I miss the shit out of this band... Just complete and utter balls to the wall intensity and a couldn't give a shit pure metal attitude... Never understood their importance and are still sorely sorely missed...
1:07 Consequence 5:31 Relentless 8:42 Rape Song 12:46 Home Nucleonics 15:26 SYL 19:58 In the Rainy Season 25:28 Devour 28:41 Aftermath 35:50 Oh My Fucking God 40:09 Force Fed 46:03 Detox Encore: 55:18 Velvet Kevorkian 56:53 All Hail the New Flesh 1:02:39 Far Beyond Metal (cut short)
Devin Townsend's best band by far!! I was a huge fan from 97 to their demise. I sat outside in the parking lot at the California Metal Fest in 2007 with Gene bitching to him about how terrible it was that SYL split. All he had to say was, "Bro, Devin is crazy. Literally CRAZY! He does what he wants to do, and that's it." That shit broke my heart because I knew coming from Gene, that was it. It was done. I never met Devin, but I ran into Gene all the time back when I was playing in the scene. It was such an honor to look over and see him watching my set or have the pleasure of running into him at a 1349 or Cryptopsy show. I wish SYL would get back together to go some shows, but it won't happen. Gay.
I wonder how many people get the Scorpions reference when he says "You see those microphones in the air? You see them? We're making a live recording tonight!" God, Devin, you're funny.
Cuts off before the good part of Far Beyond Metal - and the audio compression is obvious. But makes for a good lesson when I don't feel like digging up the DVD.
Feels like an actual live performance unlike how Devy chose to become live.. where so much was prerecorded you didn't know where the performance began and ended. I really detest this idea of trying to sound exactly like the disc. I wish he would break out of it because he wasn't always like that. On his latest album he does a Ween cover which sounds so near the original. I was so disappointed to hear that after being excited to hear his take on it. I thought that was ironic because Ween is known for having an interesting performance where they will play their songs differently live. Live recordings of them are cherished and traded because they are unique. Anyways.. this is an incredible dvd.
+Bryan Riffe I think Dev and Jed were using early model Dual Rectifiers with a decently sized outboard pedal setup. I know Dev used to blend a Stiletto and a Dual Rectifier for some of his tunes in DTB but for this exact time period I'm sort of unsure. Genuinely some of the best metal tone to this date though thats for sure.
IDK what this band is missing.. I can't quite put my finger on it. Soul? Originality? Like I said, I can't place it. But they are missing something to me. I'm a metalhead all the way. But cannot no matter how hard I try get into this band.
Steven Beshears Are you a fan of extreme metal? If yes then I would recommend listening some more, take a pick of City or Alien because they are the best albums. They're a brutally honest band with so much power and intensity given to every riff. I used to think they were nothing special, but they grow on you like nothing else man trust me. If you're not a fan of extreme metal (death metal, black metal, thrash metal) then that may be why.
***** When Devin was with Strapping he actually really disliked guitar solos. To this day I think he refers to over technical stuff as "wanking". While he and Jed certainly had the chops to do a bunch of solos, Devin only put them in where he felt they were appropriate and not over-indulgent. Having said that, I can see the argument that Devin should have reconsidered but yeah.
Steven Beshears For what it's worth, I think one of the keys to appreciating SYL is understanding Devy's sense of humor, which is a huge part of whatever the hell SYL is. Regardless, not every band is for everyone.
