Devin Townsend - Terria (2001)
I was recently introduced to the idea of geocaching and found the ability to go on a scavenger hunt across the world (read: my small town) was fascinating and would get me out of the house to go on some epic journey that'd soon end because "fuck, I'm tired" after walking for an entire ten minutes. Now, flash over to the album cover, and it's really kind of beautiful: A guy walking through a plain as it storms over head, and it, by some people's perspective, is a bit of a depressing photo. However, I think of it as being both a depressing and a happy photo. Depressing in the way that it's a guy walking by himself through a plain during a storm, all alone and without anywhere to go, but also happy in the way that maybe being alone is what he wants, and he's making an effort to find his place in the world. Was that Devin Townsend's intention? Probably not. He probably just thought it was a cool picture (which it is) and moved on, but my mind always tries to draw conclusions/hidden metaphors where there are none, because I'm a stupid fuck, and when I say that, I mean it: I didn't know that the whole "the girl can't get pregnant if she's on top" myth was bullshit for years despite it being pretty obvious. Thankfully I never knocked a girl up (because that, y'know, would involve touching a girl, and do I sound like a guy who does a lot of that?), but if I did, I'd probably lay beside her as it rains outside, holding her close while serenading her with the beautiful sounds of "Deep Peace" and "Nobody's Here" playing on my stereo in the background.
This album sounds a lot like the album cover would imply: The softer moments remind me of the dude walking through the plain, and the heavier moments, which (thankfully) never really go into Strapping Young Lad-esque territory sound like a fucking mountain of sound that you're colliding into headfirst at 300MPH, and that's especially fucking great because Devin Townsend knows how to write plenty of memorable riffs, solos (oh my God, the one in "Deep Peace") and little guitar wankery that shows off his talent without outstaying its welcome. When you combine this with the fact that Devin Townsend is an awesome vocalist and knows how to write some incredible material and stitch it all together in a cohesive nature (how the fuck do the separate sections in "Earth Day" flow into each other so easily??), it quickly becomes apparent that this is a fucking great album that you probably won't -get- the first or even second time listening through, but if you open your ears and just lose yourself in the atmospheres, you'll find that the album can be like the equivalent of a warm blanket on a cold winter's night, and I'm adult enough to admit that even I teared up to "Nobody's Here" because fuck you, that's -exactly- what I've been feeling lately, even if the chorus isn't Devin Townsend's peak lyrically. While I still wouldn't say this is Devin Townsend's best album, it's an incredible album for what it is: As gentle as a mother cuddling her newborn, as heavy as an entire dump-truck of cement tipping over directly onto your face, and as beautiful as -that- person. You know who I'm talking about.
8/10
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