innerspaceboy

Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine (Biomech)

A few initial thoughts as the opening tracks unfold... this is interesting… melodic metal which is instrumentally reminiscent (in my incredibly limited experience) of Heartwork. Certainly accessible. Not as “extreme” as Extreme Noise Terror or O.L.D. but certainly bold and forceful stuff.

A minor gripe - I’m definitely not digging the album art. The typeface choice demonstrates either laziness or a complete absence of design knowledge. And from the graphic, I presume the artist was going for that retro garbage quality video toaster stuff that I hear is back in fashion… but it really fails to evoke any sort of conceptual intent or to indicate even the slightest hint of conscious effort of any sort. But maybe packaging design is just not Devin’s forte. I’m not familiar with the HevyDevy Records catalog or their associated design staff. Maybe this is par for the course for these guys. (Sorry - I worked in the design industry for nearly two decades… sub-par packaging design gets on my nerves.)

But back to the music. (That’s what we’re really here for.) I’m definitely enjoying it. It’s prog metal… a genre with many traits which resonate with my own personal tastes and values. It’s certainly melodic, which I like in my metal. And several selections border on pure prog rock instead of metal per se. Which is in no way a bad thing.

I briefly explored the lyrics of this record. Nothing exceptionally poetic here, but I don’t think Devin is trying for that. The subject matter is somewhat generic - just a jumble of words and phrases like “cold, night, dark, waves, dreams, sleep, running away, alone, fade away, rain falling down, sun, shadows, dance, tonight… and I went to a funeral in the rain.” But perhaps that’s sufficient for the task. I’m a bit of an outsider here, so I’m interpreting the content as best I can without contextualization.

I will say that I like the samples interjected throughout the record, particularly the noisy indecipherable mess over the course of “Sister.” I’m a nutter for soundscapes, and these elements add an abstract quality to the album that I’m drawn to.

“3 A.M.” is another interesting track - a beatless, almost ambient spacey break from the percussion and guitar work which otherwise dominate the album. And Devin explores this further with “The Death of Music.” And it’s variation like that which really makes the record work.

And Devin takes a chance with the closer and delivers a thoughtful ballad. I give him props for taking that risk for fans who might appreciate it.

There are no particularly stand-out tracks here, but the album works well as a whole.

6/10

__________________
The Innerspace Connection | Essential Recordings | Top Archives | Hot 100 Albums | Top 550 Artists