Never a conventional musician, Devin Townsend is one of those artists who thrills to the unexpected, chasing his addled muse from rampant metal to chilled out ambient, via soundscapes that are Wagnerian in scope, not to mention the occasional comic digression. To listen to his back catalogue is to picture a child with attention deficit disorder trapped in a sweet shop with only a can of spray paint and a megaphone for company, and the bulk of Devin’s work carries a similar zest for life. As such, any discussion of technicality is rather to miss the point as, for Devin, it’s all about emotion and, on PowerNerd, the overriding emotion is JOY. And so, with that in mind, strap yourself in for a wild ride as he delivers a wonderfully varied set of eleven songs in just forty-odd minutes (the emphasis on the “odd”), taking you away from the mundanity of existence and into another world altogether.
The album opens with the hulking great riff of the title track, Devin screaming the name like a man possessed, before setting off down a psychedelic rabbit hole without even bothering to check if the audience is in tow. A vivid sound clash, it throws industrial, hair metal, and electronica into an almighty blender, producing a Day-Glo melange that approximates Joan Jett partying with W.A.S.P., White Zombie, and The Wildhearts. Few people would have the sheer cajónes to jam such disparate styles together, but then few people are named Devin Townsend, and if you don’t reach the track’s end with a giant grin plastered across your features, you’re doing it wrong. In contrast, Falling Apart is a mid-tempo anthem of monstrous proportions, the soaring riffs harking back to Epicloud (it is, indeed, both epic and loud), and the melodies as glorious as ever. Oh, but don’t assume you have a handle on things just yet. With the intro to Knuckledragger borrowing from the NES, the track emerges as a form of supercharged heavy metal, delivered with just the right note of fevered intensity, only to mutate in front of your very eyes and slip into slinky, Latin-infused funk. Honestly, trying to write about it makes as much sense as the music does, and all you can do is punch the volume and let it ride, because nothing else is going to fully convince you of the track’s unhinged brilliance.
With the album tripping wildly across Devin’s psyche, it performs another volte-face to arrive at the expansive Gratitude. In any other artist’s hands, the results would likely be twee but for Devin, whose heart has always been upon his sleeve, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. The album then passes through the brief and achingly beautiful Dreams Of Light before landing on Ubelia, a sublime track that combines the grandeur of Pink Floyd circa Momentary Lapse Of Reason with Devin’s own uniquely symphonic sensibilities. It’s simply wonderful, and it packs one hell of an emotional punch.
Having taken the listener on a journey to the heavens, Devin brings us back to earth with the stuttering riffage of Jainism a tautly paced rocker that gets the juices flowing. It’s followed by the deranged Younger Lover, which finds mad professor Devin crossbreeding Radiohead and Vangelis in his underground laboratory – the resultant offspring as handy with an acoustic guitar as it is conducting the massed ranks of a symphony orchestra. With the album hurtling past in a blaze of colours, Glacier slows the pace as Devin dips into his James Horner bag of tricks to evoke the titular object in all its frozen, crushing weight. It’s back to the metal, at least in part, on the schizophrenic Goodbye, which shifts from the wild-eyed riffs of its introduction to take in a verse that could easily be drawn from an early U2 album. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because there’s an explosive chorus just waiting to boot you in the happy sacks the moment you turn your back. As the track devolves into an ambient swirl, Devin brings this gloriously dippy album to a close with Ruby Quaker – a ridiculous ditty that sounds like an off cut from The White Album even as it pays tribute to Devin’s favourite naughty bean.
PowerNerd is the sound of Devin distilled. Occasionally, you might get the odd nod to other artists, but it tends to be so much in passing that the effect is the sonic equivalent of seeing station names blurring past the window of a speeding train. Gloriously melodic, beautifully produced, at times exceptionally heavy, at the right volume (i.e LOUD), it’s like being shot in the head with a sugar-tipped bullet. As Devin says in the opening lines to the title track, “open your mind” and he’s right – it’s through dispensing with any preconceptions that you’ll get the best from this heady outpouring. Clear your schedule, close the curtains, and let PowerNerd transport you – Devin’s uniquely colourful world is just a few bars away. 9/10
Editions
Single CD [reviewed above]
Jewelcase with 12-page booklet
Track List
01. – PowerNerd
02. – Falling Apart
03. – Knuckledragger
04. – Gratitude
05. – Dreams of Light
06. – Ubelia
07. – Jainism
08. – Younger Lover
09. – Glacier
10. – Goodbye
11. – Ruby Quaker
Double CD
6-panel digipak with 24-page booklet, O-card with special die cut
Track List
CD1:
01. – PowerNerd
02. – Falling Apart
03. – Knuckledragger
04. – Gratitude
05. – Dreams of Light
06. – Ubelia
07. – Jainism
08. – Younger Lover
09. – Glacier
10. – Goodbye
11. – Ruby Quaker
CD2:
01. – Flow (Demo)
02. – Trustfxxx (Demo)
03. – Vast (Demo)
Deluxe Edition:
Hardcover 10” artbook with 36-page booklet, 2 x CD + 1 x Blu-ray
Track List
CD1:
01. – PowerNerd
02. – Falling Apart
03. – Knuckledragger
04. – Gratitude
05. – Dreams of Light
06. – Ubelia
07. – Jainism
08. – Younger Lover
09. – Glacier
10. – Goodbye
11. – Ruby Quaker
CD2:
01. – Flow (Demo)
02. – Trustfxxx (Demo)
03. – Vast (Demo)
Blu-ray:
01. – PowerNerd (Dolby Atmos)
02. – Falling Apart (Dolby Atmos)
03. – Knuckledragger (Dolby Atmos)
04. – Gratitude (Dolby Atmos)
05. – Dreams of Light (Dolby Atmos)
06. – Ubelia (Dolby Atmos)
07. – Jainism (Dolby Atmos)
08. – Younger Lover (Dolby Atmos)
09. – Glacier (Dolby Atmos)
10. – Goodbye (Dolby Atmos)
11. – Ruby Quaker (Dolby Atmos)
All tracks in Dolby Atmos, High-Resolution Stereo & with Album Commentary from Devin
