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21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century... So Far

ALBUMS WE WISH HAD MADE THE LIST: STRAPPING YOUNG LAD – ALIEN

 Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 4:30pm by

21best1

syl-alien

Strapping Young Lad, Alien (Century, 2005)
Devin Townsend– Vocals/Guitars/Keyboards
Jed Simon – Guitars
Byron Stroud – Drums
Gene Hoglan – Drums
Produced by Devin Townsend

By the time of 2005′s Alien, Strapping Young Lad frontman Devin Townsend had been keeping a frantic pace for a decade: He regularly produced three albums a year, he had solo albums leaking from his bum, and his once-abandoned SYL returned to active status.

That SYL returned with an unheard-of two albums in two years was great news, but it was unexpected that Alien would be SYL’s masterpiece, a cacophonous set of maelstrom metal with the occasional twinkle of Devy solo records. A few weeks before its release, Townsend told me that SYL (the album) came about cuz he was finally frustrated/freaked enough to make a SYL (the band) album. Like it or not, after six years had passed since their penultimate 1997 record City; lotsa shit had changed in the world at large since then, including some large-scale bloodshed.

That explains the teeth-shattering intensity, but again the shape of Alien more closely resembles the dudless brilliance of an outing like Townsend’s  Infinity, not the uneven and emotionally single-minded SYL discography around it. And when you hear a crusty old wine-sipper call the latest Springsteen/Dylan vanity project a “journey album,” it supposedly means that the force behind the album is a single person, with a single trip, and each song on the album is a stop, or something.

Sounds like The Travel Channel if you ask me. Townsend harpoons this idea on Alien, where there are no “stops”; instead, Townsend is our tour guide at the end of a tether ball rope,  and SYL, propelled by uber-drummer Gene Hoglan, pummels us in any direction around Townsend’s mental picnic grounds for 45 minutes before the ball detaches, landing with a thud in a pile of industrial waste.

-ADF

Anso DF is a former music journalist who is pretty sure Lost Prophets isn’t metal on the daily metal news column Hipsters Out Of Metal!

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  • phatchief666

    I’m going for 1st post #2 now.

    The seeds for this album were definately sowed when Meshuggah released ‘Nothing’. I really think that this wouldn’t have existed without it.

    • Strep Townsend

      SYL has nothing to do with Meshuggah.

      • phatchief666

        Dearest Strep Townsend…

        Sonically Alien and Nothing are very close. Nothing opened the gates for that kind of sound, on Alien, Devin perfected it.

        I’m pretty sure that in the liner notes to Alien, Devy states that Meshuggah’s Nothing was a huge influence on the record.

        • Strep Townsend

          The albums sound nothing alike thank CHRIST because Meshuggah sucks.
          Nothing was crap, the last good Meshuggah album was Destroy Erase Improve, thankfully they have broken the “loop wankery” with Obzen.

          • g

            just shut up you dont know what you’re talking about

          • g

            seriously all the people who say “the last good Meshuggah album was DEI” are missing out

          • g

            and obzen is the same thing as nothing, just improved

            so basically you’re wrong, go away

          • http://www.myspace.com/ihopeyourot Dave

            3 fucking posts for that one?

            Next time you get a thought, and you wanna act on it just….don’t.

    • seveword

      You’re retarded.

      • phatchief666

        Guess so.

    • Jesse

      It’s exactly like Meshuggah, except it doesn’t suck.

    • F

      Uh, what? They’re not even playing the same kind of style. You’re way out dude.

      • http://infinitybasement.wordpress.com billybob

        Flaming is gay.

  • Seth

    lets just call this series the real list

    • Attic

      agreed

    • Anselmowitz

      In fact lets just forget the list ever happened.

  • g

    YES

    Alien fucking rules and it should have been on the list. It rules so hard. SO HARD.

    AND NOW ITS SCIENCE! AND MAAAAAAATH!

