#epicloud

[pastacatprod]

Usually I take a big song and make it big and orchestral, so now I'm taking a gigantic song and making it teeny tiny so a string quartet could play it.

[scoutology]

Sweet mornin' rain

[luxnebula]

FINALLY! Townsend's newest album, only a couple months old, Powernerd from October 2024. I've waited to hear this for the first time since I started relistening to Townsend's discography.

The album immediately opens with the energetic title song, Powernerd. And it's an interesting sound! This is more hard rock than heavy metal from what I can hear. It's a fun banger.

By Knuckledragger, I figure that the vibe on this album is... a little more tangible than I've gotten used to from Townsend. Like, it's easier to listen to, you know? I don't know how to describe it. It's less Tool and more... I don't want to say "mainstream palatable", but it's the closest thing I can think of. It's still heavy metal/hard rock with screamed vocals and abrasive lyrics, but it's easier to grasp and comprehend than, say, Puzzle. It's an interesting direction from Townsend and I like it!

Gratitude brings it back to the traditional Townsend sound, though. It's big, it's epic, it blows you over like a strong gust of wind. Incredible track.

Jainism is another track that I want to highlight because it's easily the best song on the album and the reason why I've been so excited for this album. The sing-along-able chorus and thought-provoking lyrics are so good and the punchy "this is so much larger" line before the chorus is so headbangable. This song has been stuck in my head off-and-on for a couple of weeks now and I couldn't be happier. Jainism is easily one of the best metal songs of 2024, which is a feat because Gojira's Mea Culpa and Bloodywood and BABYMETAL's Bekhauf also came out this year.

Glacier is another incredible track that continues the traditional Townsend sound. I stand wildly corrected in assuming that this album would be all hard rock.

The closing track of the album, Ruby Quaker, is a fun romp about drinking coffee. I don't have much else to say about it, it's just so much fun with lighthearted lyrics.

This is an incredible album and it was well worth the self-imposed wait. While I might not come back to it like I would come back to, say Epicloud or other of my fave albums, I will continue to listen to Jainism for a long time.

[foureyes802]

who are your favorite prog rock artists

This is a little embarrassing to answer since I don't listen to a huge variety of prog artists, just like 3 who fall under the genre umbrella 🫣 that being said, my absolute favorite artist of all time is Devin Townsend. People who look at my tags on music related posts are aware of this. It's proggy less so in the expected sense of constant weird time signature shenanigans, and more so in general sonic complexity and richness of sound. Lots of instrument tracks, lots of layers. It's a through line from his most extreme speed metal projects with Strapping Young Lad into his ambient albums, and even coloring his pop-rock stuff on Addicted! and Epicloud. Out of some 30-odd albums, I love almost all of his work (excepting some earlier unpolished stuff, plus DevLab and Casualties of Cool which just don't sit with me aesthetically) and I utterly implore people to check him out. Every project besides SYL has his name on it so it's not too difficult to hunt down. But aside from that, my taste is super basic: Rush and Yes were my intros to the genre and I still listen occasionally (send this question 4 years ago and i'd have infodumped about 2112 instead lmao), plus I've been trying to get into King Gizzard but have only really resonated with Nonagon Infinity so far. That's basically it, though. Thanks for the ask! :)

also idk if it's going to show up once this is posted but as im typing up my response this ask format is FUCKED. check it out:

no clue why that happened, it looked normal in my inbox. lol. well thanks again for the question!

[itspvg]

Tag ten people you want to get to know better

Thanks for tagging me @hunter-sylvester !!

Relationship status: Single as fuck.

Song stuck in my head: Devin Townsend Project - Angel

Last song I listened to: Devin Townsend Project - Angel . I have been listening to DTP as it's just a wall of sound I just kinda get lost in. Plus the Epicloud album is clearly just an ablum influenced by anexity and worry. And I can resonate with that on a personal level.

Three favorite foods: Honestly, chips. (fries for our non Irish or UK friends). When they are done right. They are just lovely. Not too heavy not too light. And so easy to customise to your taste.

