"Well first off, the reason why we decided to re-record
the song is because the live version didn't really have any lyrics as
such! (Laughs) The other reason was because it had never been represented
on an album to the point where it was recorded properly. So we just
thought that rather than record somebody else's song, we would cover
our own and beat ourselves to the punch. I'm happy that we chose to
do that. In the original version I had lyrics that I borrowed from a
Gwar song and since I was working with Gwar at the time (as co-producer
of their upcoming album 'Beyond Hell', which is due for release around
August), I asked Brockie to help out on vocals. He was really cool,
and really happy to do it. It turned out pretty cool."
And then there's Cam Kroetsch (guitarist and vocalist
for Hoglan's side project The Almighty Punchdrunk) on 'You Suck'.
"Kroetsch's just Hoglan's roommate. The song just
needed an extra voice and we figured that Hoglan's roommate was a singer
and easy to get a hold of so we brought him in. It was as simple as
that."
But the one guest appearance that has really taken a lot
of fans by surprise is Canadian punk rocker Bif Naked's lead vocal performance
on the anti-single 'F**ker'.
"She's been in the Canadian music scene for as long
as we have so I guess you can say that freaks unite! (Laughs) We always
figured that if we had a female singer on one of our albums, we had
to at least get one that looks like a metalhead. 'F**ker' is an interesting
song because we were told to write a pop song so we delivered that one!
They're not going to play it anywhere so fill your boots! (Laughs) Nobody
was going to tell us to write a pop song!"
If having a female lead vocalist on a Strapping Young
Lad album wasn't change enough, Townsend also decided to add some horns
to 'Antiproduct' to stir things up and fuel the debate that the line
between Townsend's solo projects and Strapping Young Lad seem to be
blurring with every new project.
"They're actual horns too! I was never cool so I
always decided to do uncool things when most people wouldn't. So it
shouldn't come as any surprise to find me putting horns and flutes in
a heavy metal song. Some people might find that it dubious decision,
but for me, it sounds like 'West Side Story'. I think it sounds good.
I kind of had it in my head from the beginning to have brass on there,
even though it's a song for Strapping Young Lad. As for what you call
the blurred line, in terms of sonically and the melodic elements, I
would say that would be a fair statement. But overall, this album definitely
comes from a Strapping Young Lad headspace no matter how melodic it
may be."
The line isn't blurred exclusively on the music side of
things either, as Townsend's lyrical prose this time around has its
share of introspection moments, like the desperate cry for need sounding
'Polyphony'.
"That may be true. I don't think too much about what
I write lyrically. I kind of do it, and I guess it does make some sense
in a broader aspect in time. What it comes down to is this. I've been
doing this for a lot of years and I'm definitely tired. So inside of
me there's this need to get rid of those last remaining songs out of
me and 'Polyphony' is one of those that's been hanging around for quite
a while. I really don't know what it represents. All I know is that
I'm happy with the way it eventually came out."
Much like his thoughts on overanalysing the lyrical content
of the new album, Townsend feels that there's nothing behind the imagery
of the album artwork (created by the renowned Travis Smith) other than
what you want to see into it.
"Well, it's supposed to be an ink blot test. So really,
whatever you want to see in the artwork is what it is. There was no
real concept other than whatever you want it to be is exactly what it
really is."
Although the title 'The New Black' is a bold statement
in itself, Townsend is quick to play down any claims that Strapping
Young Lad considers themselves the new black in the face of today's
metal scene.
"I don't think we would be as bold as to say that
Strapping Young Lad is the new black. Maybe Hoglan would say that because
he actually named the album. I can't actually speak for Hoglan and explain
exactly why he chose that title but I really like the title. Hoglan
just mentioned the phrase and we all thought it was pretty cool. It
was simply the way it sounded that sold us. The cover is predominately
white, so maybe the new black is white?"
Under normal circumstances, I quite often find out what
the future holds for a band in regards to touring. But in the case of
Strapping Young Lad, the outlook is somewhat uncertain as Townsend has
far more important issues he wishes to contend with.
"We start out on the second stage of Ozzfest at the
start of July and that will run through until August. But to tell you
the truth, my wife (Tracy) is pregnant and I would rather be home with
her. I'm still going to do a good job on Ozzfest this year and we'll
play the most scorching twenty minutes of that show every day. I can
guarantee you that! But after Ozzfest is finished, I'm going to take
an extended break and see where I end up at the end."
I would like to thank Devin Townsend for his generous
time, and Andrew Haug at Century Media Records for making the interview
possible.
For more information on Strapping Young Lad, check out - http://www.strappingyounglad.com
© Justin Donnelly - justindonnelly@ozemail.com.au