  • http://www.myspace.com/thenothing4 matt

    This album is great, it should have made the list. Maybe if LoG’s New American Gospel was the only album of theirs to make this list we would have room for SYL, which in my opinion is a greater band anyways.
    \m/
    LONG LIVE HEVY DEVY

  • phatchief666

    IF YOU WANT CRAZY, I’LL SHOW YOU FUCKING CRAZY !!!

    FUUUUCCKKKK YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU !!!

    You know that Devin meant every single word when he spat those out. I’d never heard such passion and venom in him before this. Its lyrically a very, very personal album.

    • narcopolypse

      I’M BEING COMPLETELY RATIONAAALLLLL!!!!

      • Lord Bling

        NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I FUCKING HATE MYSELF!!!!

        EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS FUCKED!!!!

      • http://www.myspace.com/ihopeyourot Dave

        IM NOT YELLING!!!!!!!!

        god, i fucking love this cd.

    • http://www.myspace.com/ihopeyourot Dave

      OH FUCK

      FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

      • narcopolypse

        OH WHAT A FEELIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!

        • http://www.myspace.com/ihopeyourot Dave

          KNOW THE CHOOOOSEN ONES ARE HERE

          ALL HAIL

          OOOOOO SHIT

          FUCK IT

        • GraZmus

          Toyota

    • Oden

      shit yes man! should have been top 15 for sure

      “And I don’t want to fight…
      Because I don’t know what’s
      WRONG or RIGHT
      But I’ll do ANYTHING just to get some
      FUCKING sleep tonight…
      And I can’t even EAT
      And I can’t even FUCKING PISS!!!
      All I’ve been doing is thinking about
      GOD and DEATH InFiNiTy!!!!!”

      • King Cheezit

        OH LOVE,
        MAKE WAY FOR BREEDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!

        • http://iand Iand

          DO YOU WANNA HAVE A FUCKING BABY

  • http://www.myspace.com/northwestroyale Blake

    “Shitstorm”, to this day, remains the angriest song I’ve EVER heard, regardless of genre. This album fuckin’ rules, which is why I thought “The New Black” was such a disappointment. But Dev purposely went off his meds to write “Alien,” which I thought was ballsy as fuck.

    • King Cheezit

      Shitstorm is one of my most favorite songs ever! I get chills from it when he shouts, “If you want crazy, I’ll show you how to be fucking crazy! FUCK YOOOUUUUUU!” Dude, the slamming riff and drums while he’s shrieking along with the synthesizer? One of the best moments in music…

  • beardy

    I think amon amarth is next, or maybe the black dahlia murder, not going to argue with this though… it’s impossible… omfg is nile on the list? they should be

    • Oden

      with oden on our side def should have been top 10

  • http://www.adrenalinepr.com Natalie

    Alien still remains at the top of my list of favorite metal albums. There are about 5… I’d put Alien at #2. Seriously… very intense, angry, heartfelt shit.

  • http://www.theinevitablenose.com/ The Inevitable Nose

    This list is much more fun. Alien is amazing. Skeksis is one of my favourite tunes.

    • Strep Townsend

      I saw SYL live when they toured this record a The House of Blues in Las Vegas, Fear Factory, Darkane and Soilwork were also on the bill.
      Zen was amazing live and became my favorite song off of this album.

      • King Cheezit

        God-like lineup! (Could have had a better headliner though, but FF works).

        • Strep Townsend

          Fear Factory was better than I thought they would be, and they had a killer setlist.
          Soilwork on the other hand was just plain stupid.

  • Lord Bling

    Albums We Wish Had Made The List > The List

    Still love ‘City’, but this album may be even better.

  • Diesel Computer

    This record turned me on to the mindfuck that is Devin Townend’s music. I totally agree with the comment about the uneven nature of other SYL releases. This record is a dick smasher from start to finish.

  • http://www.theinevitablenose.com/ The Inevitable Nose

    DT’s solo stuff is ace too. Terria is among my favourite all time albums.

