TOWNSEND LIVES!

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 12:00pm by

dtp_headersummer09

Thanks to ten or twelve of you who all e-mailed us at once to demand we spend some time talking about Ki, the new album from the the now barely-recognizable Devin Townsend, or, rather, The Devin Townsend Project. A preview of the album currently available on Townsend’s MySpace page promises all the awesomeness we expect from this dude (and plenty of heavy as fuck metal), but the accompanying interview may be even better, if only for these tidbits of information:

On Ki:

Ki is a project, one of four. The next record in the quartet is an entirely different cast of characters. The whole point is to have the RIGHT people for the job, no square pegs into round holes. At the end of the ‘DTP’ (Devin Townsend Project) when it gets played live, (which it will) I will choose one group of people to represent it all. But, for the albums, the aesthetic of each record partially depends on the folks involved. So yes, Ki is a ‘Project band’ :)”

On the possibility of touring:

“When all 4 records in the DTP series are done, and the box set is released at the end (8 records including a dvd), I will play selected shows throughout the world. I will not be climbing into a van and playing clubs in the middle of nowhere though. I am going to assemble a sober team of incredible musicians to play ALL the records, perfectly, to many people. You will see me soon, and get ready for the next 3 records in the series, Ki is a subtle introduction to a sprawling theme. Please enjoy, it’s good to be back.”

The fact that we’re getting four more albums from Townsend, and that eventually we’ll be getting the chance to see him (and his inimitable brand of stage banter) live again, almost makes up for the fact that he shaved his skullet – almost.

I can’t seem to find an official release date for Ki but it should be out sometime this summer. In case you can’t tell, we’re stoked.

-AR

  • Diesel Computer

    This is going to be huge. I cant wait for new stuff from this guy even though he kinda looks like a member of A Perfect Circle now.

  • billybob

    I almost emailed you too, but I had faith in Metalsucks. lol Ki-YA!

  • Fe

    i cannot wait for these albums!!

    long live dev!

  • Byron W.

    I couldn’t believe that it was him when I saw that picture for the first time… he looks completely different, looks great though. And the 5 minute teaser on the myspace page was really cool, I’m really looking forward to this..

  • washing machine

    “black metal kitchen appliances!”

  • Sean

    Yes!!!YES!!!YEESSS!!!!!AHHHH!!!!! [passes out]

  • HagstromSpeed

    He looks a lot like he did when he was younger earlier in his career, like on the cover of infinity…..ziltoid is still probably the most epic concept album EVER, and its so lyrically creative throughout

  • http://www.myspace.com/metalmary Mary Z

    I love Devin Townsend. He’s one of my all time favorite musicians and you know…he didn’t always rock the skullet….the video for Christeen off of “Infinity” he’s shaved. :)

    So pumped about the new music.

  • Paul D

    I’m pretty sure Townsend was the inspiration for Pickles the drummer…

  • JF

    DT rules…here’s my question though: am I the only one who wishes he would put out an Ocean Machine Pt. 2? 10 years past and I am still craving another just like it.

  • Aaron

    I bet the real reason he’s not touring until all of these albums are out is so he has enough time to grow in the skullet.

    I couldn’t be more hyped for this I never had a chance to see him live in any capacity but all of the music he’s made through the years has been simply amazing.

    OH and he was the guy that they based Pickles look on (Nathan = Corpsegrinder, Skwisgaar = Alexie Lahoe, Toki = Fredrik from Meshuggah and Murderface = Geezer Butler), early concept art looked just like him.

  • http://salsicha.wordpress.com Gabriel

    Whoa, is this bald one in the picture… Devin Townsend? Hah, totally different!

    Well, I don’t know much about Townsend’s solo works, but I bet it’s good.
    S.Y.L. is enough to show me how Devin is a genius!

  • iolanach

    Goddamn, Devin Townsend rules so fucking much.

  • mickey-luv

    @JF:
    nope, you’re not the only one!

  • sbmindkl

    he looks like cross between joe satriani and michael stype in that promo shot. no glasses either? where is the mad scientist of huge metal guitar sounds look gone?

    but yeah he did cut that shit around infinity too…

    and 4 albums and another chance to see Devin is fucking awesome!

  • Mancubus

    No, Aaron, you only got two of them right.

    Nathan = Corpsegrinder
    Swissgar = Jesper Stromblad
    Toki: Mikael Akerfeldt
    Murderface = Shane Embury
    Pickles = Devy

  • I

    I am sooo glad to see no bashing on Devy. One of the rare threads that has all positive in it. And yeah, I’m very fucking stoked for these albums. Devin is a musical genius, and to get 4 different albums all with different feels, awesome.

  • myke

    nice!!!! huge devin townsend fan this is wicked fun oh yeh!!! i just want him to play nyc . he suppose to tour here like twice.

  • Lt Crumpet

    WHY
    WHY
    BRING BACK THE SKULLET

  • Sven

    He’s one of those musicians I just don’t get. I like maybe two songs, tops, and the rest was annoying at best.

  • Aaron

    I honestly think Devin is one of those artists you just can’t dislike. He’s incredibly gifted musically and is one of the few artists out there who I think could claim to be building progressive soundscapes with the actual spark of genius to their music that would make a statement like that not complete bullshit, at at the same time he’s a laid back guy who just loves a good heavy fucking metal song.

    He makes the kind of music that I can go back to in 10 years and hear something new in it and from the sampler to this album I don’t think it will disappoint at all. He’s still a musical mad scientist.

  • http://www.last.fm/user/BootScraperSean Anger Unmanagement

    Oh good god Ki is awesome. Devy’s done it again. Looking forward to Addicted and Deconstruction!