Album Review: Devin Townsend - Devolution Series #1 - Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Devin Townsend is a musician that keeps himself busy. Throughout the pandemic, he has been very prolific with not only the release of a live album but also several live stream quarantine concerts as well as a series of podcasts. In between all of this he has also been working on brand new material but to keep fans entertained he is releasing a series of albums through InsideOut Records called the Devolution Series which will feature live recordings, the quarantine concerts and other material he has to hand.
The first in the Devolution Series is Acoustically Inclined - Live In Leeds which is a show that was recorded on his An Evening With Devin Townsend tour in 2019. The recording was originally included in the Ultimate Edition of the Empath album but will now be widely available for all fans to hear. I was able to see Devin on this tour and saw him perform in Bristol the night before this recording was made. It was a fantastic evening and a unique opportunity to see Devin perform up close and in an intimate setting and also hear his music performed in a very stripped down way. This live recording does a fantastic job of capturing the mood, feed and ambience of these shows. It sees Devin as his very modest, affable and amusing self with funny anecdotes and interactions with the audience. With the theatrics of a full band performance stripped away and Devin performing solely with an acoustic guitar and some reverb and ambient sounds, it is Devin musically at his most naked.
The setlist mixes songs that were originally written acoustically such as Let It Roll and songs that have previously had acoustic reworkings such as Hyperdrive and Ih-Ah! But there are also some songs that are wonderfully reimagined such as the Strapping Young Lad classic Love, the heartfelt Funeral and the crowd pleaser Deadhead. Hearing these songs in a completely stripped down form is a joy. Devin himself sounds incredible shifting effortlessly between vocal styles from very gentle cleans, to huge falsettos and blood curdling screams. There is a damn good reason why Devin is so highly regarded as a singer as well as incredible musician and songwriter.
Like any live album this would work better as a DVD but this is still vastly enjoyable. I don’t think this live album would have worked as a ‘proper’ live release which is why it was originally included as an extra with the ultimate edition of Empath but there are plenty of Devin Townsend fans who will be all over this release (myself included).
