The ever-prolific Devin Townsend has announced that he is finishing up the mixing on a live recording of his classic 1997 album Ocean Machine as reported by The PRP. Entitled ERAS, the set will be released on Blu-ray/DVD and was recorded last September at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The show was unique for a number of reasons, chief among them was that Townsend and his band were backed by a choir and a symphony orchestra, giving the whole affair an air of grandeur and bombast few artists can ever achieve.
Known for his inhuman work ethic, Townsend has recently said he will be putting The Devin Townsend Project on hiatus as he finishes up work on four other albums of material. However, fans can expect plenty of quality material this year as Townsend plans on keeping his word. Things tend to get confusing as The Devin Townsend Project tends to be entirely different stylistically from some of his solo work and his groundbreaking albums with the legendary Strapping Young Lad. Townsend is one of those artists whose sound encompasses so many different styles of metal and rock that his albums run the gamut from atonal brutality and angelic symphonies in the span of the same song.
Emerging in Steve Vai’s solo band in the early 90’s, Devin Townsend catapulted himself into the upper echelon of metal with Strapping Young Lad’s seminal debut Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing in 1995, continuing to make groundbreaking records with the group until their dissolution in 2006.
Photo credit Raymond Flotat
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