345: THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT

Perhaps one of the biggest parts of Townsendโ€™s post-SYL career, The Devin Townsend Project started out at a 4-album project, neatly compartmentalising the music he had produced since returning from hiatus, clean and clean it. Devy found the ~60 songs he had written fell into four distinct groups – bluesy prog rock sort of stuff found itโ€™s way to โ€˜Kiโ€™, more listener-friendly, poppy metal became โ€˜Addicted!โ€™, more extreme stuff, the closest to his SYL material we reserved for โ€˜Deconstructionโ€™, with the most ambient, easy listening stuff reserved for โ€˜Ghostโ€™.

These four albums were each so different in style and structure, yet all carried the trademark Devy vibe and vocals. Creative and complex, they painted the picture of a man rediscovering his passion.

The Devin Townsend Project was supposed to end there, but keeping that momentum going he released another 3 albums under that name. Again, each was unique, told its own story, and did incredible things within its chosen subgenres.

The Devin Townsend Project remains my favourite chapter of Devyโ€™s career. It was the triumphant return of one of metals true geniuses, and was a fascinating exploration of writing different styles.

But, ever the explorer and innovator, Townsend announced in 2018 that DTP would be โ€˜taking a breakโ€˜ as he explored other musical avenues. True to his word, heโ€™s remained productive and prolific since then, but The Devin Townsend Project will always be special to me.