Strapping Young Lad – The New Black Review
Posted by Michael Melchor on 08.04.2006
If this is indeed the last blowout before an extended break, then this is a great way to go out.
For quite a few years, Strapping Young Lad was a name that lived in infamy. Outside of death metal (a/k/a the “Cookie Monster”-vocals and wall-of-noise style in the vein of Cannibal Corpse and Obituary, among others), SYL was as extreme, as violent, as over-the-top as it gets.
Now, with a little bit of attention behind them, SYL have poked their heads out from the underground and gained a little attention for their music. Quite a bit of that has come from frontman Devin Townsend, whose work ethic is as manical as the music that SYL puts out.
Consider this: in the last year, Townsend has released four albums – two from SYL (this record and last year’s Alien), The Devin Townsend Band’s Synchestra, and a completely solo effort, Devlab. For most artists, that would encompass at least 6 years’ worth of work.
In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Townsend states that he may be on the verge of taking a break from writing and recording for a while and that The New Black may be the last blowout before “stand[ing] back from music for a bit.” If that’s the case, then Townsend could have certainly done worse than The New Black. While SYL’s explosive heaviness is still in force, the band also makes strides in creating music to go along with its vile eruptions, creating a complete journey.
As many fans of Strapping Young lad can attest, the band, while excellent at firing off barrages of pure aural rage, is good at not being like most metal bands. In today’s climate, either singing-then-screaming or just pounding the listener with the same bluesy grooves are the norm. With SYL, the heaviness can go in any direction and put its stamp of violence on well-nigh any mood from exuberance to outright anger.
While Alien hinted at the kind of range such an extreme band can have, The New Black explores it in full force. It wastes no time in doing so, as “Decimator” begins the album with an afore-mentioned “bluesy groove” that soon sprawls out and explores how groovy it can get. While the lack of the usual SYL album intro (read: an instrumental lead-in) may throw some off and lead others into thinking the band has gone soft, the simply-titled (and simply head-splitting) “You Suck” immediately afterward erases any doubt of that.
Going back to the aforementioned singing-then-screaming ethic of emometalcore (or whatever name it carries nowadays), many of those tunes revert from one method to the other throughout each song. When done right and not beaten half to death, the effect can be rather startling and satisfying. When done wrong, the word “contrived” doesn’t begin to properly explain the effect. Eschewing the trend of the day, Townsend can either scream and rage like he’s about to commit murder on the battlefield or he can actually carry a tune well enough to grab hold of something deeper. The difference is, with Townsend, it’s a progression rather than a machination. The effect isn’t as stark and the build actually makes sense. The perfect example here is “Almost Again” where, behind an almost-hopeful melody, Townsend shows an impressive singing range.
However, don’t go thinking that it’s all hearts and flowers with just enough metal to keep whatever “street cred” he has. Gloriously, Townsend cares nothing for concepts like these and, instead, puts out the best examples of heavy and affecting music he knows how. As Townsend has said before, Strapping Young Lad is a vehicle to release the cjhaos and frustration that life deals us and our reactions to it. The title of the song “Far Beyond Metal” – and the fact that the song boasts a cameo from GWAR’s Oderus Urungus – pretty much says it all and sums up the violence that the band is so adept at creating.
In what may be his signing-off from recording temporarily (due to expecting a child and reassessing himself as an artist), Townsend has written the most well-rounded Strapping Young Lad to date. The rest of the band – Byron Stroud (bass), Jed Simon (guitars), and Gene Hoglan (drums) – bring it to astounding life. If this is indeed the last blowout before an extended break, then this is a great way to go out.
The 411: It’ll be a shame to see Strapping Young Lad leave, even if it’s temporary. The New Black, while not the full releases of brutality that other SYL classics (City, SYL) have been, is a complete experience of emotion while sacrificing absolutely none of the range. Like any other genre, metal tends to get stuck in doldrums every now and again and latch on to a popular style before said style gets beaten half to death. SYL are their own style, whether they’re fast and crushing or slower and moving. Either way, The New Black is its own beast – and one that just begs to be tamed, knowing full well it can’t be.
