Flood_of_rain and thefillersweetcityjesus i am just woundering if you have listened to it.

Dont you think "im going to melt u" is a bit reaky in the album. What about if you tripping well a bad on at that????

ummmmmm...can anyone tell me what the image is on the cd itself?

not right sure an ear or a messed up face. me and my gf can make it out.

Devlab rocks my hairy anus, that's all i have to say.

If it's the same pic as in the webshop, I think it's a hand.

Well I ain't going to comment about the content of the album - having of course not yet heard it but I think if people don't like it, then that is their prerogative and as Lisa stated - we are shelling out for this so are entitled to some kind of editorial power over what we think about it.

I quite honestly wasn't over-rapt with EKO so I'm a little trepidatious heading towards buying Devlab, but not really any more than I would be checking out a release by an artist I'd not heard before. Should be cool as my music taste has had literally decades to grow and become quite eclectic, so I look forward here.

And Lisa/Geoff - if you have room in the trunk...gimme a yell.

Adrian - seems as if I've seen that road before...

I ordered it yesterday or the day before (Sat. or Sun. the 11th or 12th of Dec.), and I listen to an awful lot of ambient music, so when I finally am able to get my hands on it, I'll make sure to put a review on this thread, especially mentioning how it relates to other music in the genre. I'm sure, from the sounds of it, that it will at very least stand up to the rest of the genre though.

I like it, its passive listening music.
I loved EKO, i thought it was cool, funky video game music, so I was looking forward to a similar style full length with a different spin.
Its incredible dense, you don't realise how many sounds there are until you pause it and hear the silence, its really well done.

Great work dev, great work.

I'm too poor to buy anything at the moment

I don't think I will buy Devlab, not because of some of the negative comments I read here but because ambient music is not to my liking. Having said that I am more than happy for Dev to continually evolve and produce pieces of work he enjoys and has the courage to release to the wider world. Who knows, perhaps the next piece of experimental music Dev releases could be right up my alley? Bottom line: Have an opinion on the stuff Dev releases but also make sure you have respect for the artist he is.......

So I got mine today, and here are all my random thoughts:

Calling this sort of a mix between EKO and Love Load is highly inaccurate....both of those are very musical (rhythm, melody...), where as Devlab is almost entirely chaotic sound (despite a few misplaced, although very cool musical tracks, like number 13). Similarly, when I hear "heavy metal ambience" I think of Death of Music type stuff, not this.

On this album, I prefer the more open, spacy parts to the more abrasive ones as far as pure listening pleasure goes, but as this strikes me as a stream of consciousness piece, the combination of the different moods makes it feel more natural and real.

The layout and written piece on the inside are BRILLIANT. Visually, the remnants of humanity (the handprint, Dev's face, that other thing (ear?), sitting amongst the blackness are awesome, and fit perfectly with the written piece. It seems the themes of infinity, nothingness, the void, paradoxes, and all that that Dev was planning for SYL came to life on this project, which couldn't be more fitting, given the album's stream of consciousness content.

The transition from track 14 to 15, the alarm clock and subsequent gasping for breath as if he's coming out of a dream that he was drowning in, is a fantastic touch. Maybe "stream of subconsciousnes" is a better term? That's how I'm going to describe the album to people anyway.

Not sure I'd put it in while driving, unless I was alone for a long trip in the middle of the night. This is the kind of CD I could fall asleep to....mostly aimless soundscapes that occupy an aural void.

I don't really listen to ambient music though, so I can't compare this to others in the genre.

Ultimately, not what I think Dev descirbed it as, but somehow this is what I expected, and I quite enjoy it for what it is.

So I got mine today, and here are all my random thoughts:

Calling this sort of a mix between EKO and Love Load is highly inaccurate....both of those are very musical (rhythm, melody...), where as Devlab is almost entirely chaotic sound (despite a few misplaced, although very cool musical tracks, like number 13). Similarly, when I hear "heavy metal ambience" I think of Death of Music type stuff, not this.

On this album, I prefer the more open, spacy parts to the more abrasive ones as far as pure listening pleasure goes, but as this strikes me as a stream of consciousness piece, the combination of the different moods makes it feel more natural and real.

