DEVIN TOWNSEND is currently working on new material for upcoming albums, and for a current lack of touring possibilities and encounters with fans on the road he decided to do a series of live albums, quarantine albums, and generally interesting projects that keep people entertained while he’s busy on his next larger releases.
Devin comments: “So we bring to you the ‘Devolution Series’: a grouping of oddities and interesting material that I would like people to hear, but don’t necessarily want to present as a ‘major release’. The series will include all the quarantine songs and concerts, as well as various live shows from the past few years.
The first release is a remixed and remastered version of the ‘Live in Leeds’ show that was originally on the ‘Empath’ Ultimate Edition. It was a cool acoustic show that deserves to be heard I think, so we can use this as an introduction to the series.
I’m am currently deep in the writing of my new projects and am very excited to be doing so. Thanks for facilitating my ability to do that, and I hope you enjoy the ‘Devolution Series’.”
The ‘Live in Leeds’ show has previously only been released in video format, and “Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds” now marks the audio release of said show. It will be released on March 19th 2021.
As a warm-up to this release, check out the ‘Hyperdrive (Live in Leeds 2019)’ video here:
“Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds” will be available as Ltd. CD Digipak, 180g Gatefold 2LP (incl. the album on CD) and as Digital Album and as of now it is up for pre-order, so make sure to grab a copy here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/DevolutionSeriesOne-LiveInLeedsQR
“Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds” track listing: 1. Intro (06:30) 2. Let it Roll (03:48) 3. Funeral (08:17) 4. Deadhead (07:51) 5. Ih-Ah! (04:44) 6. Love? (08:06) 7. Hyperdrive (04:27) 8. Terminal (04:58) 9. Coast (04:37) 10. Solar Winds (03:25) 11. Thing Beyond Things (04:34)
Devin Townsend will release ‘Order Of Magnitude – Empath Live Volume 1’ on the 23rd October 2020, a document of his Winter 2019 European tour that saw him taking on possibly his most ambitious live show to date.
Recorded in December 2019 in London, UK on the penultimate night of the tour in support of his latest album ‘Empath’, this run of shows saw Devin joined by an incredible line-up of musicians. The band was made up of guitarists Mike Kenneally (ex-Frank Zappa) and Markus Reuter (Stick Men, The Crimson Project), drummer Morgen Agren (Kaipa, Mats & Morgan, Frank Zappa), bassist Nathan Navarro, Haken keyboard player Diego Tejeida, and guitarist/vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval, as well as vocalists Samantha & Anne Preis and Arabella Packford.
Devin’s plan for the Empath touring cycle was to divide it up into three ‘Volumes’, and this was Volume 1. The idea behind the shows was a simple one: none of the backing tapes or click tracks that had long been necessary to bring the kaleidoscopic cacophony in his head and on his records to life in the flesh. This would just be Devin Townsend and a band of genius-level musicians getting up there and trying to keep it from spinning off into outer space. Or maybe just letting it spin-off into outer space for the sheer hell of it.
“The whole objective was that I wanted to make that statement: This is by the seat our pants,” he says. “Because it’s important to me to represent this hyper anal-retentive music that I’ve made over the years, but in a human way. Rather than it just being, ‘Well, here it is, perfectly done.’”
“I was overwhelmed by the fact that all these brilliant people that I have so much respect for were willing to come together and play this weird shit with me,” says Devin. “I had these unique players and this interesting instrumentation that allowed us to interpret the music in different ways. It was clear to me that I could just have fun and be me and know that they would be effortlessly be able to follow that.”
That sense of fun and freedom was evident to anyone who was there on the night. Visually, it was an assault on the senses in the best possible way. A digital screen projected vivid images throughout the show. A giant gleaming mirrorball hung from the ceiling. There were multiple costume changes and a tiki bar onstage (a tiki bar!).
‘Order Of Magnitude – Empath Live Volume 1’ will be released as a Limited Deluxe 2CD+Blu-Ray+DVD Artbook (including expanded artwork & photos), Limited 2CD+DVD Digipak, Standalone Blu-Ray, Gatefold 3LP+2CD vinyl box-set & as a Digital Album. The Blu-Ray disc includes a bonus behind the scenes documentary, and both DVD & Blu-Ray feature a 5.1 surround sound mix.
