Devin Townsend

     One of the most popular names in metal, Devin Townsend is a very aspiring musician. Townsend's career in music began when he formed an extreme metal band, Strapping Young Lad in his 20's. During these times, Townsend created music that was violent and extreme. Devin Townsend wrote five Strapping Young Lad albums from 1995-2006. The band later broke up after the release of his last album in 2007. After leaving Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend went into a mental breakdown.

"I started to see human beings as little lonesome, water based, pink meat," he explained, "life forms pushing air through themselves and making noises that the other little pieces of meat seemed to understand." 

After finally recognizing the problems he had, he checked into a mental-health hospital to find out that he had bipolar disorder.
   
     Devin Townsend began a solo career after leaving Strapping Young Lad. He has created 14 albums that mainly focused on progressive metal, and he is still  creating more music to this day. Townsend includes witty remarks in his lyrics. His music can be taken both hilariously or seriously.  Many people have suspected that Devin Townsend has a condition known as synesthesia, where he would coordinate different musical notes to colors on the visual spectrum. While Devin was an angry man in his past, he has overcome his strong emotion by focusing more on his wife and son, Reyner, that was born in 2005.

   

Devin Townsend is a total boss.

The Concerts

     The loud metal concerts today are stereotypically scary to the eyes of most people. They can be gruesome or violent, or simply entertaining. 
   


    There are concerts where the members of the bands crowd surf. Like the industrial metal band Rammstein. The keyboardist for that band would crowd surf on top of the crowd in an inflatable raft. Some bands would crowd surf in any venue, or places where they perform.       

     Venues are places where bands can perform to earn fans or money. They can range from opera houses, to simple bar and grills. Usually more popular bands play at higher end venues, which means the cost of tickets raise as well.
     


     


      In metal concerts, there is always a massive horde of people that flail each others bodies at one another like a mini hurricane. This is whats known as a mosh pit. If one were to participate in a mosh pit, one best be prepared. One must know the standard mosh pit etiquette. 


1. If a fellow mosher has fallen, it is standard procedure to pick them up.
2. Flailing your arms is frowned upon. Don't do that.
3. It is kind in the mosh pit to escort those who have been injured out of the mosh pit to safety.
4. Don't wear loose clothing, and keep your shoes tied. (You don't want to face plant the floor)  

What is it?

      Metal was born in the 1960's. The original bands that really established metal are; Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, and the all famous Black Sabbath. These bands are notorious for using cranked up amps with heavy distortion on the guitars. These were some of the first commercially successful heavy metal. Later on, metal branched out and is now the most diverse type of music. From the weirdest, Avant-Garde metal, to violence slam death, metal rules all. My personal favorite sub genre is progressive death metal. 

       My favorite bands; Opeth, Dream Theater, and the Devin Townsend Project are in this sub genre. These bands focus more on melodies rather than heavy power chord distortions. A lot of the music they produce is complex and experimental. 

      Metal lyrics usually focus on negative aspects to give a perception of power to the listener. Some sub genres of metal actually include satanic meanings in their songs. While others display different meanings that can relate to positive content in life. For example: Devin Townsend includes life lifting lyrics into his music as well as death defying lyrics in his heavy songs. Some bands include satanic chants or rituals into their music which is frowned upon by society. To the unexperienced listener, metal sounds like noise that comes from the vocals of Satan himself. However, to experienced listeners, metal is a way of life.

Metal Fans CANNOT live without their music.

Stay Metal.