As Devin announced earlier this year, he has been using the Covid downtime to work on new material for upcoming albums, and for a current lack of touring possibilities and encounters with fans on the road he decided to do a series of live albums, quarantine albums, and generally interesting projects that keep people entertained while he’s busy on his next larger releases. The series is called the “Devolution Series”.
Devin comments in this video
“So we bring to you the ‘Devolution Series’: a grouping of oddities and interesting material that I would like people to hear, but don’t necessarily want to present as a ‘major release’. The series will include all the quarantine songs and concerts, as well as various live shows from the past few years. I’m am currently deep in the writing of my new projects and am very excited to be doing so. Thanks for facilitating my ability to do that, and I hope you enjoy the ‘Devolution Series’.”
The second release under the “Devolution Series” moniker will be the “Devolution Series #2 – Galactic Quarantine” album, scheduled for June 25th 2021. It was recorded in 2020 in various places around the world as a replacement show for the COVID affected “Empath Vol 2 European Tour” and cancelled Summer festivals. It originally aired on September 5th 2020 on StageIt.com.
For a first impression of what to expect, here’s the video for “Aftermath.” Enjoy!
DEVIN TOWNSEND “Devolution Series #2 –Galactic Quarantine” track listing: 1. Velvet Kevorkian (Virtually Live 2020) – 2:28 2. All Hail The New Flesh (Virtually Live 2020) – 5:32 3. By Your Command (Virtually Live 2020) – 8:18 4. Almost Again (Virtually Live 2020) – 3:42 5. Juular (Virtually Live 2020) – 3:50 6. March Of The Poozers (Virtually Live 2020) – 5:25 7. Supercrush! (Virtually Live 2020) – 5:15 8. Hyperdrive (Virtually Live 2020) – 3:42 9. Stormbending (Virtually Live 2020) – 5:21 10. Deadhead (Virtually Live 2020) – 7:55 11. Aftermath (Virtually Live 2020) – 6:51 12. Love? (Virtually Live 2020) – 5:21 13. Spirits Will Collide (Virtually Live 2020) – 4:35 14. Kingdom (Virtually Live 2020) – 5:05 15. Detox (Virtually Live 2020) – 6:20
Devin Townsend is currently working on new material for upcoming albums, and for a current lack of touring possibilities and encounters with fans on the road he decided to do a series of live albums, quarantine albums, and generally interesting projects that keep people entertained while he’s busy on his next larger releases.
Devin comments: “So we bring to you the ‘Devolution Series’: a grouping of oddities and interesting material that I would like people to hear, but don’t necessarily want to present as a ‘major release’. The series will include all the quarantine songs and concerts, as well as various live shows from the past few years.
The first release is a remixed and remastered version of the ‘Live in Leeds’ show that was originally on the ‘Empath’ Ultimate Edition. It was a cool acoustic show that deserves to be heard I think, so we can use this as an introduction to the series.
I’m am currently deep in the writing of my new projects and am very excited to be doing so. Thanks for facilitating my ability to do that, and I hope you enjoy the ‘Devolution Series’.”
The ‘Live in Leeds’ show has previously only been released in video format, and “Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds” now marks the audio release of said show. It will be released on March 19th 2021.
As a warm-up to this release, check out the ‘Hyperdrive (Live in Leeds 2019)’ video here:
“Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds” will be available as Ltd. CD Digipak, 180g Gatefold 2LP (incl. the album on CD) and as Digital Album and as of now it is up for pre-order, so make sure to grab a copy here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/DevolutionSeriesOne-LiveInLeedsQR
DEVIN TOWNSEND “Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds” track listing: 1. Intro (06:30) 2. Let it Roll (03:48) 3. Funeral (08:17) 4. Deadhead (07:51) 5. Ih-Ah! (04:44) 6. Love? (08:06) 7. Hyperdrive (04:27) 8. Terminal (04:58) 9. Coast (04:37) 10. Solar Winds (03:25) 11. Thing Beyond Things (04:34)
Devin Townsend is pleased to announce the release of ‘Empath – The Ultimate Edition’ on June 5th, 2020. This comprehensive version of 2019’s acclaimed album contains the original record and bonus disc across 2 CD’s, plus 2 Blu-Ray discs. The first blu-ray contains the 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Devin, with visuals for the full record, plus a stereo visualiser. The second blu-ray contains a raft of bonus material, including ‘Acoustically Inclined – Live in Leeds’, a recording from his April 2019 acoustic tour where he performed tracks including ‘Love?’, ‘Deadhead’, ‘Thing Beyond Things’ & more.
It also features the full Empath Documentary, a ‘Genesis 5.1 Mixing Lesson’, a full album commentary & more. The four discs sit inside a beautiful art-book that contains new liner notes and images from the making of the album.