The track-listing is as follows: 1. Borderlands 2. Evermore 3. War 4. Sprite 5. Gigpig Jam 6. Coast 7. Gato 8. Heavens End 9. Ain’t Never Gonna Win 10. Deadhead 11. Why? 12. Lucky Animals 13. Castaway/Genesis 14. Spirits Will Collide 15. Disco Inferno 16. Kingdom
Look out for the first clip and pre-order start on the 28th August.
In June, ‘Empath – The Ultimate Edition’ was released, the definitive version of his latest studio album. It features a glorious 5.1 surround mix with accompanying visuals, plus a host of bonus material including mixing lesson, documentary, as well as a live set filmed during his April 2019 acoustic tour.
The ‘Empath Live Volume 2’ tour would’ve started this year during the European summer festival run, followed by a club tour in November. Whereas Volume 1 is considered the more mellow/prog version, Empath Volume 2 encompasses the more ‘heavy songs’ from Devin’s long time career and these were selected by the fans last year though an online poll. This set list would’ve have been played at UK’s Bloodstock Festival, Finland’s Tuska Festival and at Hellfest in France but COVID-19 decided to put a stop to that. Instead Devin has now put in massive efforts to bring the show to his fans via an online stream.
EMPATH LIVE VOLUME 2 – BY REQUEST SET Saturday 5th September 1pm PDT / 4pm EDT / 21:00 BST / 22:00 CEST / 06:00 AEST Tickets on-sale NOW: https://www.stageit.com/Devin_Townsend
Setlist (in no particular order): Love (SYL) Kingdom Detox (SYL) Deadhead Velvet Kevorkian / All Hail the New Flesh (SYL) Hyperdrive Supercrush! Juular Aftermath (SYL) March of the Poozers Stormbending Almost Again (SYL) By Your Command Spirits Will Collide Grace
Devin explains best in his own words:
“So I was thrilled to announce my headlining of Bloodstock this year, and with an eye on doing my first ‘by request’ set that included my entire career, (including SYL and all the DTP albums), I know there were a lot of people that were really excited as well.
But then, as we all know, circumstances prevented that from happening, and that was disappointing as the show was meant to be a pivotal moment in my creative career. But every roadblock is an opportunity for something different so we have come up with a plan to bring you the show in a way I believe will be kind of revolutionary and damned exciting. We have been working tirelessly to bring you a ‘virtual’ concert of the by request set, with musicians playing together, yet all in different parts of the world.
However, I wanted to do something different, not the ‘brady bunch’ type split screen visuals filmed on smartphones, (they are cool, but also not really exciting in my opinion) instead, we have opted to make a full production, filming ourselves separately, playing our instruments live, on greenscreens, with 8 cameras each, (all at the same heights and distances for each of our remote shoots), and then combine these elements on a crazy virtual stage. Its ambitious, but I think the closest to a monster concert as can be achieved this summer =) Considering everyone is scattered throughout the land yet not wanting to ‘let the dream die’ we have stumbled upon something rather amazing I think.
The players are Samus Paulicelli on drums, Wes Hauch on guitar, and Liam Wilson on bass… They have been going crazy learning the material, and we are putting it all together on September 5th, for the most ambitious live stream I think I’ve heard of thus far. We have been dealing with Stageit to avoid any hiccups, and it poised to be rather awesome.
I will be live with it, and you, at this show, answering questions and talking to you throughout, to make it a totally interactive experience that acts not only as a cool way to spend a Saturday, but also as a potentially new way to do concerts entirely. The players I have hired have worked their butts off learning the material, and its going to be one of the coolest things I’ve done in recent memory.
So please consider coming to this, Stageit has allowed the show to be the full 85 minutes, so it will be the full Bloodstock/Tuska/Hellfest set. I can’t actually believe we’re managing to pull off something like this, and there’s a lot involved with it, but it’s worth it to me. It’s not just any ‘quarantine concert’ this one is a quantum leap of sound and visuals. I can’t wait for you to see this, hopefully you’ll consider it.” Dev
DEVIN TOWNSEND is set to release ‘Empath – The Ultimate Edition’ on the 5th June 2020, and today a brand new video for the track ‘Sprite’ has been launched. This video is part of some of the brand new visuals that make up the accompaniment to Devin’s stunning 5.1 mix that is contained on this new version of ‘Empath’, and was created by Crystal Spotlight. Watch it now here:
This comprehensive version of 2019’s acclaimed album contains the original record and bonus disc across 2 CD’s, plus 2 Blu-Ray discs. The first blu-ray contains the 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Devin, with visuals for the full record, plus a stereo visualiser.
