Strapping Young Lad - Alien
Century Media
Brutal Speedy Industrial Death Metal
11 songs (55:35)
Release year: 2005
Strapping Young Lad, Century Media
Reviewed by Aaron
Album of the month

Being a massive Strapping Young Lad fan, I was quite happy to hear that they were making another record after the… somewhat exasperating (not FAILURE, it had some really good songs on there) 2003 release SYL. As it was influenced by 9/11, most of the lyrics were much, much, much more incoherent then anything else Devin had penned to let out his frustrations with, and the music was at times monotonous and forced, as though Devin was really trying too hard to sound like the fabled Strapping Young Lad of old.

Those who share similar sentiments (alliteration, ahoy) will be happy to hear that Alien is the second best record they’ve ever released, falling only two points behind what I, personally, rate City, and I rate City as an absolutely perfect album.

Well, enough with the rambling, on with the show!

The production is not, luckily, a carbon copy of the lame SYL production, which was, admittedly, a shadow of the production on City. The production that suits Strapping Young Lad best is the sort of production where about sixty things are going on at once, each has its own private amp, and these amps are all turned up to 16, (“This one goes to 16!”) bringing on that state where you’re so utterly deafened by the sheer, forceful noise that you stagger around like some sort of brain-dead zombie, blood spurting from your ears in a joyous, ecstatic waterfall as Devin continues to drive hundreds of sonic nails into your head per second while you claw at your face because of the horrific pain and joy that you are unable to end.

You know, like the production on City. On Alien, they’ve decided to accentuate the industrial side of Strapping Young Lad’s sound, (about fucking time, guys, it was nowhere on SYL and here it’s all over the place.) with some really excellent results. Discordant melodies and tuneful sound samples creep in and out of hearing range, swirling melancholically and providing some needed sanity in the chaotic shitstorm (hahaha) that is this album’s sound. The guitars have the classic Killing Joke-esque fuzzy smash, the phenomenal drumming of Gene Hoglan gets a big boost from the production, and the bass is best when turned up to eye-vibrating levels.

My one complaint about the production is simple: it’s not exactly the same as City’s. The vocals are more to the forefront, unlike in City, where Devin sounded as though he was lost underneath the waves (I wonder how many SYL songs I can work into this review), buried in the noise just like the listener, screaming his lungs out just so you can barely hear him over the mechanical, thudding beats, the pounding drums, the thunderous guitars… but that’s a minor flaw, really, and the only reason I deducted any points from this release.

The songs themselves are exceptionally well-written and complex and this is a record that grows on you very very quickly, if you can concentrate on music very well. You’ll notice the small things, the subtle time changes, the black metalish dynamics and tendency towards planned chaos, the death metal technicality, the beautiful keyboards, the little fills that Gene Hoglan interrupts his giant, so-fucking-cool fills with, the dynamics, and the all-too-interesting arrangements of the songs themselves. Even the joke song with acoustic guitars and happy-happy keyboards is interesting and layered.

Devin Townsend’s vocals are just as amazing as they were in 1995. He screams, he yells, he sings, he’s fucking PISSED OFF, and you WILL know it. Plus, nearly all of his vocals are audible, so you can almost always tell what he’s saying.

This release is not nearly as immediate as City- it’s more subtle and less insanely angry. Give it three listens. By then, you will either love it, or think that it’s ‘okay.’ No way could any sane metalhead truly hate this.

If it wasn’t so god-damned early in the year, this would be the album of the year for me, but I have yet to hear the new Cryptopsy, so I can’t quite name it that.

Buy this. I don’t care who you are, buy it. If you like loud, aggressive, heavy FUCKING metal, then you will like this.

Killing Songs :
ALL! However, keep in mind that we did not get the version with Info Dump, so I know nothing of that song
Aaron quoted 98 / 100
Jay quoted 90 / 100
Other albums by Strapping Young Lad that we have reviewed:
Strapping Young Lad - Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing reviewed by Kyle and quoted 85 / 100
Strapping Young Lad - City reviewed by James and quoted CLASSIC
Strapping Young Lad - The New Black reviewed by Kayla and quoted 93 / 100
Strapping Young Lad - SYL reviewed by Marty and quoted 82 / 100
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