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Strapping Young Lad > Alien > Reviews
Strapping Young Lad - Alien

Writing down my infinity. - 100%

TheMeh, December 17th, 2019
Written based on this version: 2005, CD, Century Media Records

It's no secret that my beliefs on the history of SYL so far have been... marginal, to say the least. Recollection dictates that, as of yet, my scoring of said albums in this particular section of Devin's discography may be the most sporadic. While that may be, in part, due to the ideal that the sound and atmosphere of Strapping Young Lad up to this point has been incredibly inconsistent and all over the place, I would be remiss not to incline more than that. Truly, above all else, the bulk of the albums beyond just 'City' really didn't have concrete purpose in their message to me. 'Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing' likely attempted to surmise anger towards the industry, but felt incredibly flat and vain upon arrival. 'Strapping Young Lad', itself, was an album overshadowed by another project - that being, DTB and 'Accelerated Evolution' - and is, by default, the record that exists in the catalog to be there so fans could say "hey, another SYL record... dope". Indeed however, the common line across 'City' to 'Alien' that I have been able to find is that - finally - the sound and pure feeling that was being searched for was found... and, 'Alien', in many ways, not only encapsulates the raw emotional hurricane of its turbulent timeframe, but, beyond that, creates what I can only surmise to be the single best SYL record out of the bunch.

...but, let's back it up for a second and talk more about the actual timeframe this record had - because, as all else to this record, the importance of such aspects is key to truly understanding the whole image. Insurmountably, it could be said that, in truth, a large capacity of Devin's healthy mental energy went into creating this record - and, while true, is, itself, an understatement. Deep to its core, this record is brimming with the purest toxicity SYL has ever really seen. In part, it's due to what actions Devin had taken going into creating this record - most inclined to "pushing himself as far as he could go", to give this record his whole being, to a pure point of near psychological collapse (as he inferred in his description of this record on his website) - going as far to stop taking medication for his bipolar disorder, and begin to indulge more on his darker sides. This, in total formality, fueled the path that the writing for 'Alien' would take, on a high impact.

So to speak for the composition and writing of this record therein... it's almost shocking how perfect it is, in its irony. Because, if I'm to give it honest credit, I have to admit to the idea that the actual patterns themselves, the pure form the lyrics take, haven't really changed all too much. Beyond that, however, the pure impact these words have to the song themselves is what makes them powerful. Whereas "Skeksis" can go sporadically for a moment about the madness of the universe and soul, "Love?" goes near primal into the ideal of sex and breeding - and it's the raw emotion to Devin's voice, alongside slamming guitars and bombastic drums that seem to not only give the record power... but embolden it. Hell, at its core, these concepts create within 'Alien' a pure madness that permeates the whole of this record. A madness, which, in and of itself, adds to the spectacle that falls into listening to it.

Onward from that as well, the mixing on this record is simply astounding - leveling out each instrument almost perfectly, and giving each sound impact as it goes. In fact, I would almost go as far as to say that the mixing itself plays into the atmosphere residing deep inside this record - almost unlocking it in purity. Truthfully so, this record leaks with a disconcerting motion - a discomforting comedown, as if Devin were to cry out to you for solace... and, in its form, each blast of bass and hit of snares and the like releases a piece of that for you. Enough that, it's easy to identify, and hard all the same to shove away... although, in the grand scheme, I believe all that was the point of this record all along. As far as the title goes, I almost feel as though the aspects of this record feed the name 'Alien' its grandest antithesis - emotion. Torment of turbulence and life - and perhaps, deepest of all, that was the point. Thusly so, the ideal 'Alien' is made.

Honestly, I can't really speak enough for this record. As far as my words can go, I can't really give it enough credit, enough appreciation. I almost find a level of comfort, amid a sea of madness, just grasping as much understanding as I have found in writing this review alone. It is, in a way, a lesson of itself in indulging pure demonic noise, and thereby cleansing it. It's a huge lesson of catharsis, and I can't seem to find any other reason not to, myself, indulge with this record. What can I say? They knocked it out of orbit on this one.

...and among the stars it can reign.

BEST SONGS: "Skeksis", "Love?", "Shine", "Thalamus", "Info Dump".

An Immediate Classic - 90%

eletrikk, April 2nd, 2019

On this edition of I don't know how to write reviews on a schedule, I will be discussing the madhouse of Strapping Young Lad's Alien. This record is, as the title suggests, alien, in all the right ways. It's heavy, unrelenting, and doesn't take itself to seriously which really adds to the record. Many great songs, awesome production, Earth-shattering blast beats with a whole load of "motherfuck," Alien is bound to keep you entertained every time you listen to this record.

Format, format, vocals, vocals, blah fucking blah. I've already acclaimed Devin's vocal prowess multiple times, but this album really shows what kind of notes the wacky Canadian can hit. From the low growls of "Skeksis" to the screams that I didn't know a man could produce of "Shitstorm," Devy hits so many different notes across the record that I think he can truly nail them all with infinite accuracy every time. Keeping in tone with the madness we have become accustomed to, Devin can go from something serious to the funniest damn thing you'll hear all night. This record sets the record for what Devin will be like in the future, musically that is. In the respect of Strapping Young Lad, they are not as comedic as Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing, but not as serous as SYL, being almost a happy medium between those two records actually. Good job Devy.

I have no idea what the guys at SYL Inc. took this time, but their songwriting went from the repetitiveness of SYL to, this! It is such a drastic shift, but it works so damn well. For me, my favorite riffs come from "Imperial," "We Ride," "Shitstorm," and "Love?". "Shitstorm" is definitely my favorite out of the bunch, being totally uncompromising. I have no idea what hell the guys went into to drag this song out of, but it perfectly demonstrates what kind of madness Strapping produced. Devin's and Jed's riffage is great, being quite creative with how heavy they can go. Byron provides excellent backing with his bass, and has a serious chug to it. Gene, well, he is amazing like always. Back to "Shitstorm," this has got to be the best track in the instrument department. It is just an absolute assault that refuses to die, until its last note, and then finishes out with a nice little melody bit. Also, "Imperial" has got to be one of the best album intros that I have ever heard. It sets a bar for the entire record, and it is upheld!

Classic Devin wall of sound is classic Devin wall of sound, except when it isn't. Trust me, Alien is a wall of sound in every single respect, but it doesn't have the true Devy signature sound that we have come to know and love, but it doesn't affect the record in any way. In previous records, everything had a lot of midrange, being warm or cold. However, Alien is a lot more bass-oriented. It is especially apparent on tracks like "Skeksis" and "Shitstorm." How so? Listen to Gene's drumming. His double-kicks are very, very pronounced and sound like a literal machine-gun. Byron's bass is very chuggy, as stated earlier, and almost blends to well with Gene's drumming. Devin and Jed's guitars are also very bassy, especially when the low strings are being played. BUT, when anything above that is being played, it is very middy. Devin, I have no idea how you do it, but it works so well.

