Devin Townsend asserts that when he finally looks back on his recording career, Z² will be the one record that defines it. Given that at the age of 42 the Canadian metal musician has already released nigh on thirty albums, this is a wonderfully strong claim on his part, albeit one that is in perfect keeping with his fantastic widescreen artistic vision.
When history does eventually take a view on Townsend’s complete back catalogue, what will probably not be in dispute is the fact that Z² is one huge, sprawling beast of a record. Spread over two labyrinthine discs, Z² is a massive musical extravaganza, the second half of which, Dark Matters, is a sequel-of-sorts to Townsend’s 2007 concept offering, Ziltoid The Omniscient. Once more following the adventures of that record’s eponymous hero, Dark Matters is a ridiculously overblown soundtrack to some Sci-Fi comic strip, replete with great swirling orchestration, massed choirs and suitably startled narration. But for all of its pomp, grandeur and occasional brilliance you do feel that its impact would be heightened even more were it to be heard whilst viewing an equally outlandish animated film of Ziltoid’s surreal story.
The far greater musical experience is to be had on the first disc, Sky Blue. Here Townsend avoids any conceptual distractions and concentrates purely on those vast sweeping torrents of sound, multi-storey melodies and his own glorious ambition all of which have variously characterised his recorded output now for almost twenty years. Underpinned by a lingering sense of melancholia, the end results – including a remarkable fusion of the spirit of will.i.am and the refrain of Dead Or Alive’s 1985 number one hit, ‘You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)’ on the song ‘Silent Militia’ – are never anything less than spectacular.
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Z² was released on 27th October 2014 through the HevyDevy label
Devin Townsend Project present ‘Return of the Ziltoid’ at the Royal Albert Hall, London on 13th April 2015. Tickets for this show sold out within 3 days.
