''Terria'' is the fifth solo 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 ...

. The album was released in 2001 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.

Background

Feeling he had "attracted a bunch of poo" with his previous album ''

Physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

'' (2000), Townsend felt he had the chance to make a more personal and honest record. Townsend was inspired one morning while driving across Canada with his band, and looked to write an "introspective" album dedicated to his homeland.Small, Aaron (November 2001). "Devin Townsend: Diary of a Madman." ''

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...

''. He produced and recorded ''Terria'', a "highly illustrated stream-of-consciousness" album, with Gene Hoglan on drums, Craig McFarland on bass and Jamie Meyer on keyboards.Popoff, Martin (Winter–Spring 2003). "Strapping Young Lad." ''Lollipop Magazine'' (61). The artwork of the album was handled by Travis Smith, who once called it his favorite work along with

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them ...

's ''

Last Fair Deal Gone Down "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" is a song by American blues musician Robert Johnson. It was recorded during Johnson's third recording session in San Antonio, Texas, on November 27, 1936. The song was released on a 78 rpm record in April the foll ...

''. The song "Tiny Tears" derived its title from a

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gre ...

song with the same name off of their 1989 debut studio album '' Streetcleaner''.

Music

''Terria'' has been described as "melodic and atmospheric", with elements of pop and ambience alongside Townsend's trademark heaviness.Ballard, David (March/April 2003). "A lad insane." '' Revolver''. ''Terria'' features musical themes explored in Townsend's previous albums, such as '' Ocean Machine: Biomech''. However, it is more restrained, "using silence as part of the music". Townsend cited

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...

's ''

White Pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diam ...

'' as an inspiration for the album. "Canada" uses a slowed-down sample of a child speaking, earlier used on "S.Y.L." from ''

Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing ''Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing'' is the debut studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on April 4, 1995. Century Media Europe released a remastered version of the album on June 12, 2006, which includes the ...

''.

Release

''Terria'' was released in August 2001 on Townsend's independent label, HevyDevy Records. It is distributed in Canada by HevyDevy, in Japan by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

, and in Europe and North America by

InsideOut Inside Out Music is a German independent 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 Century M ...

. A limited-edition two-disc version was also released, which included the bonus song "Universal", as well as a multimedia element containing footage of a Devin Townsend concert in Japan and audio commentary about the album.

Critical reception

'' Sputnikmusic'' gave the album four stars, describing ''Terria'' as "not a perfect album, but an immense and, if you let it be, absorbing one.""Bartender" (January 14, 2005). "Reviews
''Terria''
" '' Sputnikmusic''.

Track listing

Personnel

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, ambience, samples, keyboards *

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 * Craig McFarland –

fretless A fretless guitar is a guitar with a fingerboard without frets, typically a standard instrument that has had the frets removed, though some custom-built and commercial fretless guitars are occasionally made. The classic fretless guitar was first ...

bass * Jamie Meyer –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, keyboards

Production

* Devin Townsend – production, engineering, mixing * Shaun Thingvold – engineering, mixing * Scott Ternan – engineering * Jamie Meyer – engineering * Lee Preston – engineering * Chris Crippen – drum teching * Mike Bellis – drum teching * Travis Smith – illustration, design, layout * Gloria Fraser – photography * Tracy Turner – management

Chart performance

References

External links

''Terria''
(HevyDevy Records)
''Terria''
(InsideOut Music) {{Authority control 2001 albums Devin Townsend albums Inside Out Music albums Albums produced by Devin Townsend Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)