I just bought this issue of Terrorizer today and it's 3.31am as I write this so sorry if this has been posted previously..Devin took the hard of hearing challenge which is basically when you have to recognice certain artists from a song. I'll transcribe the whole section here.

*Italics is narration/Terrorizer voice

** This is a little more SYL related but I prefer this forum to SYL's so STFU.

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"Having had a little bit of sleep before bedtime, to judge by his bleary eyes and slumber party-worthy attire, Devin Townsend was found in a suitably lucid state when Paul Schwarz called to administer Terrorizer's time-honoured Hard of Hearing test. Half an hour later, and with a little help from Gene Hoglan, the bent of his tastes and Spinal Tap-like perspective on life in Strapping Young Lad was revealed"

Artist: Darkane
"Intro/Convicted" From 'Rusted Angel'

Classically-inflected and grandiosely introduced, the opening section of Darkane's dynamite debut recalls Devin's own work with its producer, Daniel Begstrand, who worked on SYL's "city"

The first swirls of choral voikces fade in.

Devin: "Oh yeah this is...I'll know as soon as it comes in. I've heard this a million times. This is fuckin' good. I'll know when the vocals come in..."

The first devastating, Dark Angel-indebted riff of 'Convicted' jabs its one/two in.

Devin: "It's Darkane. I love them too. I think this guy's voice is great. Christopher is an awesome guitar player. Their new record 'Layers of Lies' is reat. This is 'Rusted Angel' right?

Yup. Were you attracted to Darkane at all because of their affinities with Dark Angel [Hoglan's former band] from whom they derived their name?

Devin: "I never heard one Dark Angel song before I met Gene."

What album was it that induced you to work with Daniel Bergstrand?

Devin: I really liked what Daniel did with 'Destroy, Erase, Improve' [Meshuggah's 1995 masterwork]. That was the one I heard that I really dug.

Artist: Death
'Overactive Imagination' From 'Individual Thought Patterns'

Propulsive opener from the first of Schuldiner's albums and also featuring none other than Gene Hoglan on drums.

Devin: This is Death. It's off 'Individual Thought Patterns'. This was the first time I heard Gene. Musically I don't know if I took any influence from Death but just because Gene's able to do this kind of stuff, it's easy to write riffs around knowing that he can.

Artist: Emperor
'Thus Spake the Nightspirit' From 'Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk'

One of the signituare songs from the Norwegian legends' sophomore full-length.

Devin: (After scactto metal riffery and classic flourishes have tag teamed for half a minute)"Sounds like Morbid Angel wiith keyboards. I don't know who it is."

Want to guess the location?

Devin: Norway?

Correct. Any ideas now?

Devin: "I'm gonna wait for the vocals."

(Ihsahn begins his pained screeching)

Devin: I don't know which one of them it is.. Is it Emperor?

Yes, indeed.

Devin: I love Emperor but I haven't spent too much time with them. Whenever I hear Emperor I always think to myself that they're great and really amazing, but I kinda missed the black metal boat when it was really popular. I found that I kinda skimmed through a coupla black metal bands that I likd, but I never got deep into it. I liked Immortal, but even with that, I've never been able to really sink into it. I would probably say that Emperor have had an effect on Strapping, but not as much so as Samael. All the black metal stuff that I really dug was off of 'Passage'. Even though it wasn't really black metal, it was at a tempo that made it sound really good.

Artist: Fear Factory
'Archetype' FROM 'ARCHETYPE'

Video backed cut from the Californian cyber-metallers' post-Cazares comeback. How will Devin feel about their latest incarnation?

Devin: Fear Factory. This is off Archetype, right? I like it.

What's your take on the oft mentioned SYL/FF connection?

Devin: Well, Strapping wouldn't exist if it wasn't for FF. When I heard FF for the first time I thought: Finally there's some extreme stuff that's got enough melody in it that I can wrap my head around it. I don't think 'Archetype' is their best record, but I think it's good. Some of the songs are really good, but 'Soul of a new Machine and 'Demanufacture' are still my favourites.

Artist: The Future Sound of London
'Hard Killing' from 'Dead Cities'

Experimental breakbeat electronica from these UK psychogeographers once sampled by Godflesh. Will the clash of technology and urban mindet strike a chord with Devin?

Devin: (After half a minute of unsure and occasionally distasteful looks) Squarepusher? Godflesh? Aphex Twin?

You're in the right ballpark.

Devin: I don't know it.

It's the Future Sound of London.

Devin: I'm not familiar with them too much. I know they did a split record with a band called Grotus years ago, and they changed my fuckin' life when I saw them open for Mr. Bungle. When we [meaning Devin and the Wildhearts] were at the Reading festival in '93 they were pumping FSOL doing a remix with Grotus, and I fuckin' loved that. But FSOL, in all honesty i've got one record and it was too techy for me. It wasn't spacey enough for me. I like the tech elements of it, but I think that certain drum sounds will sound REALLY ridiculous in about ten years - too much like a drum machine. It's like people using certain patches from Korg keyboards now. In ten years you're going ot hear these little arpeggios and go, 'Oh GOD!' I kinda felt that way about FSOL but I haven't spent enough time with them to know.