The second blu-ray contains a raft of bonus material, including ‘Acoustically Inclined – Live in Leeds’, a recording from his April 2019 acoustic tour where he performed tracks including ‘Love?’, ‘Deadhead’, ‘Thing Beyond Things’ & more.
Devin has been hosting live concerts in his home studio this month, each one raising money for healthcare workers around the world. The second, which took place on 25th April sold 3420 tickets raising over £65,000 ($81,000) for the NHS in the UK.
For each show Devin has put together an impressive 4-camera rig, controlled using nothing more than an Xbox controller. Watch a recording of the NHS fundraiser show here: https://youtu.be/Qv4RqR0ud2g
The previous show in aid of Vancouver’s General Hospital sold close to 2000 tickets, and raised nearly $50,000. The third was in support of North Shore University Hospital in New York. In total he has raised around $186,000 in support of these charities.
Each show saw the people who donated the most receive generous prizes from Fishman, Toontrack, Dunlop, Planet Waves & D’Addario, KSR, Line 6, Darkglass, Fractal, Mooer & Omerch. A big thanks goes out to all these companies who supplied prizes, as well as to all the people who watched the shows and donated money.
Music fans across the world are missing the thrill of going to live concerts, and DEVIN TOWNSEND is here to help. Devin is hosting live concerts in his home studio this month, each one raising money for healthcare workers around the world. The first took place this past weekend in support of Vancouver’s General Hospital, selling close to 2000 tickets, and raising nearly 50,000 dollars. Devin has put together an impressive 4-camera rig for these streams, controlled using nothing more than an Xbox controller. You can watch a recording here:
The second will be in support of the NHS in the UK, and the third will be in support of hotspot hospitals in New York. Shows will last around 50 minutes, with different setlists each time. The top donors for each show will receive signed merchandise from Omerch, album goodies from InsideOut as well as several high-end products from a number of Devin’s gear companies such as Mooer, Fractal, Toontrack, Dunlop and Fishman to name a few. All ticket buyers will also receive a (somewhat tidied-up) remixed version of the show’s audio recording.
The release of ‘Empath – The Ultimate Edition’ was recently announced for the 5th June 2020. This comprehensive version of 2019’s acclaimed album contains the original record and bonus disc across 2 CD’s, plus 2 Blu-Ray discs. The first blu-ray contains the 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Devin, with visuals for the full record, plus a stereo visualiser. You will be familiar with some of the visuals including the stunning video for the uplifting single ‘Spirits Will Collide’: https://youtu.be/AdHJurX0yVA
The second blu-ray contains a raft of bonus material, including ‘Acoustically Inclined – Live in Leeds’, a recording from his April 2019 acoustic tour where he performed tracks including ‘Love?’, ‘Deadhead’, ‘Thing Beyond Things’ & more.
It also features the full Empath Documentary, a ‘Genesis 5.1 Mixing Lesson’, a full album commentary & more. The four discs sit inside a beautiful art-book that contains new liner notes and images from the making of the album.
DEVIN TOWNSEND is pleased to announce the release of ‘Empath – The Ultimate Edition’ on 5th June 2020. This comprehensive version of 2019’s acclaimed album contains the original record and bonus disc across 2 CD’s, plus 2 Blu-Ray discs. The first blu-ray contains the 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Devin, with visuals for the full record, plus a stereo visualiser. The second blu-ray contains a raft of bonus material, including ‘Acoustically Inclined – Live in Leeds’, a recording from his April 2019 acoustic tour where he performed tracks including ‘Love?’, ‘Deadhead’, ‘Thing Beyond Things’ & more.
It also features the full Empath Documentary, a ‘Genesis 5.1 Mixing Lesson’, a full album commentary & more. The four discs sit inside a beautiful art-book that contains new liner notes and images from the making of the album.
