Album Review: Devin Townsend - Devolution Series #2 – Galactic Quarantine
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Devin Townsend continues with the second instalment of the Devolution Series which will feature live recordings, the quarantine concerts and other material he has to hand. This release is the Empath Live Volume 2 live stream which was broadcast on 5th September 2020. It saw Devin performing with a full band albeit all performing in different locations in front of a green screen, all edited together with some fancy virtual effects showing the band performing on platforms in space. Whilst not a live album in the truest sense it was the closest thing Devin could do at the time and it certainly is an impressive performance. Joining Devin as his virtual band were Wes Hauch (Alluvial, ex-The Faceless, ex-Black Crown Initiate) on guitars, Liam Wilson (Azusa, ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan) on bass and Samus Paulicelli (Decrepit Birth, 66Samus) on drums.
This is the show that Devin should have performed at Bloodstock in 2020 (and what we should hopefully be seeing a semblance of this coming August) and promised to hark back to the heavy side of Devin’s material as well as allowing the fans to vote on what they wanted to hear in the setlist. As a result and to the delight of many of his fans this means we get to hear Devin tackling a good number of songs from his Strapping Young Lad days. In fact the show opens with the double whammy of Velvet Kevorkian and All Hail The New Flesh off the incredible City album as well as crushing renditions of Almost Again, Aftermath, Love? and Detox later on in the set. Being a fan requested set there are also a lot of Devin fan favourites such as By Your Command, Juular, Supercrush!, Deadhead and Kingdom. The sound quality is absolutely excellent throughout having been expertly pieced together by Devin and it is great to hear him absolutely smashing out some of these songs which haven’t been heard live from him for a long time.
Being recorded in four different locations and edited together it does lack the cohesion and spark of a live album but it is still an impressive achievement and takes socially distanced performing to new levels. All band members perform impeccably with Devin sounding on absolutely amazing form though special mention has to go to Samus who absolutely destroys on the drums especially during some of the SYL songs. Having seen the original live stream upon broadcast this is definitely a recording that is better seen than simply heard so it is definitely worth picking up the blu-ray package if you haven’t already seen this.
All in all though this is a hugely enjoyable release that is essential viewing or listening for any Devin Townsend fan and very much whets the appetite for his hopeful performance at Bloodstock Festival on Friday 13th August.