This album's lyrics are so damn good. Again, a huge improvement from the previous record. This record really shows off Devin's bipolar-ism with his lyrics. My favorite song lyrically has got to be, again, "Shitstorm." There is just so much to like about that song. This album's lyrics definitely go into talking about life, and the anger you may feel about it. It is just pure, unadulterated chaos that just makes so much sense at the same time.

Now, with all that being said, I am missing something. Oh yeah, THAT 12 MINUTE PIECE OF SHIT OF STATIC. That piece of garbage alone docked this album from being a 95% or higher. I have no idea why Devin and crew decided to leave that in the damn record, but it hurts it so much.

With that aside, Alien is definitely one of Devin Townsend's greatest works, along with Jed, Byron, and Gene. This record just refuses to let up. Great, creative riffage from the mad men of this band, insane drumming by the Atomic Clock, and some of the heaviest tracks of the early to mid 2000's keep this record high on its pedestal.

Infinite Chaos - 100%

TheLastSucker, December 10th, 2015

I WANT YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL AND YOUR MIND! roar the opening lines in Possessions perfectly encapsulating the immensely overwhelming sound Alien strives to achieve and envelop the listener in. Indeed, this album is probably a unique gem across the landscape of extreme metal music. The intensity and sheer otherworldly atmospheres Devin and the rest of the gang are able to conjure on Alien are without equal.

Usually when the topic grazes Strapping Young Lad, many metal aficionados like to refer to City as the magnum opus that defines SYL's manic sound. Although the 1997 release being absolutely deserving of such adulation, one must contend that even in spite of both albums sharing tremendously similar qualities that elevate both of them to the definitive pillars in SYL's discography, they inherently pursue entirely different pathways in intention and execution and thus Alien does not fall short of the same praise. While City reveled in spontaneous chaos, Alien triumphs in organized chaos.

Now, let me elucidate why I think Alien is nothing but a stroke of diligently calculated genius.

Right from the get-go the album hails with a thick wall of sound that is of unprecedented enormity in the SYL catalog. The drums pulverize with their loud and deliciously voluminously padded kicks and a snare that echoes the aggressive color and tone of a whip. The guitars, evoking the thought of a mesh of steel ropes juggling and ripping into each other, conflate into the overall mix with brute force. This is one of the major aspects why Alien will remain timeless. Its production is maybe the overarching reason why this album resonates with me on so many levels. Townsend, known for his trademark wall of sound, completely carried this principle to its utmost extremes here. The instruments sound mind-bogglingly huge, overbearing and enveloping from all directions. In a sense it is almost decidedly claustrophobic, however, with enough parts where, due to the execution of a certain rhythm, the guitars and drums are assorted more or less focus individually, creating a space to inhale for a second again. This is noticeable in the beginning of Thalamus, for example, when the massive front of guitars and drums kicks in and the guitars pulsate back and forth in a strange rhythm, with the aforementioned intermittent effect of a strangely relaxing mood.

A similar oscillation of strings can be examined in Skeksis, Devin’s favorite SYL song and it is not surprising why that is the case. A behemoth of a song one could dissect into several different movements, it begins with an exotic and martial rhythm which segues into a chaotic mess amplified by a menacingly sharp synth in the background channeling the energetic tide of sound that permutes further and further until the end of the song. The pulsating mesh of a hacksaw riff around the 0:40 mark onwards wobbles back and forth almost collapsing in on itself all the while the double bass drums demonstratively accompany the restless rhythm bombarding the listener unrelentingly from all sides. The bombastic and nigh oppressive sound is achieved through the meticulous multitracking of guitars which speaks for the dedication put into the production making sure the compositions convey a feeling of unreachable grandeur. But is that everything? No need to fret. Guitars and drums are not the only bytes of sound that will penetrate one’s skull. Devin’s penchant for a huge sound expresses itself in the extensive incorporation of atmospheric synths, hell, even xylophones are in there. The synths provide the necessary nightmarish tone that make Alien a lunatic beast from outer space. Shine, with its massive orchestral sounding textures in the beginning that propel the overwhelmingly sudden rhythm forward which accentuate the urgency that so often elevate the tracks to colossal anthems, proves how a multilayered sound is a godsend for such extreme music.

Another peculiarity of the production is the highly dynamic mix which stresses the loudness and timbre of certain instruments to varying degrees across the album, no matter how subtle they are. This is best audible when comparing some of the extremely fast parts of Shitstorm with the driving thrash assault of We Ride, in which the kick drums and particularly the whip-like snare exhibit a slightly different tonal quality and reverb than certain sequences in Love?, Shine and Possessions, the three of the latter featuring a disproportionately bigger focus on the almost mechanically piercing snare than the rest of the album. Shine even excels at this aspect around the 4:00 mark whipping one’s ear until it bleeds. Exactly this dynamism makes Alien interesting even after the five thousandth listen because there are far too many nuances and tiny subtleties within the gargantuan wall of sound to discover again and again.

Then the sheer energy that the songs contain is nothing short of spectacular. Shitstorm, Possessions and Zen are apt examples. The first for being probably the pinnacle of rage induced music. Despite its tongue-in-cheek lyrics, Devin’s delivery of the line “I’LL SHOW YOU HOW TO BE CRAZY! FUCK YOUUUUU” in conjunction with the accelerating brutality of the blistering drums and tearing guitars create a cacophonous detonation with plenty of bass that is so infinitely relieving which is very much complemented by the soaringly sprawling synth on top of it all. Possessions does not even need a fast driving riff like most of the other songs to feel huge, a shatteringly jumpy and highly playful carnival like rhythm provides the catchy variation on the album.

Devin said that he had stopped taking his medication that treats his bipolar disorder when making Alien and this shows not just in the insane instrumentation and composition but Devin’s maniacally frenzied bursts of vocal rage. Shitstorm being the prime example with its ludicrous eruptions a la “AND I CAN’T EVEN EAT AND I CAN’T EVEN FUCKING PISS AND ALL I’VE BEEN DOING IS THINKING ABOUT GOD, DEATH INFINITY!” all the while the murderous rhythm propels the song to incredible levels and the foregrounded kick drums beat in jackhammer fashion descending the stairs of insanity into depths unknown. Another noteworthy instance of vocal excellence that probably eclipses anything Devin has ever done occurs at the 1:40 mark in Shine where Devin strains his voice to the utmost limits, delivering a staggering scream that outshines anything else for well over ten seconds. This is dedication. The final climax of Shine then amalgamates all the crazily violent and spacey elements Alien offers into a perfect and monolithic explosion of ineffable proportions. Infinitely massive.

All in all, Alien convinces with its idiosyncratic and unparalleled approach to creating a gigantic wall of sound. It is extreme, terrorizing and evokes a sense of floating atop a vessel in space while the harsh music echoes and bombards the very fabric of reality around you. This album is difficult to process, a mere single listen will not unveil all the subtle nuances that make Alien the dynamic giant that it is.