Devin comments of the new 5.1 surround sound mix:
“On a technical level, I guess I have always been dissatisfied with the basic ‘stereo’ format in which the type of music I make gets presented in. Whether its headphones, computer speakers, stereos (or basically anything currently), I have had to figure out ways to get the work to function through TWO speakers. I hear things in a particularly orchestrated way, and with the amount of information that typically gets recorded per song, the result has been the dubious ‘wall of sound’ that I keep ending up with. But my intention has never been to make an oppressive experience, but rather something that is immersive and vast.
Making it work in two speakers just simply doesn’t quite work for the vision. Although I’ve managed to get the point across, (to varying degrees), things always have to compromise to make it all fit. Making the drums speak at the same time as orchestra, cymbals, guitars, choirs, synths etc.…all with my voice on top, ends up with every conceivable frequency fighting for breathing space between those two speakers.
Therefore, I asked the powers that be in my business world, to tolerate one more ‘kick at the can’ when it came to Empath. I wanted to attempt a surround mix and follow the original vision of it being an immersive, multimedia experience for people in the ways I could best achieve at this stage. And although it’s still pretty ‘dense’, with four more sources for the sound to come from, I feel its significantly closer to the original vision here.”
Canadian heavy music artist Devin Townsend is set to release his forthcoming new album ‘EMPATH’ on the 29th March 2019, and today sees the launch of the second single from the album. Watch the video for ‘Evermore’ here:
Devin comments:
“So with the release of Empath fast approaching, and people having had various chances to hear the album, the reactions are pretty much what I expected: Those interested in the more artistic and free form side of what I do really seem to like and understand it, and those looking for the more commercial or rocking side of what I do are maybe not so convinced 🙂
The initial plan was to release a more commercial song next (the sole one on the album, ‘Spirits Will Collide’) but the video we’ve been working on for that is hilariously ambitious and we needed a bit more time. Therefore, we opted to release this song, ‘Evermore’, as a way to bridge that gap. It’s slightly in the same vein as Genesis on some level I suppose, but a little more groovy and a bit less fractured in terms of structure.
The lyrics are not as much about a bored space cat crash landing on ‘planet fear’ in a literal sense, but I guess that’s easier to articulate with visuals at this stage than ‘yet another song about trying to work through one’s own mid-life bullshit to find some sense of self-actualization’, though perhaps with more time, it will resonate further with that. Thanks to Wayne, Josh and Miles for the tag team animations.
The drums on this particular track are all Anup Sastry, (who is a great guy who loves his dog) and the Elektra choir helps out a lot again. I’ve got a strange relationship with singing at this stage of my career so I really appreciated the support.
I encourage you, (if you like this sort of stuff, that is) to check it out in headphones. There’s a fair amount of candy in this song I spent a long time on. I think it’s streaming now too…
Thank you sincerely. The album is meant to be of some help in a weird way.
Dev”
Watch the video for the previously released track ‘Genesis’, which has reached nearly half a million plays in just over 2 weeks, here: https://youtu.be/1n7uvokARQ4
‘Empath’ is already receiving incredible reactions in the press, find a select few below:
“Strap yourselves in and say hello to one of your albums of the year, folks.” – Prog Magazine
“Devin Townsend has created with ‘Empath’ a work that is unconventional, far from mainstream, and a work of genius.” – Metal Wani
The ‘EMPATH Europe – Volume 1’ tour begins in November & the full list of dates are as follows:
15th November – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
16th November – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
17th November – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
18th November – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany
20th November – Logomo, Turku, Finland
21st November – Cirkus, Helsinki, Finland
23rd November – Münchenbryggeriet, Stockholm, Sweden
24th November – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway
25th November – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
27th November – Astra, Berlin, Germany
28th November – Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic
29th November – A2, Wroclaw, Poland
30th November – Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary
2nd December – Simm City, Vienna, Austria
3rd December – X Tra, Zurich, Switzerland
6th December – Academy, Dublin, Ireland
7th December – Limelight, Belfast, UK
9th December – SWG3 Galvanisers, Glasgow, UK
10th December – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK
12th December – Roundhouse, London, UK
13th December – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
Tickets available here: https://www.hevydevy.com/tourdates/
In the lead up to the album’s release, Devin is walking fans through how ‘EMPATH’ came together with a series of documentary episodes recorded as phone conversations during the course of the albums recording. Watch the first episode of that series here: https://youtu.be/y4sJ8odko2Y
Two days prior to the release of ‘EMPATH’, on 27th March, a special cinema screening of the documentary will take place in London at the Everyman Screen on the Green. Devin will be in attendance to give a live commentary to the film, and to answer fans questions afterwards. Tickets for this special event are now sold out.