  • Ziltoid

    Yep, this has to be the real list.

    Everything about this album is just filled with rage. Not “wa wa wa I got picked last in P.E.” nu metal angst, but instead, true rage. I was in a big power metal phase when I found this album randomly in a store, so I was in for a big surprise. I had heard people say good things about SYL, so I figured I’d give it a try. Needless to say, this was unlike anything I had ever heard before. The forcefulness of the anger in this album is remarkable. Never had I ever heard such an intense, emotional album in my life. Even more, never had I heard such a heavy album. To this day, Shitstorm remains the angriest song I have ever heard. It’s obvious that Devy went off the meds for this album, because no mere mortal could ever create something of this magnitude.

    But emotion is the important thing here. Sure, someone can add a bunch of distortion and play really quickly. Sure, go program a drum machine to play really quickly (well, you can’t really match Hoglan, so a machine will do). Sure, you can have an amazing vocalist, but if there’s no emotion to the music, it loses a dimension necessary for greatness. Some bands need slow ballads for the emotion to be audible. Such is not the case with Alien. The emotion here is flowing through every track, and that is possibly the best part of this masterpiece. Even though this is Devin’s heaviest, most extreme album, there is emotion everywhere.

    Each track here is relentlessly extreme (excluding Two Weeks, which is just fucking eerie) and the best SYL material Devin has written. Yes, it even eclipses the great “City.” From the opening, to Skeksis, to Shitstorm, to the chugging single Love, to Possessions, and to the closer Zen, this album is amazing from top to bottom. Simply put, every metal fan should own this album.

    Also, I’m pretty sure this “Albums we wish made the list” thing is just to restore this site’s credibility to its viewers. In fact, I think we’ll see nothing but excellent, “tr00″ metal albums here just to try and fight off all of the criticism for the list.

    • Malacoda

      Awesome album.

    • Lord Bling

      I still think ‘SYL’ is the angriest song they’ve ever recorded, but ‘Shitstorm’ may be the most honest and non-joking angry song. I’d say it’s a toss-up.

      It’s their heaviest, but there is a lot of beauty on this record too. It took quite a few listens to digest, especially after the lackluster self-titled album that came before it.

      • Ziltoid

        I quite like SYL (song), but the anger just seemed really immature and unrefined. Also, the chorus detracted from it’s intensity. Shitstorm just seems to have the anger perfectly channeled to maximize it’s intensity. Still, both are great.

    • groverXIII

      I personally find The New Black to be more listenable, and it’s probably my favorite SYL album, but Alien is just plain ridiculous. It’s an utter assault on the senses, and I mean that in the best possible way. It will make your face fall off.

  • fightingmike

    This record is awesome and massive. Not very mainstream, but epic and badass.

  • Mancubus

    The album that got me into Devin’s music. A classic and one of the few albums that has ever succeed in frightening me. (The other two are Celtic Frost’s Monotheist and Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse.)

  • Colin

    I still rate ‘City’ as the Strapping Young Lad masterpiece. I still think ‘Underneath the Waves’ from that album has the heaviest vocal ever recorded.

    As for solo stuff, it’s simple: ‘Infinity’ is the greatest album of all time.

    • Canvas Of Flesh

      I’m assuming you’ve listened to Ocean Machine, Terria, and Accelerated Evolution?

      • Colin

        Oh, definitely. In fact I love Devy’s solo stuff more than Strapping. I think out of hall his record my top five are:

        1. Infinity
        2. Ocean Machine
        3. City
        4. Terria
        5. Alien

        And I’m sure the ‘Devin Townsend Project’ will make it on there once all four records are released.

        • HagstromSpeed

          No Ziltoid??? thats easily top 5 on my list…that shit is EPIC! ALL HAIL ZILTOID THE OMNISCIENT!!!

