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Townsend recorded a Noisescapes demo and sent copies to various record labels . Relativity Records responded to Townsend with a record deal and Townsend began work on what was to be the first Noisescapes album , Promise . Shortly afterward , the label introduced him to musician Steve Vai . Impressed with Townsend 's v... |
While on tour with the Wildhearts , Townsend formed a short @-@ lived thrash metal project with Metallica 's then @-@ bassist Jason Newsted . The band , known as IR8 , featured Newsted on vocals and bass , Townsend on guitar , and Tom Hunting of Exodus on drums . The group recorded a few songs together , although Town... |
Though Townsend was proud of what he had accomplished so early in his career , he was discouraged by his experience with the music industry . " I was becoming a product of somebody else 's imagination , and it was mixing with my own personality , " he later reflected . " This combination was appalling . " He pushed to... |
= = = Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing through Infinity ( 1994 – 1998 ) = = =
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In 1994 , Century Media Records offered Townsend a contract to make " some extreme albums " . He agreed to a five @-@ album deal with the record label , and also provided much of the guitar work on the 1994 album Millennium and the 1995 album Hard Wired by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly . Townsend began... |
Following the release of the record , Townsend and several other musician friends he knew in Vancouver recorded his first solo album in 1996 entitled Punky Brüster – Cooked on Phonics . Written and recorded in under a month , the album was produced as a parody of punk rock bands and documents the act of selling out fo... |
After the completion of City and Ocean Machine : Biomech , Townsend began to approach a mental breakdown . " I started to see human beings as little lonesome , water based , pink meat , " he explained , " life forms pushing air through themselves and making noises that the other little pieces of meat seemed to underst... |
With Infinity , Townsend began to label all albums outside of Strapping Young Lad under his own name , dropping the Ocean Machine moniker , to reduce confusion . He wanted to show that despite the highly varied nature of his projects , they are all simply aspects of his identity . The album Biomech was relabeled and r... |
= = = Physicist and Terria ( 1999 – 2001 ) = = =
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Townsend 's next project took several years to come to fruition . After the creation of the IR8 demo tape , Townsend and Jason Newsted had begun work on a new project called Fizzicist , which they described as " heavier than Strapping Young Lad " . When the IR8 tape was leaked , Newsted 's Metallica bandmates James He... |
Feeling he had " ostracized a bunch of fans " with Physicist , 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 . He produced and recorded Te... |
= = = Strapping Young Lad through Synchestra ( 2003 – 2006 ) = = =
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Townsend 's solo run lasted until 2002 . After a five @-@ year break from recording , Strapping Young Lad reunited to record a new album . Townsend credits the album , Strapping Young Lad , as an emotional response to the attacks of September 11 , 2001 , in the United States . " If the world 's about to blow up , " sa... |
While Strapping Young Lad was being reunited , Townsend formed a new , permanent band " on par with Strapping " to record and tour for his solo releases . The Devin Townsend Band consisted of Brian " Beav " Waddell on guitar , Mike Young on bass , Ryan Van Poederooyen on drums , and Dave Young on keyboards . Townsend ... |
Strapping Young Lad began working on their next album , Alien , in March 2004 . Feeling that the band 's previous album did not live up to expectations , Townsend decided to take his music to a new extreme . To prepare for the new album , Townsend stopped taking the medication prescribed to treat his bipolar disorder ... |
Shortly thereafter Townsend began putting together the next Devin Townsend Band record , with the working title Human . Townsend intended the album as the more " pleasant " counterpart to Alien . " It 's basically a record about coming back down to earth after being in space with Alien for a while . " The album ended ... |
= = = Ziltoid the Omniscient and hiatus ( 2006 – 2008 ) = = =
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Townsend withdrew from touring to spend time with his family . From home , Townsend completed his second solo ambient album , The Hummer , releasing it exclusively on his website in November 2006 .