Last thing I googled: 'Diablo 4 guide mechanics'. I am very keen to start playing that game soon but fuck me. It's like learning a new RPG from scratch and I played the previous Diablo's.

Dream trip: That a tought on. Like I want to go to Japan and South Korea at some point. As well as Germany again. But also really want to go to other places to see folks I care about. I mean, the reality would be to see them first. But I guess if circumstances afforded. I guess my dream trip would never stop. I'd just be nomadic.

Anything I want right now: I really want more ice cream. Like I have some in the freezer but like. I know when it's eaten it's gone and that has been preventing me from eating it. Despite it being so damn warm. I guess I am really suffering from the concept of "having my cake and eating it". Also I would't mind [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Or to [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]

No pressure tagging: @miraakswhore @nemobeatrice @aboveaverageandrewj and any other folks that feel like doing it!

[ritzcuit]

and kingdom from epicloud is like, the second recording. it already existed once on physicist but it's like, smaller, like the big loud sound is still there bc it's His Sound, but i dont think the production is as big and his voice is kind of rougher as opposed to the big, open sounding Operaticness of epicloud... i still like it a whole lot though bc i LIKE devin.....but im so glad he rerecorded it..

[pretentious-art-love]

Album Reviews #17 - Epicloud by Devin Towsend

Probably Devin's most brainless release, and I don't say it in a mean way, but because he said effectively said he had gone full auto pilot since he needed “a rest from thinking”. Now, while he also mentioned that the record was inspired in Def Leppard, the "fun" tracks are actually not that many and a considerable part of the record pursues this kind of "mid-tempo rock with emotional content" (Devin's words) which is a combination he really likes, the atmosphere is also huge and effectively aerial and etherial, which gives a thematic cohesion to the record. Several of the songs can be really poppy (Liberation, Save Our Now, More!), and aside from the outliers (True North, Kingdom, Grace) it never really gets way too over the top, just overly pleasant and caressing (Hold On, Angel). Devin has a knack for, not necessarily prog, not necessarily metal or goofy music, but to make Mountain music, music that makes you feel like at the top of a mountain, music that you play when the sun is high in the sky and the day is filled with light, that is the kind of magic he always manages to achieve.

Epiclouder has two acoustic songs (Believe, Little Pig), two atmospheric mid-tempo songs (Happy Birthday, Love Tonight) on par with the main Epicloud, and then it throws most of the fun tracks written on those sessions. Some tracks have fine ideas, Heat Wave brings back that Rockabilly from Trainfire and it can be fun live. Quietus and Love and Marriage have that low-key, ominous and fun vibe that several of songs of Ki were going for. Woah No! has a similar air of grandeur like the opening True North has, but it is a lot darker and heavy, I really like most of what this song has going for it, but its chorus seems to be unfinished. Socialization is the most Deconstruction-esque of all the songs with a full blast beasts section and relentless energy, it can be fantastic and it predates some of that Empath type of uplifting madness, but again, it also has an unfinished chorus. The rest of the tracks are also alright, but, in my opinion, they can feel like a cheap parody of his music if you were take them at face value (with Divine being his worst song to date), but tracks in Epiclouder are tagged as demos, so to me they are alright in the way they were presented here.

Here there is also two of Devin's best songs, Lucky Animals, a really, really fun song, it is so over the top, so silly and instantly catchy, it definitely has some amazing punch and it shows Devin’s ability to hamfist fun and excess together. Love Tonight, one of the emotional songs, is my most played Devin song to date and my fifth most played song ever (if my scrobbles are accurate enough to trust them). It’s really beautiful when you find a song that you cannot get tired of, a song that offers something seemingly infinite, this is a song I have dreamed of finding since I was a child. Love Tonight's mantle is composed of a shiny light blue that submerges you and lets you see the sunset from below, it truly feels like living in the future. Every time I play it I get really excited, as a piece it is entirely cyclical, it doesn't have beginning or end. Sure, the chorus feels a bit cheesy, a bit campy, but its this something that does to complete the immaculate verses that makes it unique. It is a quasi-lethargic sensation that takes you with absolute serenity towards the end of time as the main riff flows like an endless cascade, moving on with contemplative impetus. The wistful love that the song manifests is eternal and soothing, going between the lines of hope, melancholy, embrace and pure encompassing love.

