Album review: Devin Townsend – PowerNerd

Christmas must be an absolute bloody nightmare for Devin Townsend. The prospect of not working for an entire day or even longer must be the hyperactive musical maverick’s vision of hell. Much like Ginger Wildheart, Dev’s what you might call a manic creative. They’re both richly talented beings assailed by a near physical drive to create, and it’s no surprise to learn they’ve collaborated more than once.

PowerNerd however is all Townsend, and it’s no less than his fourth album in five years (fifth if you count 2021’s simultaneously released The Puzzle and Snuggles as two). Given that the former Strapping Young Lad mainman has included everything from frenzied industrial metal to rock operas about aliens in his repartee, PowerNerd is a notable step back from extremity – and that might not suit all.

It embraces deliciously worked melody, humour and no small amount of emotion. It’s first and foremost a heavy rock record, one that sees this eccentric uncle of metal revisit his long since perfected ‘wall of sound’ production. The layered vocals in particular produce stirring hooks – what it doesn’t do is dive as deeply into the whirlpool of musical adventure as some might hope.

The title track, supported by a laugh-out-loud funny video, is like Skid Row classic Slave To The Grind given a SpaceX overhaul. Knuckledragger and redemptive power ballad Gratitude also have much about them to love, the former a table-banging rager and the latter inspiring in its beautifully structured positivity. The songwriting and production are superlative, and it’s important to remember this is a very personal work, the art of a man who has overcome mental health challenges by finding beauty in being present.

If you’re looking for divisive, multi-toned prog metal you’ll find little of that here – closer Ruby Quaker has a tongue-in-cheek blast therein – but should you appreciate the less eccentric side of this polymath’s output, plug in and power up.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Coheed And Cambria, Starset, Mammoth WVH

PowerNerd is released on October 25 by Inside Out