Devin Townsend Project -
Epicloud (2012)
If his 2009 album
Ki was his way of telling people that he's a new man, then
Epicloud is a reminder. It kind of feels like a conglomeration of the last 4 of his albums with elements from his earlier stuff thrown in for good measure. The album I was most reminded of at first was his 2003 album
Accelerated Evolution, which until
Addicted! (2009) came out, it was largely decided that
Accelerated Evolution was his most accessible album for new fans. The more I listen to this though, the more I'm reminded of his 1997 debut
Ocean Machine: Biomech, with it's straight-forward approach, but now more refined by almost over a decade of experience.
I can definitely see why some people are down on this though, and I think they're the same people who are holding out for a more abrasive Devin from his Strapping Young Lad days, and that's just not going to happen again. I heard one person say that Devin Townsend is the My Little Pony of the metal world, which I'm not really sure what they mean by that, but I would wager that they listen to Burzum religiously. Basically if you can get behind an album where fun is the driving factor, I think you'll find a lot to like with
Epicloud. I'm not sure if it's AOTY material for me, but it might make into the top ten.