Devin comments of the new 5.1 surround sound mix: “On a technical level, I guess I have always been dissatisfied with the basic ‘stereo’ format in which the type of music I make gets presented in. Whether its headphones, computer speakers, stereos (or basically anything currently), I have had to figure out ways to get the work to function through TWO speakers. I hear things in a particularly orchestrated way, and with the amount of information that typically gets recorded per song, the result has been the dubious ‘wall of sound’ that I keep ending up with. But my intention has never been to make an oppressive experience, but rather something that is immersive and vast.
Making it work in two speakers just simply doesn’t quite work for the vision. Although I’ve managed to get the point across, (to varying degrees), things always have to compromise to make it all fit. Making the drums speak at the same time as orchestra, cymbals, guitars, choirs, synths etc.…all with my voice on top, ends up with every conceivable frequency fighting for breathing space between those two speakers.
Therefore, I asked the powers that be in my business world, to tolerate one more ‘kick at the can’ when it came to Empath. I wanted to attempt a surround mix and follow the original vision of it being an immersive, multimedia experience for people in the ways I could best achieve at this stage. And although it’s still pretty ‘dense’, with four more sources for the sound to come from, I feel its significantly closer to the original vision here.”
Tracklisting
CD1: 01 – Castaway 02 – Genesis 03 – Spirits Will Collide 04 – Evermore 05 – Sprite 06 – Hear Me 07 – Why? 08 – Borderlands 09 – Requiem 10 – Singularity: Adrift 11 – Singularity: I Am I 12 – Singularity: There Be Monsters 13 – Singularity: Curious Gods 14 – Singularity: Silicone Scientists 15 – Singularity: Here Comes The Sun!
CD2: 01 – The Contrarian (Demo) 02 – King (Demo) 03 – The Waiting Kind (Demo) 04 – Empath (Demo) 05 – Methuselah (Demo) 06 – This Is Your Life (Demo) 07 – Gulag (Demo) 08 – Middle Aged Man (Demo) 09 – Total Collapse (Demo) 10 – Summer (Demo)
Devin will head out on a Summer festival run mixed with club shows in Europe, which includes a headline appearance at Bloodstock Festival in the UK.
04.06.2020 Sweden Rock Festival – Solvesborg (SE) 05.-07.06.2020 Rock Im Park – Nürnberg (DE) 05.-07.06.2020 Rock Am Ring – Mendig (DE) 10.06.2020 Majestic Music Club – Bratislava (SVK) 10.06.2020 Mystic Festival – Krakow (PL) 11.06.2020 Nova Rock – Nickelsdorf, (AT) 13.06.2020 The Roman Arenas -Bucharest (ROU) 14.06.2020 Mixtape 5 -Sofia (BGR) 15.06.2020 A38 – Budapest (HU) 18.06.2020 Copenhell – Copenhagen (DK) 20.06.2020 Graspop Metal Meeting – Dessel (BE) 21.06.2020 Hellfest – Clisson (FR) 23.06.2020 Rockhal – Esch-sur-alzette (LUX) Co-Headline with Meshuggah 24.06.2020 Xtra – Zurich (CHE) Co-Headline with Meshuggah 26.06.2020 Rock The Night Festival – Rivas-Vaciamadrid (ES) – CANCELLED 28.06.2020 Tuska – Helsinki (FI) 29.07.2020 MetalDays, Tolmin (SLO) 30.07.2020 Wacken Open Air – Wacken (DE) 05.08.2020 Brutal Assault Festival – Jaromer (CZE) 07.08.2020 Bloodstock Open Air – Walton-On-Trent (UK) 09.08.2020 Into The Grave – Leeuwarden (NL) 12.08.2020 Summer Breeze, Dinkelsbuhl (DE)
Following a run of dates in Europe and the UK, Canadian heavy music artist Devin Townsend will bring his ‘Empath’ tour to North America in Feb 2020. Joining the tour are InsideOutMusic label mates Haken, who will be reprising their run as support on the European leg, along with American progressive metal band The Contortionist. The tour kicks off Feb 27th in Toronto and concludes March 25th in San Francisco. Haken and Contortionist will alternate as main support. Devin Townsend released his critically acclaimed album ‘EMPATH’ in March of this year.
