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Released on October 27, 2014 via InsideOut Music
Remember the days of cinema double-bills? After the ambitious film noir of Sky Blue comes the creature feature of Dark Matters, Ziltoid the Omniscient Part Two. Z² see? It’s scientific and too much for our puny earthling brains to cope with but let’s try.
When we last saw Ziltoid he was in an existential void after discovering he wasn’t as omniscient as he had believed and was a mere puppet in the infinite void. Well he’s back, he’s pissed and he’s still after our coffee.
From his ship, hanging above Earth in much the same way that bricks don’t, he is transmitting his missives on Ziltoid TV and doing his best to patch up the plot holes for his next adventure. This is as far as his tale has been told in the public domain so from here on you can be assured this review is free of plot spoilers. Let’s concentrate on the music then. Yeesss.
During pre-production Devin Townsend invited fans to contribute vocals to three songs. He has assembled those submissions into the Universal Choir, which provides the overture to his space opera. Where Sky Blue was quite straight-forward (a relative term in Devin’s world), Dark Matters is very much in the crazy progressive metal camp. The complexity of the ‘Z²’ opener brings to mind Frank Zappa’s cartoonish epics ‘Billy the Mountain’ and ‘The Adventures of Greggery Peccary’. This is a heavy metal band as avant-garde orchestra augmented by a chorus of literally thousands. Like Zappa, Devy takes his inspiration from the endearingly shaky sets of 50s b-movies and from melodramatic radio plays – the narrator is oh so earnest, pointing up the intrinsic silliness of the whole endeavour.
‘From Sleep Awake’ introduces Chris Jericho as Captain Spectacular and Anneke van Giersbergen reprises vocal duties. It’s almost impossible to separate her voice from the music of the Devin Townsend Project, it has become so integral to the overall sound. Here and in ‘Ziltoidian Empire’ that sound has become more symphonic than ever. Never mind the silly story, this is serious music! The special edition of Z² includes a bonus disc sans narration where the listener can marvel at the compositional skills without all that nasty comedy getting in the way. Like all good opera composers Devin employs leitmotifs and the theme which introduces a new race of creatures, the Poozers, is a doozy. A ‘poozy’ perhaps. You’ll be singing this one in the shower, trust me.
Another new character in the Ziltoid mythos is the War Princess (played by Dominique Lenore Persi of Stolen Babies) and her theme song is fitting for a Wagnerian anti-heroine. Her big rock vocal style mingles with the Universal Choir making for an epic sound. ‘Deathray’ is the first single and has set online forums a-tingle as keyboard warriors decry its simplicity. It’s a big dumb metal tune (again ‘dumb’ is a relative term in Devinland) with an ascending chromatic riff. It works in the context of the story but is not representative of the symphonic prog-metal complexity of the rest of the album.
The ‘March of the Poozers’ has a jaunty comedic swagger that is reminiscent of the Oompa-Loompa segments from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but with added ska beats. I swear I’m not making this up. ‘Wandering Eye’ too suggests that its writer has had more than a passing dalliance with musicals (unlike the dreaded sixth-dimensional Planet Smasher whose aversion was made known on the 2007 album).
After a great deal of silliness, ‘Earth’ is more of a riff-fest. Ryan Van Poederoyen’s double-kick drumming dominates here, particularly on the repetitive climactic final section. The human drummer is more satisfying than the software-based Drummer From Hell on the 2007 album. His gallop in ‘Ziltoid Goes Home’ propels the song along at breakneck speeds, halting for the alternating choral sections and kicking back into life as if to say “Drum emulation software packages? I shit ‘em.”
‘Through the Wormhole’ is a plot-driven piece – mostly narration and voice-acting with some background orchestra. The choir returns for the final track, ‘Dimension Z’, a lilting mid-tempo anthem to the glory of humankind or some shit.
Is Dark Matters better than Ziltoid the Omniscient? I don’t know. Does it need to be? Is it a competition? It’s certainly more musically accomplished and sees Devy stretching his compositional powers to their grotesque limits, giving free rein to his eternally fecund imagination. It’s a blast although there may be more longevity in terms of repeat listens for the version without the narration.
Taken as a double album the quantity, variety and quality control maintained over two hours are mind-boggling. Z² is the Devin Townsend Project at the height of their powers.