          • Colin

            ‘Ziltoid’ is cool. “Phooey! And double-phooey!”

            Let’s face it, the man has never released a bad album. In fact, probably my least fave Devy album is ‘Accelerated Evolution’. If only for the fact that it is slightly less transcendentally brilliant than his other work.

            But even a ‘lesser’ album by Devin Townsend still smokes 98% of the critics darlings and unit-shifting sell-outs out there.

          • Strep Townsend

            I’m Ziltoid!
            I don’t give a shit!
            I live above earth!
            In a rocketship!

          • ZIltoid

            ZILTOID!!!!!!

            Even though I use the Ziltoid moniker, Accelerated Evolution and OM are my favorites, then followed by Infinity and ZTO.

          • Lord Bling

            1. Ocean Machine
            2. Infinity
            3. City
            4. Accellerated Evolution
            5. Alien

  • Ziltoid

    Also, Byron Stroud plays bass, not drums.

  • Canvas Of Flesh

    This is an absolutely excellent album. Townsend is a genius.

  • wackomann

    Travel Channel? Aw man, I’m a huge Bourdain fan. I really identify with the snark and cynicism of the bastard. If that’s not your boat, you can watch Zimmern eating crazy stuff or watch the other guy getting bit by insects and crapping out parasitic worms.

  • Ja5oN

    Alien…”Wall of sound” …Awesome fucking album!

  • groverXIII

    The absence of SYL from the list was unfortunate, to say the least… this would have been an excellent choice.

  • Sin and Death

    I’ve nearly blown my subwoofers on several occasions listening to this album. …

    When it first came out nearly five (damn, it’s been that long already?) years ago, I was convinced it was easily some of the most intense music ever made. I even gave it a spin a few weeks ago just to see if my assumptions were correct that this is some of the heaviest, ball-crushing music I’ve ever heard. It wasn’t very long before I thought to myself, “Yep, this is ridiculously, absurdly, and almost comically heavy.” Heavier than a really heavy thing indeed, and then some.

    However, it accomplished so much more than just being heavy. It’s also a very versatile record; hardly one-dimensional, which is where a lot of so-called metal records end up being. It’s great for driving, and I have to watch my speed whenever “The Ride” comes on. Eight cylinders pumping go perfectly with the non-stop battery of the double bass, guitars, and maniacal shrieking in that song.

    The album also serves as a sonic stimulant for whenever I need to get pumped up to lift weights, or write a ten-page essay, or whatever I’m doing that requires excess energy. Conversely, in some ways it is soothing. Although you don’t need to be drunk or stoned to appreciate this album, it doesn’t hurt to be comfortable numb while soaking it in.

    I was pretty bummed when this album got no love on “The List.” I thought that surely people in the industry would have been able to appreciate it more so than the common metal-head. Alien is hardly cliché, and far superior to at least 80% of the albums on the original “Best of the Decade” list. I thought for sure this could have easily taken the number one spot, hands down. Masterpiece is often an overused accolade, but it would be very fitting to deem this album as such.

    In closing, and once again, Mastodon and Lamb of God are sub-par. All hail the mighty Townsend!

  • RHD

    Byron Stroud – Drums

    I wasn’t aware of this.

    • HagstromSpeed

      lol, little typo accident…at first I was like, wait a second….

  • Elpants

    As much as I LOVE SYL and pretty much everything Devin touches (baring a few Hevy Devy produced albums…but hey, the production was top notch) Alien must be my least favorite SYL album.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrea-Voulgaris/663407462 Andrea Voulgaris

    does this album have that one song on it where it sounds like devin says, “I’VE GOT A PENIS!”????

    • Ziltoid

      That’s “Detox” from City.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrea-Voulgaris/663407462 Andrea Voulgaris

        hahaha i love that. i laughed so hard when i heard that. and when he says “stupid piece of shit”, it sounds like “stupid pizza shit”. lol

        by the way, your name’s kinda cool. it’s like zippers mixed with altoids…. it’s curiously zippery.