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In May 2007 , Townsend released Ziltoid the Omniscient , a tongue @-@ in @-@ cheek rock opera about the eponymous fictional alien . This was truly a solo album ; he programmed the drums using Drumkit from Hell , a software drum machine that uses samples recorded by Tomas Haake of Meshuggah and played all other instrum... |
In 2008 , Townsend lent his voice to characters in several episodes of the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse ( see Musician cameos in Metalocalypse for more ) . The original character design for Pickles the Drummer , one of the series ' main characters , bore a striking resemblance to Townsend . The series ' co @-@ cre... |
= = = Devin Townsend Project ( 2008 – 2012 ) = = =
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After removing himself from the music industry , Townsend cut his trademark hair off and gave up drinking and smoking . Townsend found it " disconcerting " that he had difficulty writing music without drugs , and that he had trouble identifying his purpose as a musician . He spent a year producing albums in absence of... |
Over two years , Townsend wrote over 60 songs , and found that they fit into " four distinct styles " . In March 2009 , Townsend announced his plans for a four @-@ album series called Devin Townsend Project , with the goal of clarifying his musical identity and being " accountable " for the persona he projects to the ... |
Ki , the first album of the Devin Townsend Project tetralogy was written to " set the stage " for the subsequent albums . Townsend channelled his new @-@ found control and sobriety into Ki , a " tense , quiet " album , which contrasts with much of the music he had been known for . Additional female vocals were provide... |
The second entry , a " commercial , yet heavy " album called Addicted , was released in November 2009 and features lead vocals from Townsend and Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen . Brian " Beav " Waddell was recruited from the Devin Townsend Band to play bass .
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Townsend returned to the stage in January 2010 , touring North America with headliner Between the Buried and Me as well as Cynic and Scale the Summit . This was followed by a headlining tour in Australia and a series of high @-@ profile shows in Europe ( for example co @-@ headlining the Brutal Assault festival in Cze... |
The third and fourth albums in the Devin Townsend Project series , Deconstruction and Ghost , were released simultaneously on June 21 , 2011 . In December 2011 all four Devin Townsend Project albums with additional material were released as the Contain Us box set . Townsend performed all four of Devin Townsend Project... |
Despite the Devin Townsend Project being originally a four @-@ album series , Townsend decided to continue working under the moniker and released the fifth album , Epicloud on September 18 , 2012 . Again featuring Anneke van Giersbergen on vocals , Epicloud appeared on several European charts , peaking at number 8 in ... |
Another project Townsend has mentioned several times between 2009 and 2012 is Obviouser , an album featuring " creepy , bass driven apocalyptic music " created with an " Ampeg rig " and an " Icelandic choir " . Working with many projects simultaneously at that time , Townsend stated in 2012 the Obviouser project is vy... |
= = = Casualties of Cool and Z2 ( 2012 – present ) = = =
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After Deconstruction and Ghost , Townsend announced a new album , Casualties of Cool , with which he started to work after the release of Epicloud . The album features Ché Aimee Dorval ( from Ki ) on vocals and Morgan Ågren on drums . Townsend described the album sounds like " haunted Johnny Cash songs " and " late ni... |
The album was completed on November 2013 , and a bonus disc was also made for the album , containing the leftover material from the main album as well as songs from Ghost 2 , the unreleased compilation of leftover tracks from Ghost . Originally in 2012 , Townsend stated that this album will be the sixth and the last a... |
From 2009 , Townsend worked on a long @-@ running album project called Z ² , a sequel to the album Ziltoid the Omniscient ( 2007 ) . Originally in 2012 , he teased he " may have just written the heaviest thing he 's ever done " for the album , and told there might a surprising lack of Ziltoid himself appearing on the ... |
After writing ideas for over 70 songs , Townsend stated he is finally going to finish the whole project , followed by the announcement the album will be released on October 27 , 2014 . The recording process started in May 2014 , and the final project includes the album , a Ziltoid TV program and a live show , with a "... |
After finishing the album , Townsend stated the project was " punishing " and an " absolute nightmare to complete " due to amount of material against tight schedules . He also described the hardship of the project by telling " if he was ever going to start drinking [ again ] , the last months would have been it " , bu... |
Townsend recently discussed at least a year @-@ long hiatus , beginning after the Z ² show taking place at the Royal Albert Hall on April 13 , 2015 . During the indefinitely long break Townsend intends to " recharge his batteries " , " get some inspiration and experiences " and to " see what the next chapter holds " f... |
In 2014 , Devin recorded a ' poppy sounding ' song in Los Angeles with producer Brian Howes , but has decided against releasing . Devin mentioned he is against the project being contrived due to the current hard rock undertones in popular music . He described it as a " lukewarm heavy metal Devin song " . On December 1... |
As of April 2016 , Devin is in the middle of recording the seventh DTP album , entitled Transcendence at Armoury Studios in Vancouver .