27-Feb Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, ON 28-Feb Corona Theatre – Montreal, QC 29-Feb Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY 01-Mar Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA 03-Mar Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA 05-Mar The Underground – Charlotte, NC 06-Mar Center Stage – Atlanta, GA 07-Mar The Plaza Live – Orlando, FL 09-Mar Warehouse Live – Houston, TX 10-Mar Granada Theater – Dallas, TX 12-Mar Cannery Ballroom – Nashville, TN 13-Mar The Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, MI 14-Mar Metro – Chicago, IL 15-Mar House of Blues – Cleveland, OH 16-Mar Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD 19-Mar First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN 20-Mar Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS 21-Mar The Oriental Theater – Denver, CO 23-Mar The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ 24-Mar The Mayan – Los Angeles, CA 25-Mar The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
‘EMPATH’ is out now on Limited 2 CD Digipak in O-Card (including an entire disc of bonus material), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180G 2LP Vinyl + CD + LP-booklet & as digital album. Order now here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/Empath
Devin recently released the animated video for the track “Why?” from ‘Empath’ which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/fT-uWOVP5q0
Canadian heavy music artist Devin Townsend released his acclaimed new album ‘EMPATH’ in March and will embark on the ‘EMPATH – European Tour Vol. 1’ later this year. In advance of that, he has launched a brand new animated video for the track ‘Why?’, directed by DC Turner.
Devin recently completed a run of acoustic shows in Australia, and will embark on the ‘EMPATH – European Tour Vol. 1’ beginning in November, with HAKEN along as support. Before that he will perform acoustically in Singapore, followed by an appearance at the Guitar Show in London.
The full list of dates are as follows: 18th September – Gateway Black Box Theatre, Singapore, China (acoustic) 21st September – The Guitar Show, London, UK 15th November – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France 16th November – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium 17th November – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands 18th November – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany 20th November – Logomo, Turku, Finland 21st November – Cirkus, Helsinki, Finland 23rd November – Münchenbryggeriet, Stockholm, Sweden 24th November – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway 25th November – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark 27th November – Astra, Berlin, Germany 28th November – Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic 29th November – A2, Wroclaw, Poland 30th November – Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary 2nd December – Simm City, Vienna, Austria 3rd December – X Tra, Zurich, Switzerland 6th December – Academy, Dublin, Ireland 7th December – Limelight, Belfast, UK 9th December – SWG3 Galvanisers, Glasgow, UK 10th December – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK 12th December – Roundhouse, London, UK 13th December – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
Devin comments: “After a year of intensive recording, mixing, and reflection, I have decided where I want to take the next level of my career as a live performer. I have had success and great memories from both the Devin Townsend Project as well as Strapping Young Lad, but now I am fortunate enough to be able to follow the muse where it currently leads. I am proud to announce that for the first ‘band’ tour of the Empath cycle, I am going to stretch my wings in ways I have not had the opportunity to do before and tour with a ‘backing band’ that can shift and morph as the music dictates instead of adhering to a click track. ‘Empath Europe Volume 1’ will be the first example of this, and the first tour will be in Europe (other territories to follow).
I hope you will consider joining me at these concerts. As a performer, it’s important to be able to be willing to react, and my hope is that each of these shows will be a unique experience.
Thank you for allowing me to do what I do. See you there?
Devin Townsend”
Over the past few years, the success that Devin has slowly worked for has, fortunately, comes with the power to control his own creative destiny. The recent successes with the DVD from a sold-out Royal Albert hall, or his 2012 ‘Retinal Circus’, or last year’s ‘Ocean Machine’ live DVD with the Orchestra and Choir of State Opera Plovdiv has put him in a position where with the new album ‘EMPATH’, he will once and for all define himself as a musical force outside of any particular genre classification.
On this album, Devin has decided to see what would happen if all the styles that make up his current interests were finally represented in one place. To finally shake the fear of expectation, and just do what it is he was meant to do creatively, EMPATH, true to the name, is about allowing the audience a feeling for a variety of musical emotions. The musical dynamics represented on this single album are broad, challenging, and immense. To approach this sort of work with a long history of what makes heavy music ‘heavy’, allows this to be done with a type of power rarely heard.
Joining Devin on this album is Frank Zappa alumni Mike Keneally as music director, as well as Morgan Ågren (Mats And Morgan, Frank Zappa, Fredrik Thordendal), Anup Sastry (Monuments, Periphery), Samus Paulicelli (Decrepit Birth, Abigail Williams), Nathan Navarro, Elliot Desagnes, Steve Vai, Chad Kroeger, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Ché Aimee Dorval, Ryan Dhale and the Elektra Women’s Choir.
A bold statement with massive production values and dynamic, uncompromised musicality. This is a statement about not only pursuing creative freedom in a conservative scene but also trying to show that heavy music is truly a valid musical tool.
‘EMPATH’ is out now on Limited 2 CD Digipak in O-Card (including an entire disc of bonus material), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180G 2LP Vinyl + CD + LP-booklet & as digital album. Order now here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/Empath
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