According to Townsend Alien is an "impenetrable mass of technicality" and truer words may have never been spoken. Alien is chaos!

Strapping Young Lad - Alien - 75%

cryptopsyftw, May 24th, 2014

This album is probably the best representation of what I love and loathe about Strapping Young Lad. At times, their output is inimitably original heavy music, which melds powerful downtuned groove and infectious melodies with a progressive spirit to create some frankly astonishing pieces of music that convey a multitude of emotions, often within the same song; at other times the songs fall utterly flat, and can best be called “filler”. Not bad songs in the sense that they induce spontaneous combustion or projectile vomiting, but just boring, which seems even worse in comparison to some of the genius this band puts forth.

The first four songs on this album are outstanding chunks of metal; from the opening blastbeat salvo and ¾ time signature swing of opener “imperial” through to the tactical nuke of “shitstorm”, with its controlled chaos of tremolo picking, maniacal screeches and utterly punishing rhythms courtesy of the always-impressive Gene Hoglan (probably best known from his stellar work with thrash legends Dark Angel), all is golden. “Skeksis” is reportedly frontman Devin Townsend’s favorite strapping young lad song, for good reason; its almost simian groove, thrashy midsection, and interesting synth/vocal tracking arrangements make for an incredible composition. Capped off with “love” and its epic, singalong chorus, these first four songs fire you up for a monumental album…

And it’s there that the album falters. Nothing else in the album matches up to those first four songs. Flashes of earlier genius surface in each one of them, but none seem to coalesce into the excellence of the first half of the album. Closer “Zen” has a neat chorus, but it just seems to go on for too long. It’s as if they came up with a killer portion of the song and just didn’t know how to expand it, which is bullshit – bearing in mind what this band can do firing on all cylinders, I’ve no doubt they could’ve gone somewhere with it – but in this instance, they just didn’t. “Shine” features some righteously heavy riffs…and also a children’s choir. “Possessions” commits similar atrocities with female backing leads. Neither of these things is inherently bad, but they just don’t serve the songs particularly well, feeling outright jarring or just in there for the sake of it, but not particularly improving the song at all, and honestly coming across as quite annoying. Again, these aren’t bad songs per se, but they don’t measure up well against the earlier material.

The end result is a conflicting album. The first 4 songs are superb. The subsequent material is not. At least not to the same degree. Capped off with an eleven minute white noise track called “Info Dump” (not listed on the back of the album) you get the impression of an album losing steam, both in terms of tempo and musical inspiration. The key thing here is that the latter half of the album just cannot measure up to the brilliance of the first half. However, it’d be unfair to end on a sour note; The music always sounds huge thanks to an epic, muscular production. There is some stone cold classic material on this album, and however they are playing, no one has ever sounded the same as Strapping Young Lad – whatever can be said about them, they are unique as a band. All in all? This album is definitely worth a purchase, both for the first songs and the sporadic brilliance that occurs elsewhere (“We Ride” in particular is a monster, with a blitzkrieg solo and kinetic riffs reminiscent of “Shitstorm”), just bear in mind that it doesn’t entirely deliver on its early promise.

I wan't your heart, your soul, and your mind! - 89%

DarkSideOfLucca, May 2nd, 2009

Devin Townsend does exactly that by unleashing his "Alien" upon the world. There is not much to say about Devin Townsend that has not already been said. He is absolutely out of his fucking mind, he is a musical genius, he is ugly as fuck but has one of the most beautiful voices in metal. All of this is one hundred percent true. I am personally much more a fan of his solo work, especially Terria, but as far as Strapping Young Lad goes, Alien is my favorite.

I can already hear all of you City fans screaming, "But why? Have you not heard his magnum opus?" Yes, I have listened to City and that actually is my second favorite. Call me crazy, but all you have to do is play the track "Skeksis" to realize that Devin (along with the rest of Strapping Young Lad) is experimenting so far beyond his comfort zone it is stunning. His lyrics, as always, are absolutely hilarious but strangely intelligent, and I believe them to be much more hilarious and intellectual here than on any other album they have released.

This album has a little bit of everything, from the sheer intense fast paced "We Ride" to the slow, (oddly) beautiful "Thalamus." From the silly lyrics of "Shitstorm" to the thought provoking lyrics of "Love?" To me, this is sort of like the Beatle's self titled white album in the sense that it would have everything you would possibly dream of having on a Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend album. It's a shame that I will never get a chance to see Strapping Young Lad live, but Devin already announced that one of his four albums in the new Devin Townsend Project will be heavier than anything Strapping Young Lad has done! But in the meantime, we still have Alien, City, SYL and The New Black for Devin's heavier side. If you haven't already, listen to Alien. It's experimentally fun metal at its best.

Not Monsterous, Not Intelligent, Just Pointless - 35%

lord_ghengis, March 21st, 2007

Why do people like this so much? Most of the riffs on here are complete duds, and the few good ones are repeated beyond comprehention, I mean, everyone likes the Love? riff right, I admit, it's catchy and heavy, but they do it for 3 minutes straight... non-stop. There's samples everywhere, stupid ammounts of random swearing, not to mention the vocals are average when screamed, and horrible when sung. This is complete shit.

Things start off with Imperial, a song which after a few average riffs, degreades itself into a pile of keyboards and other pointless shit, and then ends. "Skeksis" starts off with a pretty cool industrial riff, but instead of developing the riff, they just add samples and beeps all over it, and pretend like there's been a change in the last 2 minutes. We get a little bit of mechanical slow crushing, before the song colapses into another pile of samples and multi tracked vocals, it's not even 'chaotic' it's just a random bunch of noises, not heavy or aggressive, just filling up time on the CD. About 4 minutes in we get some faster riffing, which actually sounds pretty cool, and interacts with the various multi-trackings going on everywhere, actually pretty catchy, heavy and good for the last half or so.

"Shitstorm" lets us wallow in some average highspeed riffing, with some strange time tempo's going on, but there's too much random noise going on around them to be enjoyed properly. Townsends vocals sit in between the realms of noise and being proper vocals. They are distinguishable, and they're are lyrics, they may suck, and consist of random sentances, but they are real lyrics, and they are being said. But they are also completly independant of the music, and are just there, adding to the ball of noise that this song creates. Once everything's in the song, making it's noise, the only traditional metal instrument you'll be making out will be the drums, which are luckily on the great-to-godly level for this album. The song isn't music, it's just a bunch of noise.