If you liked Sky Blue and want some more of that emotional, AOR influenced tranquil rock, you can take the mid-tempo tracks, get a decent 45 minutes of runtime and have a very consistent, nice experience. If you haven't checked Sky Blue… well, I feel Sky Blue is a lot more consistent, but Epicloud has higher highs, and it has those small gospel vocals, so it's your choice. This playlist is one I usually play a lot in sunny afternoons and even more if I am on a bus trip because along with the constant speed of a vehicle it gets to feel really caressing and soothing. With the fun tracks you can also get a decent record of around the same length, thing is that my ear didn't enjoy all of the songs for me to recommend them. Overall, nothing essential, but worth to check out if you like the poppy dev. If you want something with a similar atmospheric and uplifting mood, but with a proggier edge (and considerably cheesier) you can also try Transcendence.

If I were to separate the emotional tracks from the fun tracks in two discs, the tracklist would be something like this:

Epicloud

Effervescent!

True North

Happy Birthday

Where We Belong

Save Our Now

Kingdom

Love Tonight

Grace

Believe

Lessons

Hold On

Angel (49 minutes)

Epiclouder

Little Pig

Lucky Animals

Liberation

Heatwave

Quietus

Love and Marriage

The Mind WASP

More!

Woah No!

Socialization (45 minutes)

5/10

[darkarfs]

I was…in a really weird place this week, clearly. Depressed, strange, scared, in pain, just…so much mashed fruit in a bowl full of fucking bugs. Vaelastrasz - Winterspring Current 93 - If a City Is Set Upon a Hill mizuirono_inu - TOKYO VIRUS LOVE STORY Perfume Genius - Ugly Season Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction Richard Dawson - The Ruby Cord Emeralds - Solar Bridge Emeralds - What Happened Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud Oval - Romantiq Imaginary Softwoods - Annual Flowers in Color

[epicloud]

SAAAAVE MYYY HEAAART TOMOOORROOOW

[the-real-noise]

Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #devintownsend #epicloud #modernmetal #truenorth #loveisinfinity #cdcollection #kindofmagic #epic #power (at Toronto, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfKxyLhMTcd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gbhbl]

Live Review: Devin Townsend at the Royal Albert Hall, London (16/04/2022)

Live Review: Devin Townsend at the Royal Albert Hall, London (16/04/2022)

It is a warm, sunny Saturday in London and the Devin Townsend show has rolled into town ready to spark a fire in all of us at the iconic, Royal Albert Hall in London. Nursing a little bit of a hangover, and fatigue, from an amazing Friday night in London watching the mesmerising Ward XVI, the prospect of heading back to London during a period of transport disruption and tube closures isn’t very…

[scoutology]

Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud (Demo)

[luxnebula]

I skipped a few days because I was busy and straight up Forgor, but today I'm listening to Z^2, which is listed as two separate albums on Wikipedia, but as a double feature on Spotify. Either way, I'm listening to both today.

The first album continues the majestic, airy vibe of Epicloud, taking it even further and bigger than Epicloud did. It's just as awesome and even more refined and polished. It works pretty well on its own too. It's an incredible listen, especially after Epicloud.

The second album seems to continue the Ziltoid story. This time, Ziltoid has returned to Earth to get coffee, but he's welcome like some kind of rockstar or a god. Ziltoid has a creature called a poozer with him, and the mother of the poozers, a power hungry war princess, has noticed that one of her babies is missing. Uh oh! The poozer escapes Ziltoid and returns to his home planet and tells his mother that he was abducted by Ziltoid and brought to Earth. UH OH!

And so the war princess gathers her troops and attacks Earth. The attack is ruthless, and humans throw Ziltoid into a high security prison because their good will towards him quickly soured while being attacked. However, Captain Spectacular, the general of the human army, goes to negotiate with Ziltoid to try and find out if there's a way to fight against the war princess. Captain Spectacular and Ziltoid enter an uneasy alliance to defeat the war princess and to use Ziltoid's ultimate weapon, Herman the Planet Smasher. Who is a small furry guy the size of a football and he's so cute (or so the narrator tells us, this is still a non-visual story in audio form).

