I translated the review from metalsickness, I hope it's decent.
____
Devin Townsend is a crazy genius and very prolific. And those points perfectly sum up the last creation of the canadian. So, fasten your seatbelt, say goodbye to your friends and ride on!
Here come on Earth
Ziltoid The Omniscient, straight from the 4th dimension to enslave our planet (he defines himself as the best guitar player of... the galaxy!?), in order to get his best fuel : black coffee! (Last chance for weak-stomach to get out before the take off, I warned you, this guy is really mad).
Seeing
Ziltoid, you will understand that we're not that far from
Tim Burton's univers ("Mars Attack"). And this record is a soundtrack both realistic and zany dealing with the meeting between an alien thirsting for power and domination and humans who wonder what's happening to them.
Knowing that the man who's pulling the strings of this meeting is the creator of
Strapping Young Lad and
Ocean Machine, you can imagine the slaughter!
Hence, the album is exactly what we expect from it, an extraordinary orgy in which
Devin Townsend is free to use his vocals, guitars, rythms and humour abilities in a well handled piece of music.
Running the ship alone (no drummer here, only a volontary abusive use of the Drumkit from hell, very realistic)
Devin Townsend gives us a fun story yet very efficient.
Following a majestuous beginning ("ZTO") and a first hilarous message, mankind is now warned and then here come "Ziltoidia attaxx", a slaughtery, with laser, guitar, explosion and drums everywhere!
Along with straight in-your-face tracks, there are also epics, running past 8mins, and which doesn't require endless speechs.
Devin might be having fun, but when it comes to playing, he's not faking it!
The whole record keeps that humouristic science-fiction vibe with some peacefull breaks, only to remind the listener how was the world before... that!
No need to write for hours about this brilliant piece of art. You only have to put the CD in your cdplayer, turn the volume up, and listen to the whole thing (it's better to listen to all the track at once) until the very last track to enjoy the whole story.
Devin Townsend is a genius, and this record is a new proof of that. Sometimes hard to get into (
Strapping Young Lad isn't what you would call easy listening!), he offers us another approach of his universe and he does it well.
Metal scares people in some medias... This record is a proof that people who listen to metal are still grown up children.