The album hits a high point with the oddly musical, and instrument based "Love?", It's got a hell of main riff, it's not the greatest riff ever written, but it's in the higher part of the list, it's catchy, and addictive, it's also played non stop (Well, ok the chorus does have a little gothic riff spaced between sections of the riff)for the first 3 minutes or so of this song. The clean vocal sections are a little below what it could be due to Townsends voice, but other than that, it's not too bad. The second half, retains the instrument based, approach, and gives us a few average riffs, before giving us our verse riff again, with samples. But nothing excessive. Seriously, there's about 45 seconds on non-main riff in this 5:40 song. This song is still pretty good, but it gets old, due to the whole "We-only-wrote-one-riff" thing.

The groove approach continues with "Shine", which basically uses a crappier riff, more samples, an other than that does the same thing. Townsend changes his voice around, for no reason, other than it's easier than writing different music. There is some basic enjoyment to be found here, but it's in the most simple of grooves, and doesn't really provide any serious fun. Add in some child choir voices, and this song is ready to suck.

"We Ride" has some energy, and features some pretty standard riffing of a thrashy nature, along with a nice break from straight out double bass drumming. But again, Please write more than one riff per song. Townsend does tend to think that everyone is stupid, and that by singing differently, he's writing new music. The solo is a nice feature, as there's not any others around, but it's still kind of average. The riff finally changes, but unfortunately, the vocals are completly independent, and stupid sounding. So that stops me from giving them a bonus for writing multiple riffs in the last minute or so.

The second OK song, is another groover, "Possesions" it's vocals are pretty over the place, and there are more childrens choir vocals put in a heap of places, but it's catchy-ish, not overly good, but when you compare it to it's competition on this album, it's a goddamn classic. This one has more vocal samples than anything else, which is annoying, but less engulfing on the rest of the music than the other samples.

Then, as a complete insult, the group felt it'd be funny to put in the most stupid ballad song imaginable in there. "Two weeks" is pretty much a accoustic ballad, which reminds me of Anal Cunt's Picnic of Love title track more than anything else, with the whole "What do you want to do now baby/Should we take a day/Maybe go to the beach". Terrible, shitty, crap. Made cheesier through the use of shitty samples all the time, but I guess it does give it a little touch of Pink Floyd. I generally like ballad type tracks, but this is too lame for anyone to stand.

After thinking that the previous shitfest was merely an intro to some insanity, "Thalamus" kicks off very slowly, with accousitcs, and then changes into the song, which completely sucks, as the drums go ape shit, and everything else, really doesn't make any noticeable noise, basically, there's some samples and drums. followed by a pathetic slower sections, with some half-sing/scream thing going on. Somehow, with three major transitions in style on the song, they still only manage to write three differnet pieces of music, with the guitars barely being present.

Everything ends with Zen, It's basically got a quiet verson of the Imperial riff at the start. After that, we get some actual goo chaotic sounding shit, with just instruments, but for some reason, it only lasts for about 15 seconds, before changing into something which sounds nearly the same as "Imperial", with just as much listenability. However, the song surpised me by actually changing again, and again, and again. Now, nothing on this song is overly impressive, it's just that SYL actualy wrote song dynamics, and an actually piece of flowing music. Which obviously makes it an amazing SYL classic. It's actually probably my favourite song on here.

I'm not even going to bring up Info Dump, which I just did, but you know, just imagine it doesn't exist.

Now I don't usually write track by track reviews, but when the lowest other review is about 65%, from someone with the same "It's too vocal and sample driven" complaint as me, and I can't see a reason to give it higher than 35, I kind of have to give reasons. I mean, this feels like a 20% to me, I've basically searched deeply for all enjoyable parts, just trying to understand why this thing is loved so much.

I can agree with the first thing everyone says, that Hoglan is a brilliant drummer, and this is some very good stuff, although maybe a little bit too double bass orientated. This doesn't bother me too much, as I like the style, but this band doesn't seem to have the catchiness for it to work perfectly. But the second aspect of the band everyone ejaculates over I just don't get. Devin Townsend is a slightly above average screamer, he doesn't sound like anyone, so theres some originality there, but it's still not any better. He tends to write annoying vocal patterns, which are independant to the music. Yes, this is crazy, but it also sounds like shit. His singing is pretty poor. It's always got a little bit of scream in it, as the music doens't exactly leave sections for big singing breaks. It's just really average. It's not painful or whiny, just not very good.

There is some good playing by Townsend and Jed Symond on a few places, unfortunately, most of guitar work is generally uninspired. The guitars go from nicely placed when the band is playing their songs without all the pointless bells and whistles, but once those come in, the guitars get lost in the 'chaos' and become usless. this is infact probably a good thing, as most songs only have two or three riffs in them, and these riffs are simply tinkered with, in the slightest possible way, every 25 seconds, which to me at least, doesn't sound like a new riff, it sounds like the first one, and all the changes made are so insignificant you can barely notice them under all the beeps and random noise (I believe Skeksis has a xylophone track on it) tracks on here. This has the capability of getting very tiring, as the band tends to take a very narrative structure when writing it's songs.

In fact verse-chorus would be more enjoyable than the approach that the band often takes, because at least the mediocre riffs would be broken up by other mediocre riffs. Instead they keep one riff, and add noises to it. Now, I know that this is Industrial Metal, and for that reason, noises have to be accepted, but unfortunatly, this is basically JUST noises, the guitars have no importance in the scheme of things. Listen to The Amenta or something, that's Industrial, but still is heavy as fuck, and doesn't smother all it's riffs with random sound effects.

This smothering of samples and keyboards is just ridiculous, I have never heard a band with such talented musicians be so unwilling to let their music speak for itself. It's almost as if Devin realised he had a serious lack of quality riffs, and needed to cover this up, by finding as many random noises he could, and throwing them over the top. These are produced very strongly, so it's not like they needed 15 samples going at all times, because each one is easily audible.

On the end of the positives is the production, it's clear, but I don't see that it's too clear to start saying it's aimed at the mallcore crowd, it's just good production, from a guy who obviously knows how to turn knobs and playing with audio, who should have spent more time playing with his guitar.

FUCK! - 90%

asmox, March 7th, 2007

...that's the first word that comes to mind with this album.

Imagine having your head strapped to one end of the anvil at the Hellforge while a devilish-looking clown slams a giant hammer repeatedly down on the other end. All the while, a twisted children's choir chimes away as Lucifer himself plays epic melodies on a keyboard and Devin Townsend goes completely overboard with his wildly unstable vocals on top of it all with lyrics that are completely fucking insane... and there's Alien's sound signature. This album is relentless in its punishment, non-stop in its aggression, and utterly adept at not taking itself seriously. Filled with massive riffing, tight and inhumanly accurate drumming, huge bass dives, and monstrous production, Alien never apologizes for leaving your brain splattered all over the wall.

The album is also catchy as hell. Between Devin Townsend and Jed Simon ripping heaviness incarnate out of their guitars, Gene Hoglan pounding you over the head incessantly with beats and patterns that are not of this earth, and Byron Stroud holding it all together with bass hits that threaten to implode your skull, Alien still manages to display touches of glorious melody and epic stature that turn this entire experience into one sadistic trip that you'll probably end up welcoming with open arms.

