''Ziltoid the Omniscient'' is the tenth studio album by Canadian
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
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 ...
, released on his own
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
HevyDevy Records in May 2007, and distributed in America and Europe by
InsideOut Music
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 Me ...
.
The album is a
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
about an
extraterrestrial being named Ziltoid from the planet Ziltoidia 9. Ziltoid travels to Earth in search of "your universe's ultimate cup of coffee".
A cup of coffee is delivered to him and he is promptly appalled by its taste, declaring it "fetid", and summons the Ziltoidian warlords to attack Earth, facing the full might of Earth's army. Townsend describes the album as a mix between
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad 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 Thing' ...
and
The Devin Townsend Band
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 h ...
, with a storyline like that of
Punky Brüster
Punky may refer to:
*Punky can be used as a nickname for Penelope (given name)
* ''Punky'' (TV series), an Irish animated television series
* ''Punky Brewster'', an American sitcom television series
* '' Punky Brüster – Cooked on Phonics'', th ...
's ''
Cooked on Phonics
Cooked may refer to:
* '' Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation'', a book by Michael Pollan
* ''Cooked'', a 2005 TV pilot starring comedian Dane Cook
See also
* Cook (disambiguation)
Cook or The Cook may refer to:
Food preparation
* Cook ...
''.
The album is a solo album, with all music written, mixed, produced and performed by Townsend. All drum tracks were produced with
EZdrummer
A software synthesizer or softsynth is a computer program that generates digital audio, usually for music. Computer software that can create sounds or music is not new, but advances in processing speed now allow softsynths to accomplish the sa ...
,
a
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
drum machine, using the ''Drumkit from Hell'' expansion.
Townsend played a world exclusive ZTO concert in
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, commonly shortened to Tuska ( fi, pain, agony), is a Finnish heavy metal festival taking place annually in Helsinki. The first Tuska took place in 1998 and the festival has since grown larger every year. The locati ...
in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
on July 2, 2010, where the whole Ziltoid album was played, with a regular
Devin Townsend Project
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 h ...
set the next day. Townsend published a series of online videos involving Ziltoid in a series titled ZTV.
In 2014, Townsend announced the recording of ''
Z²
''Z²'' (short for ''Ziltoid 2''; pronounced " zed squared" or alternatively "zee two") is a double album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend and his musical project Devin Townsend Project, released on October 27, 2014. It consists of two album ...
'', a sequel to the original rock opera. The recording of ''Z²'' started in May 2014,
and the album was released on October 27, 2014.
Background
Townsend's wife, Tracy Turner, gave birth to their first son, Reyner Liam Johnstan Townsend, on October 4, 2006.
Around this time, Townsend withdrew from touring with 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 ...
band
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad 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 Thing' ...
and his
progressive metal
Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...
group
The Devin Townsend Band
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 h ...
, explaining that he was burnt out on touring and interviewing. Townsend released an ambient album, ''
The Hummer
''The Hummer'' is the ninth solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and his second ambient album. It was released on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records, on November 15, 2006.
Music
The album chiefly consists of interwoven low frequency ...
'', around this time.
Townsend then began work on his next solo album, ''Ziltoid the Omniscient''. "And I really mean solo, in the true sense of the word", explained Townsend. "Nobody was around. For four months I worked completely on my own. I recorded each instrumental track and I also programmed all the drums. ... I was sound engineer and producer and I mixed every note in my cellar with a minimum of gear. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it all on my own."
Townsend programmed the drums using ''Drumkit from Hell'', a software drum machine provided to him by
Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal (born 11 February 1970) is a Swedish musician, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member.
Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagst ...
of
Meshuggah
Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer To ...
.
"Color Your World" uses a rhythmic pattern spelling "om" from "Info Dump" on SYL's ''
Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
''. It also references "Voices in the Fan" from ''
Ocean Machine
''Ocean Machine: Biomech'' is the second studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, originally released as ''Biomech'' under the name Ocean Machine. The album was released in July 1997 via Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.
Background
Ma ...
''. "Hyperdrive" was later re-recorded for ''
Addicted''.
Release
''Ziltoid the Omniscient'' was released May 21, 2007, on Townsend's independent label HevyDevy Records. It was 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 professional ...
, and in Europe 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 special two-disc edition was also released with three bonus tracks and various multimedia features.
Track listing
The bonus video material contains a "guitar instructional", in which Townsend plays extracts from the songs "Wrong Side" by
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad 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 Thing' ...
and "Truth", and talks about the equipment he uses for recording and live performances. Five webisode skits performed with the Ziltoid puppet, originally broadcast on
MySpace, are also included.
Personnel
*
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 ...
–
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 without ...
,
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 stri ...
,
bass,
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
programming,
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 stati ...
,
mixing,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
* U. E. Nastasi –
mastering
*
Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal (born 11 February 1970) is a Swedish musician, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member.
Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagst ...
– drum support
*
Dave Young – additional engineering, additional voices
* Mike Young – additional engineering
* Brian Waddell – additional voices
* Marcus Rogers – Video producer / Director. puppet production
* Rae Reedyk – puppet production
*
Travis Smith – artwork
References
External links
''Ziltoid the Omniscient''(MySpace)
''Ziltoid the Omniscient''(InsideOut)
{{Authority control
2007 albums
Science fiction concept albums
Devin Townsend albums
Inside Out Music albums
Puppets
Albums produced by Devin Townsend
Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)