But oh no! Ziltoid betrays the humans! But wait! Captain Spectacular tries to negotiate with Ziltoid, begging him to think back to his childhood and reveals that he and Ziltoid are half brothers. OH SHIT.

Ziltoid, now convinced to work for the humans again, commands the Planet Smasher to attack the war princess, but she defeats Herman easily and kills Captain Spectacular.

But seeing Ziltoid cry over Captain Spectacular's body, sadly singing Memories from Cats, Planet Smasher feels something spark in his heart... Which is hatred for musicals.

With Planet Smasher's help, the human kind evict Ziltoid and the war princess into a worm hole and start celebrating their victory. Ziltoid awakens in a barren, abandoned moon, alone with the war princess and one bag of coffee.

This is a super fun romp of an album. I love stories and this was a light-hearted and fun story to follow. I can't wait for the next part of the Ziltoid story.

[dailydoseofdevy]

Title: Grace

Artist: The Devin Townsend Project with Anneke van Giersbergen

Album: Epicloud

Transcribed lyrics below:

We know that it's only human.. We know that it's only love.. We know that it's far too close to home.. To see it now..

Love all we can before We learn all we came for Learn all we can before The road leads to home..

Grace!! Grace!! Grace!! Grace!!

..High! ..Road! ..Warning!

..High! ..Road! ..Warning!

OH! (GO!)

Grace!! Grace!! ..Say no more!

(AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) ..High! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) ..Road! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) ..Warning!

(AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) ..High! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) ..Road! (AAA-aaah..!) ..Warning!

(OH!)

(aaa-) ..Laugh! (AAA-) ..Love! (AAA-) ..Live! (AAh!) ..Learn!

(aaa-)  ..Laugh! (AAA-) ..Love! (..eternal!) (AAA-) ..Live! (..eternal!) (AAh!)  ..Learn!

Eternal! (I..!) Eternal! (I..!) Eternal! (I, I, I..!)

My child tells me, we are the fallen man..! (..aa-AA-aa-AAh.. ..aa-AA-aa-AAh..)

My child tells me, we are the fallen man..! (aa-AA-aa-AAh.. ..aa-AA-aa-AA-aa-AAh..)

..Hang on!!

(aaa-) ..Laugh! (AAA-) ..Love! (AAA-) ..Live! (AAh!) ..Learn!

(aaa-) ..Laugh! (..eternal!) (AAA-) ..Love!  (..eternal!) (AAA-) ..Live!  (..eternal!) (AAh!) ..Learn! (..eternal!)

I, eternal! I, eternal! I, I ,I..! (AAAAAAAh..!)

(Oh my god..!) ..Oh my god!! (OH MY GOD!!)

Grace!! (GRACE!!) Grace!! (GRACE!!) Grace!! (GRACE!!) Grace!! (GRACE!!)

NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..High!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..Road!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..Warning!!) ..WARNING!!

NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..High!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..Road!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..Warning!!) ..WARNING!!

(Ooooooh..) We know that it's only human.. We know that it's only love.. Love.. love.. love.. Love.. love.. love.. love.. Love all we can..!

I know the way! (I KNOW THE WAY!)

And you know the way! (AND YOU KNOW THE WAY!)

We all fall down if we fear love! (WE ALL FALL DOWN IF WE FEAR LOVE!)

(AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..Warning!!) ..WARNING!!

(AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (AAA-aaa-A-ah..!) NEVER FEAR LOVE! (..Warning!!) ..WARNING!!

[matteohudson]

Now Listening: Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud. #devintownsendproject #devintownsendprojectepicloud #epicloud #effervescent #truenorth #luckyanimals #liberation #wherewebelong #saveournow #kingdom #divine #grace #more #lessons #holdon #angel #2012 #2012album #alternativemetal #hardrock #progressivemetal #nowlistening #nowplaying https://www.instagram.com/p/B-FOFhGCqzL/?igshid=hp0zw0o3i8eq