Devin's voice is one of the highlights here. He rages, screams, soars, and sings like a madman ready to take out a city full of people with an army of demonic teddy bears at his back... and his lyrics resemble the ramblings of a brain on the verge of collapse from attempting to calculate Pi to thirty million digits. The insanity of it all is what makes this so awesome. The music is absurdly spontaneous... what sounds like vibraphones, small children singing innocently, and harmless keyboard lines are interspersed through ass-kicking metal... and there's Devin singing about stealing your heart and soul, having babies, Disneyland, gods and demons, infinity, polynomial colors, the multiverse, and who knows what else.

There's some small respite in "Two Weeks", which is Floyd'ish psychedelia that seems to have jumped in a time machine and landed face first into the completely wrong genre of music, but I guess it just reinforces the fucked up nature of this album as a whole.

The only real downpoint to this album is the last track, Info Dump. This isn't really a song so much as it is a bunch of static that goes on for about twelve minutes. I have no idea why bands like to do shit like this, but at least they put it at the very end... so I just look at Alien as a 42-minute album and consider the damage reversible.

Anyway, this kicks ass. Completely insane. Devin Townsend is mad... simple as that.

Strapping's pinnacle release - 91%

MikeyC, January 9th, 2007

This album absolutely owns! While I do enjoy Strapping’s other work, “Alien” completely obliterates them all!

Once you listen to track one, Imperial, it really sets the mood for what the rest of the album holds. It’s dark, it’s scary, and it’s goddamn brilliant. Each track is different in it’s own way, but they all retain the same heaviness and darkness and that unique SYL quality.

The guitars really set the atmosphere of the album. They’re not overpowering the other instruments like on their self-titled, yet they’re not in the background either. They’re at the right volume to be forceful but not dominant. With the playing, it’s impeccable. Both Devin and Jed mostly use the lower strings, but occasionally come out with something that could sound like a solo, but never eventuates (Shitstorm, Shine). We Ride is the only song with solo’s, and while they’re good, it’s better that they limited it to one song, as the album really didn’t need solo’s and endless wankery everywhere. The drumming is also tightly played. Some of the beats he does are awesome, not to mention that in some parts of the album, you’ll find that the beats are more complex than originally thought (for example, at 2:08 in Shine, he adds ¾ hi-hats in a 4/4 beat. I never noticed that until much later, and it was a very interesting find!). It just makes the music that much more technical and interesting.

The best part of the album has to be the vocals. Not many albums can state that the vocals are the best quality of the music, but I think here it is. It’s unlike Devin’s other work. He does his usual clean singing (Love?) and regular harsh vocals, but then occasionally he’ll come out with a very long scream (Love?, Thalamus) that would surely render my lungs unusable.

One of the most stand-out songs is definitely Shitstorm. One of the most negative, hate-filled songs to be ever produced, it really shows Devin Townsend’s state of mind at the time. The song climbs and climbs until it reaches a peak where Devin screams “I fucking hate myself! Everything about this is fucked!”, and then descends back down to normality again. Brilliant.

After the seventh track, your mind needs time to recover from what hit it, so track eight’s Two Weeks is a slower, acoustic piece to bring you back to the real world again. It works as an intermission, and oddly enough, it does its job perfectly. Somehow, it fits with the rest of the album, which by any metal album’s standards, shouldn’t. It’s very…classy. That’s the only way to describe it.

Skeksis is another excellent track, easily my favourite. It’s a long one, which takes over two minutes to get started, but the whole thing is quality. At 4:14, Gene become a human drum machine, essentially playing the same thing over and over until 5:31, yet it never gets boring. Also, at 4:14, a guitar riff comes in from the rhythm guitar that will have you automatically headbanging. Awesome stuff.

It wouldn’t be feasible for me to explain the highlights of every song, because I think I’ve made my point. Basically, this album is the heaviest, and probably will be the heaviest, album of Strapping Young Lad’s discography. If you love heavy death metal, this album has to be in your collection. Let the insanity begin.

Best tracks: Skeksis, Shitstorm, Thalamus

The Soundtrack To A Mental Disorder - 93%

AngelofBreath, June 9th, 2006

And a fairly epic one at that. Strapping Young Lad’s fourth Alien album outing marked a landmark in my forays not only into Metal but across the board. Since listening to this its marked a falling of the scales, an epiphany and other normally tackily teenaged phrases aboot music and has actually changed my life (for the better). I think that SYL isn’t going to be for everybody at the end of the day and I accept that some people think that the lyrics are one dimensional and puerile. All I can do is shrug my shoulders and say, “I think you’re wrong”. The lyrical content is ‘simple’ because quite often feelings are not really tangible. Many an age has been sweated over trying to give feelings words, shape and construction and has (as I’m sure I’m not alone in) produced some remarkably terrible and embarrassing poetry throughout my life on the topics of depression and life’s hardships, when a simple “Everything about this is Fucked!!” would have sufficed. What it really boils down to here in terms of lyrics is that I think its got to be seen as a part of the whole of the music overall. The lyrics by themselves mean nothing comparatively, true of any great songs in metal. ‘Walk’ by Pantera has funny lyrics but you needed that groovy riff to add that stompy fun element to the song. The song’s music acts as the words of the song if you like, the lyrics merely give them more intelligible shape. Given the nature of this fury unleashed “I fucking hate myself” doesn’t seem, to me at least , to be such a daft phrase in the heat of this musical approach as it might do otherwise. For those willing to look without any of those preconceptions you may see something as important as I did. Even if this sounds like pretentious gibberish, and it certainly does have those tones as I read it back to myself, the fact I believe it enough to write it should show that this is well worth the listen.

Alien then is a real powerhouse of musical chaos. From the album’s intro ‘Imperial’ to the full proper exiting track ‘Zen’ it’s an almost non-stop riot of neurosis and paranoia, pounding you one minute soaring with you the next. The main effects of the approach which go to creating this whirlwind as ever lie in the brain of Townsend central and the multi-layered approach which he has perfected over the years as song writer, producer and mental patient. There’s a real epic feel that’s not been present in the past on SYL releases and its probably got to do with Dev’s work in his solo project, which has recently in particular yielded very big sounds, and for the recording the keys are provided by Dave Young of DTB acclaim. The keyboards are used much more liberally and have that ring of Devin’s solo work which is reminiscent of the Physicist album‘s style. In the case of SYL the effect is a constant feeling of a screaming cosmic landscape, and is the real gleaming turd on the heavy metal shitfest which is laid at the gateways to your ears, hammering and yelling to be let in to do blast beats on your ear drums and chew through your cerebrum.

The prime example of the glorious hell unleashed is ‘Shit Storm’, a suitable title for a song which is now being revered rightly as one of the most desperately frightening displays of negativity ever yet recorded. The song weaves up and down like a hellish roller coaster before right as you feel like you’re going to lose control it burgeons out almost onto a nightmarish plateau. Glorious.