        • ZIltoid

          It’s the character from Devin Townsend’s 2007 album. Ziltoid the Omniscient.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrea-Voulgaris/663407462 Andrea Voulgaris

            oh. that’s too bad. i like altoids, though they tend to make my mouth numb… just like chuck noriss’ penis.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrea-Voulgaris/663407462 Andrea Voulgaris

            OH MY FUCKING LANTA!!! andrea spelled chuck norris’ name wrong. now she will be roundhouse kicked.

  • J-Ho

    This album blew my dumb cracker mind when I heard it. “Possessions” is the best song about having a baby EVER.

  • http://fuckinsuckit Ken M

    you know what album should have made the list

    The Atrocity Exhibition – Exodus

    • Strep Townsend

      Lol@ Exodus

  • Hardcorebob

    I remember seeing SYL open up for Fear Factory and I was blown the fuck away from the intensity of these songs from this album. Mind you they played in a Graham’s Central Station (a club that has 5-6 mini sections for different types of music – they played in the Tejano section! LOL) and it was hard-fucking-core!!! It was an amazing performance and it was sonically brutal seeing this shit live.

  • Sin and Death

    Man, I can’t wait until the Devin Townsend Project Box Set is released. I’ve heard Ki, and it is quite good. I really hope he goes on tour with it, because I’m incredibly bummed I never got to see SYL live.

    • Strep Townsend

      I have to give a nod to Zimmers Hole which is basically SYL without Dev, Although many here would probably think that they are not the same, ZH is pretty rad and everyone who likes SYL should check them out.

      • Canvas Of Flesh

        Totally. They make some funny music.

      • ZIltoid

        Yes, they’re a very fun band. Nowhere near as good as SYL (in fact, they’re average except for a few good songs), but still lots of fun to listen to.

        • Lord Bling

          I’m cop! Rent-a-cop!

      • Sin and Death

        “We rule the fucking land!”

        That song is the shit.

        • Strep Townsend

          DIE BY MY HAND!!!! (air guitar)

  • Dutchguy

    Definitely should have been in top 21.
    Gene Hoglan slays on this album. Skeksis from 3.40 onwards is mindboggling. Those ragga-triplets on the bassdrum…

    One of my favorite metal albums, period.

  • Deadhead

    I’ve been checking this site every once in a while for some time now, but posting for the first time to say that:

    Hell yeah Alien should have been on the list. Preferably top 5. Dev’s solo stuff includes strong canditates as well, if you consider them metal enough.

    But hey, top “best whatever” lists always suck in one way or another. I’m gonna listen to this album….

  • prives

    Strapping Young Lad rocks my hairy anus!

  • Colin

    Has anyone yet mentioned Punky Bruster?

    That record is utter genius. One of the greatest ‘parody’ albums ever recorded. Funny as fuck and packed with quality tunes.

  • Bassbait

    You guys suck with the lyrics. Some people respond to “Love?” with lyrics from “Possessions”. Some respond to Skeksis with lyrics from Shitstorm, and then follow it up with We Ride.

    My personal favorite lyrics are in We Ride, when he says “WHAT THE F*** WAS THAT?”,

    and also in Shine, when he says “YOU’RE BORING (x7) YOU’RE BORING ME INTO MYSELF!”

    or, DEFINITELY everybody’s favorite, “Vacation, procreation, sterilization, DISNEYLAND!”

    But I think “Ladies! All this time I thought you wanted me to be like you… YOU DON’T WANT ME TO BE LIKE YOU! NOW YOU’LL SING FOR ME!”

    Greatest album ever? No. It’s in my top 5, with Death’s Symbolic, Opeth’s Ghost Reveries, Cryptopsy’s None So Vile, and Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

    What does that say about my tastes? I don’t know. I just love those albums! Alien might be number 1, but can I really choose between all of those AMAZING albums?