Over the past few years, the success that Devin has slowly worked for has fortunately come with the power to control his own creative destiny. The recent successes with the DVD from a sold-out Royal Albert hall, or his 2012 ‘Retinal Circus’, or last year’s ‘Ocean Machine’ live DVD with the Orchestra and Choir of State Opera Plovdiv has put him in a position where with the new album ‘EMPATH’, he will once and for all define himself as a musical force outside of any particular genre classification.
On this album Devin has decided to see what would happen if all the styles that make up his current interests were finally represented in one place. To finally shake the fear of expectation, and just do what it is he was meant to do creatively, ‘EMPATH’, true to the name, is about allowing the audience a feeling for a variety of musical emotions. The musical dynamics represented on this single album are broad, challenging, and immense. To approach this sort of work with a long history of what makes heavy music ‘heavy’, allows this to be done with a type of power rarely heard.
Joining Devin on this album is Frank Zappa alumni Mike Keneally as music director, as well as Morgan Ågren (Mats And Morgan, Frank Zappa, Fredrik Thordendal), Anup Sastry (Monuments, Periphery), Samus Paulicelli (Decrepit Birth, Abigail Williams), Nathan Navarro, Elliot Desagnes, Steve Vai, Chad Kroeger, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Ché Aimee Dorval, Ryan Dhale and the Elektra Women’s Choir.
A bold statement with massive production values and dynamic, uncompromised musicality. This is a statement about not only pursuing creative freedom in a conservative scene, but also trying to show that heavy music is truly a valid musical tool.
‘EMPATH’ will be released on Limited 2 CD Digipak in O-Card (including an entire disc of bonus material), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180G 2LP Vinyl + CD + LP-booklet & as digital album. Pre-order now here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/Empath
The full track-listing is as follows:
1. Castaway
2. Genesis
3. Spirits Will Collide
4. Evermore
5. Sprite
6. Hear Me
7. Why
8. Borderlands
9. Requiem
10. Singularity
Part 1 – Adrift
Part 2 – I Am I
Part 3 – There Be Monsters
Part 4 – Curious Gods
Part 5 – Silicon Scientists
Part 6 – Here Comes The Sun
Last year Devin announced a special ‘An Evening With’ tour that would see him performing acoustically, as well as taking part in a fan Q&A at each show.
The full list of dates are as follows, many of which are already sold out:
7th March – The Piano Man Jazz Club, New Delhi, India SOLD OUT
8th March – Levi’s Lounge, Mumbai, India SOLD OUT
22nd March – Prognosis Festival, Eindhoven, Netherlands – Guitar Clinic
23rd March – Prognosis Festival, Eindhoven, Netherlands – Production Clinic & performance
29th March – Savoy Theater, Helsinki, Finland SOLD OUT
30th March – Savoy Theater, Helsinki, Finland SOLD OUT
31st March – Sodra Teatern, Stockholm, Sweden SOLD OUT
1st April – Edderkoppen, Oslo, Norway SOLD OUT
2nd April – Bremen Theater, Copenhagen, Denmark SOLD OUT
4th April – PassionKirchhe, Berlin, Germany
5th April – Stodola, Warsaw, Poland
6th April – La Fabrica, Prague, Czech Republic SOLD OUT
7th April – Freiheiz, Munich, Germany SOLD OUT
9th April – Kulturkirche, Cologne, Germany SOLD OUT
10th April – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany SOLD OUT
11th April – Bravo Kerk, Haarlem, Netherlands SOLD OUT
13th April – Reading 3, Tel Aviv, Israel
24th April – Bush Hall, London, UK SOLD OUT
25th April – Bush Hall, London, UK SOLD OUT
26th April – St George’s, Bristol, UK SOLD OUT
27th April – City Varieties, Leeds, UK SOLD OUT
29th April – Jam House, Edinburgh, UK SOLD OUT
30th April – Glee Club, Birmingham, UK SOLD OUT
Remaining tickets can be found here: https://bnds.us/hotp9q