The other main stand out track, which now boasts a brilliant video inspired by one of my favourite films of all time Evil Dead (1 or 2 take your pick) ‘Love?’, I thought, wasn’t going to be for me. The main riff has groovy elements and that’s not normally what I want or look for. In this case I couldn’t be more wrong, as the song mutates into a real monster and proudly screams a catchy chorus decrying the evils of controlling relationships, as “this love is about control”.

The other songs I don’t want to go into to too much detail aboot, because I could really be here forever because they’re all brilliant. The main highlights are to be found in a similar theme, ‘Shine’ is out of control, ‘We Ride’ is as close to light hearted as we get with a motorbike revving up at the beginning and possessing some truly demented soloing and lyrics to match “What the Fuck was that? I’m being completely rational! I’m Not Yelling!!!” ‘Possessions’ provides an interesting look into the idea of procreation with an ‘Adiemus’ style choir providing the bizarre background to a still bizarrer song and Devin adding his own thoughts on the matter at hand, “Do you want a fucking baby?! Noooo!!!”

There is, however, what can be described as a calm after the storm and, indeed, marks a winding down in the album overall in the track ‘Two Weeks’, which has being compared to Pink Floyd, or so I heard. It’s a short acoustic number with added ambience which conjures up the image of an oriental idyllic garden or park, although with a decided sinister foreboding edge added to the surreally peaceful atmosphere. This track pretty much helps to sum up Alien, which is an album of extremity in the very literal term, firing on all cylinders and suddenly pulling off the assault to soar into the cosmic spacey realms of insanity before driving you back even harder.

What you’ve got here is a musical personification of Dev’s bipolar disorder. The music on Alien is all aboot feeling, they’re feelings made into music in the very raw sense of the word, probably hence why the phrase ‘nu’ is being thrown around like a water balloon full of spite. As soon as a band begin to broach the subject of feelings or depression its almost viewed with what can be likened to boy’s school homophobia, a suitable simile given the nature of some comments speculating aboot the sexual preference of some band’s music. ‘Nu’, as far as I can figure out, now means that a band writes music which is accessible, mentions feeling and has a catchy chorus. Can’t you do all those things and yet still be as heavy and menacing as an armour plated rhino in the process? Evidently you can.

A definite contender for the best SYL album to date and certainly the most widely received and best recorded/produced. The album for me only shies away from defeating the mighty ‘City’ in its all to short livedness with the frankly rather annoying ‘Info Dump’ making the album drag its feet when it would have been better off without this 11odd minute construction of sonic feedback that ends in a woman screaming. Atmosphere eh? Something else might have been better. Still, minor nitpicking made all the more stark by how amazing the rest of the album is. The album for me also does not have the longevity of ‘City’, as part of the fun goes into deciphering the chaotic songs and, this done, the appeal tends to fall. But I listened to this album near non-stop for 3 weeks I loved it so much.

Evil, indefatigably heavy and fiercely unique, this bungee jump into hell is the audio equivalent to drifting through a bewilderingly beautiful space-scape with a demented insane weasel running around in your space helmet.

So. Definitely one to check out then.

Holy crap - 88%

FishyMonkey, October 16th, 2005

This absolutely rocks my socks off. Like, this album kills babies and beats women at the same time while playing this bitchin' music at the same time. That's how hardcore it is. Meanwhile, underneath the brutal massacre, there's soft melody, subtle usage of keyboards, exotic instruments used, lots of voices, all sorts of neat stuff. But most of all...insanity. Pure insanity, stemming right from Devy's screaming mouth.

City was a monumental release for not just SYL, but metal in general, for it's relentless yet natural barrage of fuckin' balls to the wall metal that kicked ass and took names. Songs like Underneath the Waves and Oh My Fucking God rank up there as some of the most badass songs I've ever heard. Could they top it? Nope. SYL was good, but not as good as we al lhoped. The s/t turned out to be...above average, which is not acceptable for SYL. So for Alien, SYL needed to come back in a BIG way...and they did. This album absolutely fucking rocks...but why 88? Cause of Info Dump. I'm only gonan cover the songs I like...and Info Dump.

The album opens with Imperial, which is a perfect opener for the album, fast brutal, yet still a great melody halfway through. It's short, and quickly turns into Skeksis. In my opinion, this is one of three big standout songs on the album, which actually come three in a row. It starts with a pretty simple non-melodic guitar riff and builds off of it, until Devy comes in with a great vocal line: "I control / an awkward soul / and my lines / are automatic / are automatically drawn". This is actually quite catchy and infectuous, just like the chorus and the stuff before the chorus. It kicks major amounts of ass, and if you listen closely, you hear that thingy...the xylophone except metal in the background going on. This song just rocks. ROCKS.

Next is Shitstorm, which is another standout in the album. It's also the most brutal song on the album...as my friend put it after hearing the song, "...now that we're all non-virgins...". How very true it is. It's fast, brutal, angry, no singing, just drumming and vocal work crazy enough to rip your head off. Great song. Song to the apocalypse, basically.

The third standout of the album is next, called Love. This song was clearly geared to be the single of the album, fortunately it's an awesome song. The durmming here absolutely fucking slays, and Devy shows off his extremely versatile voice. The chorus here is very very catchy and very cool. Hell, a jazz/Mars Volta kid even liked this song.

Shine is next, it's OK, nothing special. We Ride is the fastest song on the album and is probabaly the best to go crazy to. It's got some weird stuff all throughout the song...you should just hear it. Possesions is next, it's quite cool and has a fun keyboard riff...I enjoy this song. Then...is Two Weeks. This is Devy going, "Let's fuck with our fan's heads right here,", cause he most certainly does. This song is all acoustic, focusing on subtle keyboard effects and vocals and basically beauty throughout the song. It's a nice break Thalamus is next, another just OK song. Too slow for me.

Zen is last, it's easily compared to Love in all respects and is a great song, awesome closer. Oh wait, another one! A 12 minute instrumental...oooh, high hopes! Wait...it's quiet. All I hear is some weird scratching type noise and some distant talking. WTF? Oh wait, it's getting louder...nevermind, back to normal. Prtety much, this is 12 minutes of NOTHING. Some people may see some genius or osmething in this, but I don't. It ends with some screaming and yelling, and that's it. Blarg. That's what hurts this album from being as good as City.

I do have to mention that Devy has the second best voice in music, second only to Daniel Gildenlow, and Gene Hoglan as the second best extreme metal drummer, second only to Flo. These guys kick ass.

Well done, Devy! Keep the insanity coming!

Accessible sound, but may limit appeal - 79%

TimFS, May 27th, 2005

I’ve not heard a great deal of SYL other than this album, but hopefully that means that this review is less biased and I don’t consider it fair to review an album based on other previous albums by the band if it can be helped.

