''Physicist'' is the fourth solo album by Canadian musician

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

. The album was released on June 26, 2000, on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records. ''Physicist'' is distinguished from the rest of Townsend's solo portfolio for the crossing of the style of his work in

Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad (SYL) was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, '' Heavy as a Really Heavy ...

with elements that had been explored in '' Ocean Machine: Biomech'' and ''

Infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...

''. Notably, the line-up of musicians featured on this album is identical to that of Strapping Young Lad.

Background

''Physicist'' took several years to come to fruition. Townsend had previously played with

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's then-bassist

Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for the first five years of his career before ...

, in a short-lived

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

project called IR8. After the creation of an IR8 demo tape, Townsend and Newsted began work on a new project called ''Fizzicist'', which they claimed would be "heavier than Strapping Young Lad". When the IR8 tape was leaked, Newsted's Metallica bandmates

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his raspy voice and intricate rhythm playi ...

and

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician who is the drummer and a founding member of American heavy metal band Metallica. Along with James Hetfield, Ulrich has songwriting credits on almost all of the band's songs, and the ...

learned of the project. Hetfield was "fucking pissed" that Newsted was playing outside the band, and Newsted was prevented by his bandmates from working on any more side projects. Unable to continue working with Newsted, Townsend instead wrote the album himself, calling it ''Physicist''. Townsend assembled his bandmates from his

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

project

. This was the only time this lineup was featured on one of Townsend's solo albums. Townsend also had to reluctantly re-record the majority of the album after accidentally deleting it.

Musical style

The album combines Townsend's style with a

influence.G., Mike (September 2003). "The Devin Townsend Band: No Holds Barred." ''

Metal Maniacs ''Metal Maniacs'' was an American magazine that was based around heavy metal music. History Founded in 1989 by Mike 'G' Greenblatt and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. Where its sister publication '' Metal Edge'' largely covered glam metal, ''Met ...

''. David Ballard of ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' described the album's sound as "a blend of summery melody and breathtaking brutality ... vaulting between

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

-like elegance and Dark Angel-like devastation."Ballard, David (March/April 2003). "A lad insane." ''

''.

Release

''Physicist'' was released in June 2000 on Townsend's independent label, HevyDevy Records. It is distributed in Canada by HevyDevy, in Japan by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

, and in Europe and North America by

InsideOut Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Centu ...

. The album was released on

Enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both CD-Audio and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the ''enhanced CD'' cate ...

format, with a commentary on the album by Townsend. The song "Kingdom" was re-recorded for The Devin Townsend Project's

Epicloud ''Epicloud'' is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the fifth album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on September 18, 2012, in North America, and September 24, 2012, in Europe, through ...

, with vocals from

Anneke van Giersbergen Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project wa ...

. Similarly, a re-recording of the song "Victim" is present on the bonus disc of Transcendence.

Reception

''Physicist'' received positive reviews, but is generally considered a low point in Townsend's career. Townsend himself considers it his worst album to date. Trey Spencer of ''Sputnikmusic'' argued that while ''Physicist'' is "a pretty good listen" on its own merit, it is "one of the weakest" albums in Townsend's catalogue. He felt the album "comes off as a restrained version of

with hints of ownsend'sother projects thrown in", and that most of the tracks don't "seem to go anywhere".Spencer, Trey (July 27, 2007).
Devin Townsend – ''Physicist'' Review.
''Sputnikmusic''. In 2005, the album placed number 439 in ''Rock Hard'' magazine's book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. Much of the criticism of ''Physicist'' stems from its poor production. Spencer found the production "a little too reigned 'sic.''in" and "muddy". This was felt by the band as well; drummer Gene Hoglan and the rest were dissatisfied with the way the sound was mixed.

Track listing

Personnel

Strapping Young Lad

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboards,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, arrangement *

Gene Hoglan Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Byron Stroud Byron Stroud (born February 12, 1969) is a Canadian musician. He is the former bassist for metal bands Fear Factory, Imonolith and Strapping Young Lad, current bassist for metal bands City of Fire and Zimmers Hole, and studio bassist for 3 In ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

Jed Simon Jedson Louis Simon (born February 27, 1964) is a Canadian guitarist. He was a member of supergroup Scar the Martyr and has been a member of numerous bands, including Front Line Assembly, Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole, Tenet, and Vimic ...

– guitar

Background guitars, vocals

* Chris Valagao Mina, guitar, vocal * Marina Reid * Sharon Parker * Teresa Duke

Production

* Mike Plotnikoff – mixing * Chris Waddell – mastering * Shaun Thingvold – engineering, digital editing * Paul Silviera – engineering * Matteo Caratozzolo – engineering * Sawami Saito – assistance * Roger Swan – assistance * Tracy Turner – assistance, management * Byron Stroud – assistance * Seventh Wave Studios – CD enhancement

Artwork

* Clint Nielsen – layout, artwork, logos * Gary Hunter – 3-D logo rendering * Gloria Fraser – photography * Tania Rudy – photography

Chart performance

References

External links

''Physicist''
(HevyDevy Records)
''Physicist''
(InsideOut Music) {{Authority control 2000 albums Devin Townsend albums Inside Out Music albums Albums produced by Devin Townsend Albums recorded at Hipposonic Studios