Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Devin Townsend - PowerNerd (2024)

For over a decade, I've considered myself to be a metal nerd. Not to brag, but I know a lot about the different metal bands and genres I've listened to all these years. Even when I seem to distance myself from a genre or at least bands from a genre and have done it for a few years, I can still remember many of my experiences with those bands' material. One of those artists is Devin Townsend, a prolific Canadian mastermind in progressive metal.

30 years before this review, he work for Steve Vai, toured with The Wildhearts, and started his own band Strapping Young Lad. Since then, he has made almost 30 albums. Such amazing creativity he has! And now his new album PowerNerd has arrived, serving up his usual prog-metal blended with the alt-metal of his Project album Addicted.

The title opener blasts open the gates of Devin's usual energetic prog-metal, as Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta yells the title, "POWERNERD!!!" The song certainly has that rock-on metal Motorhead vibe, and the lyrics have gotten me hooked too, "Time for life and rock 'n' roll!" After that, "Falling Apart" relaxes into the beauty of Terria, with serene female vocals by Tanya Ghosh. One of the most surprised-filled tracks here is "Knuckledragger", with 80s 8-bit synths and a fun catchy chorus.

"Gratitude" has softer harmony, in contrast to the Hevy Devy business in other tracks. "Dreams of Light" is a short peaceful spacey interlude. It segues to "Ubelia" that drives on as an uplifting anthem. "Jainism" comes back to the modern progressiveness longtime Devy fans know and love.

Power ballad "Younger Lover" continues the motive of exploring a different style. The dramatic grandeur of "Glacier" is quite massive. This throwback to the Sky Blue album shall level up an arena-sized crowd. 6-minute epic "Goodbye" is a joyful rocker in a similar vein to Van Halen, probably done better! That should've been the end of the album, except... "Ruby Quaker" brings back the "comedic bonus track" aspect as a coffee-themed country hoedown. Interesting, though this album would've been perfect without it.

With PowerNerd, Devin Townsend fans are once again reminded of what a progressive metal superhero he is. While I have my own metal heroes, I don't mind revisiting this musical genius once in a while and checking out amazing offerings like this one. Creativity can be anyone's superpower, but he isn't just anyone!

Favorites: "PowerNerd", "Knuckledragger", "Ubelia", "Jainism", "Glacier", "Goodbye"