In brief this album has a very well produced and commercial feel to it, but this may be a deterrent to some people, as will other slightly ‘nu’ elements such as the riffs and lyrical content (as pointed out by some others here). But the ‘nu’ elements of this album don’t really ‘smell’ as much as the bands that people might negatively compare SYL’s sound to, though the lyrics do occasionally sound like childish fits that can annoy but it’s hardly as bad as it gets, and this sort of angst is preferable to the sort of melancholic self-pity that you get these days. This album is also a bit one-dimensional but has a few lighter tracks to add some more flavour to it.

Tracks like Shitstorm are a good example this album at full force and like other songs here, Devin Townsend incorporates a lot of shouting that’s not in time with the music in order to create this sort of maniacal spontaneity.

Love has this memorable riff and some nice but basic chord progressions, on songs such as Possession there are also some catchy and more mid-paced riffs, the E major chord in this song sounding particularly pleasing to the ears. You’ll also notice the female choruses employed here as well. I wouldn’t say this for all female voices but it unintentionally makes this album a little bit sexy. The timbre of their voices is just right to compliment the grooves and riffs of the band.

My personal favourite has to be Two Weeks which is actually the light acoustic number. The E major chord is again used here but it sounds so nice, and with the extra layered guitars and effects going on in the background it makes me think of calmly floating about in space. Lovely.

Due to the thick but simple sound this album might tire for some, but for the catchy first few listens, the key tracks are well worth checking out.

Ok, this absolutely fucking slays. - 94%

langstondrive, May 13th, 2005

The new effort from Devy and Co. is a wonderfully produced, beautifully written, and brutally and savagely performed. Devin's vocals rip the guitar riffs to shreds, speaking of riffs, they are in much heavier abundance on "Alien" than on any other SYL album, and their quality is astounding. Songs like Shitstorm and Love? are absolutely gigantic, Hoglan's classic drumming and Shroud's subatomic bass hold everything together, while Simon and Townsend tear the audible sphere completely apart. Repeat this for ten tracks, with an eleventh of an ambient nature, nice to listen to as an ending, a sort of escape from the sheer brutality that characterizes this album.

While the lyrical content remains somewhat similar (With the "FUCK" and "SHIT" in copious use), the actual subject matter is a bit more advanced than a song such as, say, Oh My Fucking God or Relentless. Shitstorm has some comedic lyrics while listening (read: I CAN'T EVEN FUCKING PISS!!!), but reading them as a whole shows a different, albeit subtle, side of Devin.

Textures flow wonderfully, with the similar keyboards that were all over "City" making a return after a bit of a hiatus on the self-titled album. They add heaviness and build-up at times, such as the enormous chorus of "Imperial". Speaking of which, that is likely the most memorable and heavy part of the album. The Lad's "Alien" is not one to be missed, a breath of fresh air in the saturated death metal atmosphere.

Choice cuts: Imperial, Shitstorm, Love?, Zen

At last - An SYL album with decent production - 95%

EndlessTorment, May 4th, 2005

Just as it wouldn’t be a year in metal without something new from Zakk Wylde or Soilwork, no year would be really complete without Devin Townsend making an appearance. And here he is, at the helm of the fourth Strapping Young Lad studio album.

"Alien" kicks off the way all such things do, with ‘Imperial’ rising up as a relentless and crushing wall of sound played at breakneck speed. Following that is the sensory overload of the almost impenetrable ‘Skesis’, a titan of a track with a fortress of guitars and synths. Then the appropriately-named ‘Shitstorm’ is piled on top of it like a weapon of mass sonic destruction. Gene Hoglan’s incredible drumming keeps the madness from veering off course and Townsend’s frantic vocals scream lyrics that don’t seem to make much sense but follow the same basic concept of being pissed-off about something. If that doesn’t sound too far removed from what SYL has thrown up in the past then you’d be right, except that from this moment the album becomes significantly more interesting than just barely-controlled noise terror. Quite suddenly, the album slows down and drops into a heavy groove in the shape of ‘Love?’, which goes into strong contention as one of the best songs SYL has yet put together. A couple of tracks further along and ‘We Ride’ erupts like the most violent outburst of rage ever recorded but then "Alien" reaches its most transcendent moment with ‘Two Weeks’, a somewhat abstract, meandering acoustic song that recalls Townsend’s "Terria" opus.

The proposed Tom Jones cover has subsequently been replaced by the 13-minute soundscape ‘Infodump’, a meandering swirl of white noise, tape loops and demonic vocals vaguely reminiscent of something that Namanax would do (only much less threatening) and similar to the style of Townsend’s own "Devlab" project from last year.

Production-wise, "Alien" is a monster, with the murk of earlier works replaced by a gleaming sound and featuring a huge choir of backing voices that includes members of Zimmer's Hole and Australian band Tourettes. Some versions also come with a bonus live track and a DVD featuring a “making of” doco and some video clips, all adding up to over two hours of SYL madness. As the best-produced and most diverse Strapping Young Lad album yet, "Alien" is sure to be high on the list of the best releases from 2005.

Nothing special really. - 65%

queen_cyanide, April 19th, 2005

When I think of Strapping Young Lad, I think of the overplayed video clip a number of years back ("Toxic" I believe). To me personally, this band has always seemed Nu-Metal. I'm not sure if that's because of the fans, the type of production they've used, or the lyrical content. I have no problem with this band, they write catchy death metal which is nice to hear every now and again - but this album is in a completely different vein to previous releases.

First off, I'm surprised noone has made any comments about Black Metal in their reviews. When hearing a few tracks on a local metal station, I had absolutely no idea it was SYL. I actually thought it was one of those new "We've popped out of nowhere" well produced Black Metal bands (You know the ones!). If you compare it to say, the latest album from Mayhem, there is a definate similarity. Production wise, as well as song structure. I'm not saying this as a bad thing, but the parallels to (newer, well produced) Black Metal are very clear.

What drags down the quality of this album is the lyrical content. (This is the most "Nu" element of the album, other than the over-produced overlaying keyboards.) I grew out of the "I hate my life, fuck you all, fuck this fuck that" attitude a very long time ago, but I guess maybe that's to appeal to a wider fan base.

The vocals are pretty good, Devin has a good range - although I have found when he does the melodic "scream" they always have the same structure/effect/whatever - I'm not sure what the word is, but you might understand what I mean. (Same rythmic structure.)

The guitars aren't particulary special, as the vocals and effects are what really drive this band of music (like Cradle of Filth, vocal driven) - sure there are moments of "riffing" but these are nothing special. The drumming is very Nu-BM inspired (probably because Gene drummed for Old Man's Child) but catchy nonetheless.

Overall, this is a very accessible album - I'm sure it will appeal to those bordering the Nu/Nu-Black/Cookie Cutter DM sound. I wouldn't call it original, groundbreaking or anything - it's simple and catchy. If you like melodic, cheesy aggression, then you'll like this album.

