Audio By Carbonatix
Grating, blistering, relentless industrial thrash death metal about marriage and starting a family? Leave it to Strapping Young Lad’s freakish mastermind, Devin Townsend, to create Alien, an aural onslaught of Ministry-indebted mayhem that spends a surprising amount of time on the topics of love and babies. To top it off, the Vancouver-based act throws in a credible David Gilmour-esque ballad (“Two Weeks”) and a twelve-minute noise track (“Info Dump”). But with all that, SYL still manages to hit harder than many bands who stick to the tried-and-true metal themes of hate and death. With other albums titled Heavy As a Really Heavy Thing and No Sleep ‘Til Bedtime, Strapping Young Lad has established itself as the ultimate metal iconoclast, making a mockery of the things many ‘heads hold sacred without getting too jokey — not to mention writing love songs while producing a consistently punishing barrage. No, metal isn’t known for its humor or romance, but Strapping Young Lad proves there’s room for a little goofiness when you’re this freakin’ hard.
When news happens, Westword is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community. If Westword matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
