April 2021 Feature Release – The Gateway Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Gateway has been nominated by myself. It's 2009's highly regarded "Addicted" album from Canada's Devin Townsend Project which saw Devin pushing his most alternative sound to the time. 

https://metal.academy/releases/1086

I did my review, here's its summary:

In just one year, one of my new favorite musicians Devin Townsend released two albums that marked the beginning of the Devin Townsend Project. However, while they both were somewhat pleasant, they alienated his fanbase. Of course I have nothing against Ki, and definitely nothing against this album, Addicted. Well sure, this second album of the project has his more familiar trademark sound dating back to Ocean Machine and the more melodic side of Strapping Young Lad, but he has added a twist... This album can be described more as alt-dance-metal as opposed to the usual progressive metal. There's heavier emphasis on catchy hooks, melodies, and dance elements that is kind of the album's double-edge sword. Surprisingly, the album works well played as a whole, and can be fun to listen to. However, many of the songs don't seem that appealing to me, but the ones that do include the songs that have ex-The Gathering singer Anneke van Giersbergen into Devin's material, complimenting Devin's melody-craft with her soft beauty and otherwise putrid pop choruses. Absolutely stunning! She doesn't appear in the epic "Awake!!", but that's still a great song all the same. Another album done in his "Project", Devin Townsend has shown his genuine music knowledge, though only a few songs here are super great. After the intelligent yet dull ambience of Ki and the tunes of Addicted that mix alt-metal with dance-pop, the next album Deconstruction would be what I think is the real heavier start of his project, one that your ears will never forget....

3/5

Whenever Devin Townsend adds his stamp of approval to an project/album, there needs to be some guidelines set in place by the audience. The most important of those is that you can leave any expectations of what you think this album will sound like at the door when you walk in. When I heard Addicted for the first time and I saw the Alternative Metal tag associated with it, I had to question what the hell did that actually mean? We were talking about the same Devin Townsend right? How is he, one of metal's most eclectic composers possibly ever, make an accessible metal album?

As soon as the opener "ADDICTED!" begins, it becomes clear that Devin Townsend hasn't really done that much different from earlier projects. Besides cleaning up much of the production, incorporating his harsh screams and raspy sung vocals far less frequently than ever before, and calling upon Anneke van Giersbergen for alternate vocals, and if I do say so myself, the tunes that heavily feature Anneke make up this albums best moments. And that's mostly because they are the cleanest to compliment her cleaner vocal timbre. Devin's harsh vocals are well hidden in the mix as usual, so I was pleasantly surprised by the flip on "IH-AH!" and later into "THE WAY HOME!" and "NUMBERED!". The later of those two serving as a well performed balance of the styles, something I wish the album did more of, let alone wait until so late in the track list.

As it stands, I do like the idea of an album such as Addicted, I just wish it was incorporated better. Of all of the groups that Devin Townsend has associated with, the DTP is the one that I have always liked the least; it has always felt the most safe and comfortable. In comparison to other Townsend projects, this is a dud for sure, but in a vacuum, I can see this clicking as a real "Gateway" into progressive metal and beyond.

6/10

I've given this one a few bashes this morning & found that I quite liked it but wouldn't class it as essential listening. Sure it incorporates some new elements like the electronic component & the addition of former The Gathering front woman Anneke van Giersbergen but the end result still sounds like Devin with his trademark wall of melodic sound. Unsurprisingly, all of the various ingredients have been beautifully integrated. In fact, Devin really should send the album to Megadeth band leader Dave Mustaine so that he can see how albums like "Risk" & "The World Needs A Hero" should have sounded as the boys seem to have had similar ideas but produced vastly different results with a wide disparity in regards to quality.

Anneke has sat amongst my favourite female metal vocalists (if not THE favourite) for a very long time now so I welcomed the collaboration. She certainly sounds great here too but I do prefer to hear her voice being highlighted a little more than it is amidst Devin's huge soundscapes. The production is obviously outstanding though & this gives some of the middling tracks the grunt required to see them getting over the line. The guitar tone is heavy as shit while Ryan Van Poederooyen puts in a stellar performance behind the drum kit.

It's interesting that many fans seem to regard this album as an industrial metal record. Sure there are some electronic elements at play here but there's not a consistently industrial/mechanical atmosphere. "Addicted" is far more uplifting that that & I'm actually fine with the alternative metal tag as a lot of this material looks to remove some of the boundaries that separate metal from your more accessible styles whilst always maintaining a predominantly metal aesthetic. Despite the general consensus, when you examine the tracklisting as a whole you'll find that "Addicted" isn't really much poppier than Devin has dished out before either & I do think that saying it incorporates "dance music" is a stretch too as the electronics are used purely for colour & there aren't too many artificial dance beats included here.

Overall, I think "Addicted" had the potential to be a really great album given the quality of the production, performances & most of the hooks but there's a major flaw that prevents me from scoring it as highly as I'd like to. Unfortunately the tracklisting is let down by a couple of weak commercially focused tracks (i.e. "Bend It Like Bender!" & particularly the soppy ballad "Ih-Ah!") which combine to bring my score down by a half-star. Otherwise there's plenty of meat for Devin's fanatical audience to dig their teeth into here with the clear album highlight "Supercrush!" sitting amongst the best work of Devin's entire career.

3.5/5