On a side note, if you want something similar to this, but far more interesting - check out the Mezzerschmitt album "Weltherrschaft" - but maybe that's just me :)

This album will abduct your senses. - 100%

TheBigDizzle, March 24th, 2005

Strapping Young Lad have finally released their long awaited follow up to their self titled release, and as bands get older, sometimes their quality starts to go down. SYL is not one of these bands. They have come back, and they have come back to punish you with their blend of extreme music.

This CD opens up with the absolutely crushing intro, “Imperial”, which is a fantastic way to introduce you to the Lad’s world. This song features a great amount of double kick from Gene and second guitar from Jed and bass from Byron following right along with Devin screaming all the while. Devin mixes part clean vocals with some screamed vocals that have some sort of effect on them, overall a great start. “Skeksis” follows Imperial, and is another brutal track, this is where you can really hear the amazing drum work of the man himself, Gene Hoglan. He punishes the skins with no remorse. This goes on for a while and finally kicks into the vocals a little way through, which are nothing but amazing as usual from this man, there are plenty of fast riffs to be found as well as some neat keyboard effects played over the entire thing.

Not letting up, after these two songs comes the first song many heard off the CD and that would be “Shitstorm”. This song lets you know just how pissed off Devy is, he is hear to make your ears bleed. All the vocals are pretty much shouted and the lyrics are just as crazy with it sounding like Devin is just threatening you in the song. This is also a fast song with many good riffs and some fantastically used keyboard effects that do nothing but complement the song. In here we also get our first taste of the choirs that were used which also help diversify the song, quite the amazing track. Can this CD get better, or can it get worse? Well! In this reviewer’s opinion, it gets much better, and this is because of the track “Love?” This is an absolutely amazing song which is very emotionally composed but it still manages to punish you with it’s heaviness. Devy keeps the great vocals coming using screaming and clean. The guitar, the bass and the keyboards simply come together and give you an amazing performance, the lyrics In this case are also fantastically written, and this should go down as one of Strapping Young Lad’s best songs in this reviewer’s opinion, simply the best song on the CD.

Now believe it or not, after a song like that the quality stays the same, it doesn’t get any worse. Welcome to the track “Shine”, this is another song that is hell bent to crush you into the ground with it’s heavy riffs and insane drumming, it’s a very busy track and will definitely keep the listeners attention with Devin screaming at you maniacally all the way through. Also listen for some more choir at the end which keeps things interesting. Yes, this CD has not relented yet, and it’s not about to. “We Ride” is up next and it features some very fast riffing, and some well written lyrics that are basically telling you to get in gear. This song is unique for a Strapping song has it features a good amount of soloing, so this should catch everyone’s ears has they are very well performed. After this song is the other major highlight of this disc and it comes in the form of “Possessions” It features lyrics that would be corny from other bands but for SYL it works perfectly, this song features more great riffs and some crushing drumming, but the most prominent feature in this song is the fantastic use of choir, and luckily it is not overused, it’s just the right amount.

Oh no! The CD has slowed down, but is this cause for alarm? No! This is “Two Weeks” and it is a very well written slow piece, some have compared it to Pink Floyd even. The point is though, that this CD doesn’t break the atmosphere and only adds to the greatness of this album, it’s very mellow and relaxing, and has a good amount of emotion put into it, the only people who wouldn’t like this song are those people who can’t deal with anything that isn’t going at 100 miles per minute. “Thalamus” brings back the heavy that we are used to, but it almost seems like a drone song. This is good though! It keeps the CD diverse and makes it a more interesting listen, it is nothing but effective here. The last of the “songs” in this case arrives and it comes in the form of “Zen”. Where Thalamus brought back the heavy, this song brings back the speed, with some great riffing and drumming that you won’t soon forget.

Now, the last track is a bit.. Controversial I suppose you could say. Some really like it, others down right hate it. It’s an ambient track of sorts and it is quite long, but if you have patience you begin to hear things later in the track. Basically it is an experiment in feedback. It doesn’t take away anything from the CD in my case, so I treasure this track just as much as everything else on the CD. What’s cool about this track though is that is kind of scary in a way, the feedback has a constant beat, but it fluctuates and gets louder sometimes, which may make you tense, as you don’t know what’s coming next. All in all, just have patience with it and it may be rewarding for you. This may not be for everyone and you may want to skip it though, but at least give it one chance.

I think this is SYL’s best release to date. It’s heavy, and it has plenty of emotion and anger. Truth be told I think the CD of the year has been released in March, and it’s Alien. Don’t miss it, it’s a must hear.

For tonite, we ride!! - 90%

doomsoldier, March 23rd, 2005

I've been a SYL fan for a relatively short amount of time, but in the last couple of months I've really gotten into their sound and style. That said, I still didn't consider any of their albums to come even close to the greatness of frontman Devin Townsend's solo work.

When Alien leaked, my friend sent me Imperial, Skeksis and Shitstorm, and after listening to each song once through ( I admit, I wasn't paying much attention) , while surfing the net, I concluded that the new Strapping album was about on par with the others, and that was that for a few days. When I was sent the rest of the songs, I decided to roll them all again, burned a CD with all the songs on it, and set out for a long walk.

I returned to my house, ABSOLUTELY FLOORED! BEST SYL album YET!

I can't find a single song on this album which I don't enjoy thoroughly ('cept maybe 'Info Dump', but that's an aquired taste). 'Imperial' is the best SYL opener yet. 'We Ride', unquestionably the fastest song on the album, sits in the middle of the tracklist, and IMO the album hits its climax right there. Some say that the unplugged ballad, 'Two Weeks', breaks up the flow of the album, but I didn't find that to be so. It was a wonderful surprise that I totally didn't expect. 'Skeksis' and 'Shitstorm' took me a couple more listens to really appreciate, but I'm now glad I devoted that time. Zen, which is pretty much the final real song on the album, blows out a driving rhythm right to the end.

Instrumentally, the Lads are all in top form. Gene Hoglan's drumming, which, for me, has always been one of Strapping's biggest trademarks, has only gotten more technical since the s/t album. Devin's vocals hit home as well, but then again, I have yet to hear him sing something that didn't sound cool. The band's typical "wall of sound" style has been noticeably beefed up. This album definitely has some points ( such as the 1:00 mark in 'Thalamus' ) where the sound gets bigger than Strapping has ever done before. The difference is that these explosions of sound now seem so much more complete, as though the sound is surrounding you, not just hitting you hard in the face. Part of this may be attributed to a higher production quality, which this CD does have, or to the added keyboard backing of Dave Young (from the DTB) which permeates most of the album, but there's also just something different about the Strapping sound. In an industry where a lot of used-to-be-great bands are progressing in a really crappy direction, an album like this is a welcome breath of fresh air.

To conclude; awesome album! Buy it! Can't wait for the tour!