Artist: Judas Priest
'Victim of Changes' from 'Unleashed in the East'

A classic live rendition of the monumental opener to 1976's 'Sad Wings of Destiny'. Will Devin pay testament to the metal god?

Devin: (In less than a second) Judas Priest. 'Victim of Changes' off 'Unleashed in the East'. I listened to THIS version of THIS song a million times when I was a kid'

So a favourite then?

Devin: This was my favourite song of all time when I was in Grade Eight. I couldn't handle any other version, but off of 'Unleashed in the EAST' IT WAS FUCKIN' PERFECT. It's awesome. The voice is great, the echo's great. The best solo ever don eby anybody is 'Sinner' by KK Downing. This is the only song i've ever heard Rob Halford sing about a woman. I like to think he had some hetero in him at this point.

Artist: Meshuggah.
'Shed' from ''Catch Thirty Three'

Taken from Swedish metal mind-benders' atest. Will Devin find any affinity with these fellow journeyers into the far realm of the psyche?

Devin: Is that Meshuggah? Is this off 'Catch Thirty Three'? Yeah I just got the record yesterday. I haven't had a chance to listen to it. I love Meshuggah. We played with them yesterday. They're one of the best metal bands ever.

They always talk about how funny it is that when the two of you tour together in North America they're the headliners, and when you're in Europe, it's the other way round.

Devin: Yeah. Neither of us sell any records though, so it's cool.

Artist: Spinal Tap.
'Stonehenge' from 'This is Spinal Tap'

Metal/hard rock parody song supreme from the film that says it all. As a man who fully understands the absurdity of rock n' roll, how will he respond to this?

Devin: This is Spinal Tap!! 'Stonehenge', 'Tap into...America!' I love Spinal Tap, they're great. I've seen the movie enough times - I live it. I mean fuck, all bands have lived Spinal Tap, but SYL has personified it in a lot of ways

The crazy things that go on, you mean?

Devin: Just the weak things that go on! 'Stripping Young Lads'. We get a lot of misunderstandings like that.'

Was there ever a period when you felt the band was going the way of Spinal Tap - when your appeal was becoming more selective?

Devin: Now! No, I mean always. Now more just because i'm 33 and still doing the same thing. We're never gonna be superstars so it's kinda like... doing this for a living you have to kinda suck it up in a lot of ways. It's pretty funny.

Artist: The Who
'Overture' from 'Tommy'

How could we resist playing Devin the groundbreaking rock opera penned by the man who shares his name? Devin looks non-plussed as piano and then the horn-backed motifs are touched upon.

We are going a long way back here...

Devin: I still don't know.

Drummer Gene Hoglan enters the room and immediently intimates that he knows who is playing.

Devin: Who is it Gene?

Gene: Don't you know?

Devin: Uh, hang on a second...

Gene: There are similarities between yourself and the man who wrote this!

Devin: Is this the Who? I always hated the Who. It's not that I think they're bad. It's just that I didn't like Pete Townsend's face - or Roger Daltrey's. I mean I didn't like Robert Plant that much but I love Zeppelin. I love Floyd. I'm just not a Who fan. They're geniuses and I can really appreciate what they do, but it just never spoke to me. I would prefer to listen to Abba, for the most part.

That's interesting: I always pictured you as a fan of Rush, who bear no small similarities to the Who.

Devin: I liked Rush but real mildly. Again i just didn't like his voice. It's the same thing as with Zeppelin: I love the band so much but everytime that guy was fuckin' squeezin' his lemon i'd just be like, "SHUT UP!!"

Artist: The Young Gods
'Outside/Strangel' from 'Only Heaven'

Groundbreaking, tribally pulsing metallic electro-beat from the Swiss act's fourth full-length, considered by many to be their best.

Devin: This is the Young Gods. I fuckin' LOVE this band. They're one of my favourite bands, ever. This is the first song off 'Only Heaven'. This record changed my life. People often tell me 'TV Sky' is their favourite, but this is my favourite. The one after 'Second Nature' is pretty awesome too. I put out a record called 'Ocean Machine and this was all over it. I fuckin' love the Young Gods.

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An hour and a half later...hope you people enjoy, i'm off to bed!!

GREAT post, very amusing/entertaining read!

thanks dude

Nice post, Pissface! Thanks! =)

Thanks, and wow...I'd never find the energy to type all that.

Thanks for the post, Pisshead. Well done. Oh, and this makes me feel stupid because I sorta assumed that Dev loved Rush. Partly because I do and partly because I stupidly assumed he loved Canadians. I mean, maybe he does love Canadians, but maybe that's not enough to love a band. By my logic, he loves Alanis Morrisette and Alanah Myles.

So, to sum up, Pisshead did a good job and I'm an idiot.

Hah very cool.

Thanks for taking the time a effort to type that twas cool

Thank you very much!!

Great post!!

Wow, great! Thanks, Pisshead (with such a name it immediately sounds sarcastic... which it isn't of course)

Stripping young lads..
hehe!!!

The Dev knows metal! \m/

I already archived it for Geoff....

VERY cool post, thanks a lot for that. It gave me something to read for a while, while I continue to rip CDs for my iPod (been ripping since Christmas, alphabetically, and I'm just now getting into the s's). I never knew Devin was that much of a Young Gods fan, but it makes sense.

There's one in the current Rock Sound (that pretty-boy from HIM on the cover).