Best Heavy Metal Album: Strapping Young Lad - The New Black

Strapping Young Lad (SYL) don't compare to much else in this world. It's metal for sure, but difficult to confine to any subgenre. Elements from black, death, thrash and industrial mixed well together with insanity, rage and humour. Mastermind and workaholic Devin Townsend recently released a solo album and it was only last year that SYL's previous masterpiece Alien was released. No wonder that Devin Townsend has trouble finding the time to sleep.

It was Alien that really got me into SYL so of course I was very excited to get my hands on the new album The New Black. After the insane metal mayhem attack of Alien, The New Black is quite different, yet with many of the same elements. Where Alien was a relentless attack of the senses, The New Black is more diverse, melodic and more accessible.

The riffs have turned more melodic and more catchy, where earlier SYL albums would seek a more "massive wall of guitars" sound. Townsend's love of multilayered guitars is still evident but not quite as much as earlier. There are a lot of strange sounds, going from effects like deep sea bombs on You Suck, horns in Monument, female vocals in Fucker and guest vocals in Far Beyond Metal by Oderus Urungus from Gwar. And of course there are keys on a lot of parts here and there. There is just so many details to discover if you have the time. SYL certainly never gets boring!

There are several sing-along songs on The New Black, a song like You Suck will have any audience go absolutely crazy, screaming along with the call-response chorus. This could easily become the mantra of a generation of pissed off teenagers. Decimator also has a definite sing along feeling when the S. Y. L. letters are screamed by a group of angry people. While I find parts like these a bit simple and almost too easy, I know that I'd be right there in the first row, screaming my head off if I ever got the chance to see SYL live.

The production is about as good as it gets these days. The amazing drumming from drum legend Gene Hoglan comes through with as much punch and clarity as you could ask for. There really is nothing I could put a finger on here. Any complaints will be purely personal taste.

Though The New Black is more accessible than earlier releases, don't make the mistake of thinking that this is commercial in any way. The lyrics are liberatingly non politically correct and SYL have kept their pissed-off attitude and tongue-in-cheek humour and though this is a widely released and highly advertised album, the big fat "fuck you" attitude from SYL still holds.

Rest assured that mr. Townsend is still insane. The New Black is more accessible, catchy and sing-along than any previous releases, but when that is said, the result is still insane but in a more catchy, accessible and sing-along way. I liked Alien with it's complete insanity better than the easier accessible The New Black. However, it has grown on me and the many really weird parts that first made me scratch my head and wonder if mr. Townsend finally lost the last part of sanity, have now opened up and become the most natural thing to find on a SYL record. So don't despair if at first you don't quite get some of the weird stuff. Especially tracks such as Wrong Side, Far Beyond Metal, Almost Again and the title track The New Black are so amazingly written with so much creativity, that few, if any, other bands could reach this level of creative musicality. As the press release said, SYL are leaving all other bands behind wondering how they could ever possibly compete with this level of musicality.

Released by
Century Media – 2006

Tracklisting
1. Decimator
2. You Suck
3. Antiproduct
4. Hope
5. Wrong Side (Of the Head)
6. Monument
7. Far Beyond Metal
8. Fucker
9. Almost Again
10. Polyphony
11. The New Black.

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