The layout and written piece on the inside are BRILLIANT. Visually, the remnants of humanity (the handprint, Dev's face, that other thing (ear?), sitting amongst the blackness are awesome, and fit perfectly with the written piece. It seems the themes of infinity, nothingness, the void, paradoxes, and all that that Dev was planning for SYL came to life on this project, which couldn't be more fitting, given the album's stream of consciousness content.

The transition from track 14 to 15, the alarm clock and subsequent gasping for breath as if he's coming out of a dream that he was drowning in, is a fantastic touch. Maybe "stream of subconsciousnes" is a better term? That's how I'm going to describe the album to people anyway.

Not sure I'd put it in while driving, unless I was alone for a long trip in the middle of the night. This is the kind of CD I could fall asleep to....mostly aimless soundscapes that occupy an aural void.

I don't really listen to ambient music though, so I can't compare this to others in the genre.

Ultimately, not what I think Dev descirbed it as, but somehow this is what I expected, and I quite enjoy it for what it is.

Thats the best review yet, thats how i hear the album just didn't have time to string that many words together!

Mizzike wrote:

Maybe "stream of subconsciousnes" is a better term?

Yeah that's a very accurate way of describing this album. Here's my 2 cents...

When I first put it on I started getting pissed off and bored by the 20 minute mark. But then I kind of surrendered to it as I realised this was not what I was expecting. Once I released my grip on the album and let Devin take me on his journey, I started to like it.

It's an album where the listener has absolutely no power. Dev is in complete control of you for 65 minutes. Ultimately I'm pleased Dev did it because I think it's a stepping stone in his career in creating astonishing soundscapes to merge with his music. This was a big step. Far bigger than anything he's done before sound fx wise.

I'm also left feeling a little frightened at Dev's mental state listening to this album. The sense of madness is 1000 times more intense than what you get on City or Infinity when things were really fucked up in his mind. But this is a whole new level.

I don't know if I'll listen to this very often. But I know that if I ever feel like just letting go and going to some completely Alien landscape in my mind, then I can just pull out Devlab.

James.

The sense of madness is 1000 times more intense than what you get on City or Infinity when things were really fucked up in his mind. But this is a whole new level.

That's exactly what i think.
There are some really insane parts on that record, i even thought of the crazy part of « Oh my fucking god » while listening to it.
I think this kind of music is well suited to express your inner thoughts. Dev himself says to listen to it while doing something else, but when you listen to it closely and pay attention, it becomes something else than background noises, something that really surrounds you, something that you can feel.
Too bad my English skill isn’t good enough to really express what I feel while listening to that record (and I even think it would be hard to describe it with native language!).

And that’s not only because it is Dev’s work, eventhough it makes it more interesting as you can relate to the feelings expressed in others albums. I’ve heard this kind of music before, I think it’s called Darkwave but I’m not sure. Ambient is something more relaxing and not disturbing.

So I got mine today, and here are all my random thoughts:

Calling this sort of a mix between EKO and Love Load is highly inaccurate....both of those are very musical (rhythm, melody...), where as Devlab is almost entirely chaotic sound (despite a few misplaced, although very cool musical tracks, like number 13). Similarly, when I hear "heavy metal ambience" I think of Death of Music type stuff, not this.

On this album, I prefer the more open, spacy parts to the more abrasive ones as far as pure listening pleasure goes, but as this strikes me as a stream of consciousness piece, the combination of the different moods makes it feel more natural and real.

The layout and written piece on the inside are BRILLIANT. Visually, the remnants of humanity (the handprint, Dev's face, that other thing (ear?), sitting amongst the blackness are awesome, and fit perfectly with the written piece. It seems the themes of infinity, nothingness, the void, paradoxes, and all that that Dev was planning for SYL came to life on this project, which couldn't be more fitting, given the album's stream of consciousness content.

The transition from track 14 to 15, the alarm clock and subsequent gasping for breath as if he's coming out of a dream that he was drowning in, is a fantastic touch. Maybe "stream of subconsciousnes" is a better term? That's how I'm going to describe the album to people anyway.

Not sure I'd put it in while driving, unless I was alone for a long trip in the middle of the night. This is the kind of CD I could fall asleep to....mostly aimless soundscapes that occupy an aural void.

I don't really listen to ambient music though, so I can't compare this to others in the genre.

Ultimately, not what I think Dev descirbed it as, but somehow this is what I expected, and I quite enjoy it for what it is.

PERFECT review man!
I agree 100%.