On the Everblack podcast, Devin Townsend announced that he plans to sing songs from Strapping Young Lad on his upcoming tour. This surprised many of his fans because he has previously said that he would no longer perform songs from his previous band.

“But starting next year, I’m gonna be touring everything, and that includes the Strapping stuff. I’m gonna be doing what equates to… like, what’s a ‘best of’ what I’ve done over the past few years” Townsend said on the Everblack podcast. 

The announcement made headlines as he refused to sing Strapping Young Lad songs due to the emotional stress it brought him. While creating the 2005 Strapping Young Lad album, Alien, he went off his medication to write it.

“Then I went off of the medication and… it was just too much – all the time. And that’s what this record is about, about finding all those limits…” Townsend said in an interview. 

This experience plays part in why Townsend did not enjoy performing Strapping Young Lad songs.

On his website, he wrote: “After Alien, I knew I was finished with SYL. After Alien, I knew I needed to change my lifestyle. The events leading up to this album, as well as the circumstances surrounding were disruptive to the point where I truly thought I had destroyed my mind.”

The last time Townsend performed songs from Strapping Young Lad was on his 2013 live album, The Retinal Circus. The 130 minutes long DVD/CD included songs from 10 of Townsend’s albums including the SYL “Love?”

He also performed“Love?” during an acoustic set for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in May of this year.

The singer-songwriter has yet to announce his 2020 tour, but he will be performing at Heavy Montreal in July. Townsend will also embark on an acoustic concert tour in Australia and Singapore called An Evening with Devin Townsend tour. “Love?” has also been noted as a song on the set list for this tour.

He released his latest album, Empath, in March and critics have found it to break many precedents in his hard-hitting music writing style. Songs such as “Genesis” sound like a combination of a gospel choir and a heavy metal band— there are even kittens meowing in the background.

He will head to Europe on the Empath tour during fall and winter. Stay on the look for more tour date announcements from Townsend as he plans to carry out touring to 2021. 

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat