Ok.. my review...

*disclaimer- I have never reviewed anything in my life but after listening to Devin for 20 years I know a little bit about his music*.. I'm also a mildly dyslexic although this actually make my review amusing

Believe- It's got a kind of "OK Computer-Radiohead" kind of vibe. It's not something I could imagine on Ki or Ghost. Just a simple beautiful song. The note choice at 2 minutes and 8 seconds is pure Devin gold.

Happy Birthday- Anneke's vocal introduction to this song almost brought tears to my eyes. It's a very catchy/upbeat song. It's tragic that music this beautiful shall only be heard by a relatively small minority. The subtle use of electronic undertones really helps make this song.

Quietus- This shall sound weird but the first time I heard this I thought it sounded like a cheeky song That intro riff... it's brings a smile to my face. This song really has a Ki kind of feeling to it. A very catchy chorus and then a completely fucked up dance section with random notes.. only Devin....

Heatwave- I'm not a fan of Trainfire so when I first heard this song I wanted to skip it. Then the chorus came along and all was forgiven. Not is the chorus extremely catchy, the choice of harmonies, super clean vocal production and echo/reverb/digi delay just makes this a slice of musical perfection. Notice near the end that there is heavy guitars tucked away in the background... Devin can't help himself.

Love tonight- Now this is an interesting thought. It's my favourite song but only because of the harmonies used from 2minutes 24 seconds that are underneath a relatively complex guitar arrangement. Reminds me a little bit Deep Peace (that's a very good thing). The rest of the song is nice but more of standard DTP song.

Mind Warp- Unfortunately one of my least favourite songs from this release. It's cool to hear a very prominent bass.

Woah No! Where shall this song go? A intro with Sax and chaotic guitar noodling. Then an almost Pantera trpe of riff followed by "I know, I know why" is pure old school Dev. I can see why some of you guys draw a comparison to Ass-sordid.

Love and marriage- The lyrics are clever. Plain and simple. It's like a messed up duet (in a good way)

Socialization- Epic intro reminds me a little bit of Synchestra. After that it's like SYL meets Deconstruction with a sprinkle of Infinty.

Little Pig- For me I think it has a bit of a Tom Waits kind of sound to it. Very catchy although I'm not sure if all DTP fans would dig it. I love it

To summerize- Musically this is all over the place. We have a bit of everything. Anneke... wow... just wow. Epicloud sticks to the arena rock style. Epiclouder covers the gamut. It really shows just how talented and varied Devin is. I could play some songs to my pals who like Cannibal Corpse. Other song, I could play to my Mum haha

9/10

Seriously, if Devin made a record of just Heatwave-ish songs, I would never listen to anything else. That and Woah No! are easily my two favorite songs on Epiclouder, with the former approaching Grace and Liberation in terms of overall HOLY FUCKitude.

*WORD*

i must say after a week of listening to both albums ... i prefer this disc a lot more.

Here's my submission for the totally-not-official-whatsoever contest for Epiclouder artwork. I got bored and thought how awesome it would be if Disc 2 was literally set on Mars to contrast the more grounded, "earthly" approach to the first disc.


Higher Resolution (2047x2047)

Pray I don't have to make an Epicloudest With A Vengeance.

Amazing. Can we set up an unofficial cover contest topic?

The Mind Wasp... what a weird song, in a good way. It's like I can't make heads or tails of it, and I like it.

The Mind Wasp... what a weird song, in a good way. It's like I can't make heads or tails of it, and I like it.

The intro (and the song title) reminds me of Brown Album-era Primus sans the muddy (no pun intended) production.

After listening to just a few songs off YouTube I'm really thinking that this bonus disc is more to my liking than the actual album itself. This is really cool stuff!

Mind Wasp is amazing to me... I want to hear more of this from Dev!

Still have only two run throughs of Epiclouder, but I'm definitely liking Epicloud more, I think. I like the more polished, cohesive feel of Epicloud, and it's a record that I've always wanted him to make. Epiclouder is more all over the place and more a collection of songs than an album, at least to my ears so far. Many more listenings will help make a final decision though

Still have only two run throughs of Epiclouder, but I'm definitely liking Epicloud more, I think. I like the more polished, cohesive feel of Epicloud, and it's a record that I've always wanted him to make. Epiclouder is more all over the place and more a collection of songs than an album, at least to my ears so far. Many more listenings will help make a final decision though

I totally agree with you sir

[Octillus]

I think that's so interesting.

I still think this feels like a full album because thematically, and transitionally it still flows pretty decently like one. Maybe not with as many continuing pieces as we're used to, but totally dig it.

I actually dig it quite a bit more than Epicloud, and I love poppy Dev.

Listening to it a third time, and beginning to see the threads a little more. And let me make it clear, not bashing it at all. I'm feeling like get more of a separate "vibe" from each song instead of the album as a whole. Epicloud on the other hand has a vibe it doesn't deviate from.

Also, side note, Love and Marriage is a weird as fuck song lol.

[Octillus]

Also, side note, Love and Marriage is a weird as fuck song lol.

Oh man, that's the song I sing around the warehouse I work in the most. Mostly Anneke's parts.

i think heat wave is the catchiest song devin's ever written. the chorus is really awesome.

"sweeeeet pouring rain
on the freeewaaaaaaaay
in the eveniiiiiiiiiiiiiiing"

I was singing that throughout my entire run today. Though i was singing "sweet morning rain" which confused me cause it was morning rain in the evening hahaha.

As much as I'm loving Epicloud (and that's a lot) I think Epiclouder might be the best part of it. It feels like a sampler with all the varied DTP album vibes (and even Ghost 2), represented both individually and in beautifully overlapping ways. I think it's bloody fantastic and I'm having trouble picking a favourite track.

It's really telling that Townsend can toss off a 'bonus disc' with material that other bands could spend their whole careers trying to achieve.