Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction (2011)

So after going progressive in the first record and going pop metal in the second, what awaited us on the third album by Devin Townsend Project? This time, the crazy Canadian gives us a comedic concept album named "Deconstruction". The album follows a man that wants to find out the true nature of reality. He ends up in hell where he meets the Devil and finds out that the secrets of the universe lies within a cheeseburger. But since our protagonist is vegetarian, he refuses the cheeseburger and admits that his journey was completely pointless.

So yeah, it is another great and hilarious concept made by Devin. But the comedy is not as much apparent as it was on "Punky Brüster - Cooked On Phonics" and "Ziltoid The Omniscient". There are no dialogues between the tracks that explains the story, so you have to go deeper into the lyrics to find the humour and the plot. It is the little things that makes you laugh, like hearing that all bands rip off Meshuggah, Oderus Urungus shouting shit a brick, or even the mentioning of Ziltoid the omniscient. I also get a laugh of the fact that when Devin screams sorrow man in "Planet of The Apes" it sounds like he is screaming Saruman (the evil wizard in The Lord of The Rings for those of you who do not get the joke).

This album is packed with a lot of personnel and guest artists from more or lesser known bands. For instance, we have Oderus Urungus (Gwar), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Floor Jansen (ReVamp, Nightwish), Tommy Giles Rogers (Between The Buried And Me), and many more. Hell, we even have an entire orchestra that has helped out with this album. So it comes as no surprise that even with this many guest artists, the quality of the music is at its top. It sounds chaotic from start to finish, but it is still holding up well thanks to the concept and the well constructed structure.

The complete chaos that this album brings makes it the heaviest album Devin has done outside of Strapping Young Lad. Just listen to the chugging blast beats in "Juular" or the incredible speed in "Pandemic". If that does not remind you of SYL, then I do not know what will. But this album also impress us with the big and epic songs. From the slow and technical "Stand", to the diverse "Planet of The Apes", this album brings some of the best epics Devin has ever created. Even "The Mighty Masturbator" sounds good despite the carnival scene around the end of this 16 minute epic. I also have to mention the title track, since it is the main track for the overall concept (and also for its goofiness).

"Deconstruction" is just another proof of why I like to call Devin the Jim Carrey of metal. This is a weird and funny concept, and together with some heavy and progressive music, this album goes down as one of Devin's finest albums. This is the perfect album for those of you who wants to take out your aggressions on, oh I do not know, an ignorant vegetarian hipster who refuses to eat a cheeseburger. I do not know about you guys, but this album gives me a big boner and it is making me hungry. I WANT A CHEESEBURGER!!!

Songs worthy of recognition: Planet of The Apes, Stand, Juular, Pandemic

Rating: 9/10 Poltergeists