''Ghost'' is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian musician

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, 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 ...

, and the fourth album in the Devin Townsend Project series. It was released on June 20, 2011, simultaneously with the third Devin Townsend Project album '' Deconstruction''. Townsend has stated that the album "is the mellowest (by far) and prettiest record I've done so far". ''Ghost'' was performed in its entirety once, on November 13, 2011, at the Union Chapel in London, England. The performance was filmed and recorded for the '' By a Thread – Live in London 2011'' CD/DVD box set, along with performances of the other 3 Devin Townsend Project albums (up to that point). The song "Drench", a leftover slated to appear on a second volume of ''Ghost'', was shared by Townsend on his official SoundCloud account. Later,

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Gear posted the leftover track "Fall" on SoundCloud.

Reception

The album was well received by ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'', who said, "''Ghost'' could be the most convincing album of his career".

Track listing

''Ghost 2''

''Ghost 2'' was an album intended for release in September 2011. As ''Ghost'' was originally to be a double album, but ultimately released as a single disc, ''Ghost 2'' would have included tracks that weren't released on ''Ghost''. Townsend has stated that these tracks were "too dark" and "heavier" than the rest of ''Ghost'' and therefore didn't fit with the intended vibe. On August 22, 2012, Townsend officially cancelled ''Ghost 2'', saying, "I tried to finish ''Ghost 2'' the other day, but it's not solid enough. Doesn't engage. Going to use the best bits and art for elements of ''Z²''." Some of these songs were eventually released on the bonus disc included with '' Casualties of Cool''.

Personnel

– guitars, vocals, bass,

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, ambience, banjo,

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, mixing,

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, design, layout * Kat Epple – flute,

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

* Dave Young – keyboards, Nord synths,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

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, mandolin * Mike St-Jean – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* Katrina Natale – vocals * Sheldon Zaharko – bed tracks engineering * Troy – mastering * Ryab Dahle – additional engineering *

Ryan Van Poederooyen Ryan Joost Van Poederooyen (; born November 13, 1972), often referred to by his initials RVP, is a Canadian drummer. He gained international recognitionSharpe-Young, Garry (2005). ''New Wave of American Heavy Metal''. p. 157. New Plymouth: Zonda ...

– drum tech * Jean Savoie – bass tech * Brian Kibbons – photos * Travis Smith – design, layout

Charts

References

{{Authority control Devin Townsend albums 2011 albums Inside Out Music albums Albums produced by Devin Townsend