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= = Personal life = =
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Townsend has been married to Tracy Turner , his girlfriend since he was 19 . She gave birth to their first son , Reyner Liam Johnstan Townsend , on October 4 , 2006 . He is a vegetarian .
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= = Musical style = =
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= = = Projects = = =
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Townsend designed his two main projects , the aggressive Strapping Young Lad and his more melodic solo material , as counterparts . Strapping Young Lad 's music was a diverse mix of extreme metal genres : death metal , thrash metal , black metal and industrial metal . Townsend 's solo material blends many genres and i... |
= = = Production style = = =
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As a self @-@ proclaimed " fan of multitracking " , Townsend has developed a trademark production style featuring an atmospheric , layered " wall of sound " . Townsend has drawn critical praise for his productions , which " are always marked by a sense of adventure , intrigue , chaotic atmospherics and overall aural p... |
= = = Playing style = = =
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Townsend mainly uses Open C tuning for both six and seven string guitar . He now also uses Open B tuning and Open B flat tuning ( Open C tuning tuned a half and a whole step down respectively ) on his six string guitars . Townsend 's technique varies from fingerpicking , power chords and polychords to sweep @-@ picked... |
= = = Vocals = = =
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Townsend 's employs a variety of vocal techniques in his work , including screaming , growling or even falsetto . His vocal range has been noted to be over 5 octaves ( C2 to F7 ) .
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= = = Influences = = =
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Townsend draws influence from a wide range of music genres , most prominently heavy metal . Townsend has cited , among others , Judas Priest , W.A.S.P. , Frank Zappa , Broadway musicals , ABBA , new @-@ age music , Zoviet France , King 's X , Morbid Angel , Barkmarket , Grotus , Jane 's Addiction , Metallica , Cop Sho... |
= = Discography = =
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= Zagreb Synagogue =
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The Zagreb Synagogue ( Croatian : Zagrebačka sinagoga ) was the main place of worship for the Jewish community of Zagreb in modern @-@ day Croatia . It was constructed in 1867 in the Kingdom of Croatia @-@ Slavonia within the Austrian Empire , and was used until it was demolished by the fascist authorities in 1941 in ... |
The Moorish Revival synagogue , designed after the Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna , was located on modern @-@ day Praška Street . It has been the only purpose @-@ built Jewish house of worship in the history of the city . It was one of the city 's most prominent public buildings , as well as one of the most esteemed ... |
Since the 1980s , plans have been made to rebuild the synagogue in its original location . Due to various political circumstances , very limited progress has been made . Major disagreements exist between the government and Jewish organizations as to how much the latter should be involved in decisions about the reconst... |
= = History = =
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Encouraged by the 1782 Edict of Tolerance of Emperor Joseph II , Jews first permanently settled in Zagreb in the late eighteenth century , and founded the Jewish community in 1806 . In 1809 the Jewish community had a rabbi , and by 1811 it had its own cemetery . As early as 1833 , the community was permitted to buy la... |
By 1855 , the community had grown to 700 members and , on October 30 of that year , the decision was made to build a new Jewish synagogue . The construction committee , appointed in 1861 , selected and purchased a parcel of land at the corner of Maria Valeria Street ( now Praška Street ) and Ban Jelačić Square , the c... |
= = = Design and construction = = =
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Franjo Klein , a Vienna @-@ born Zagreb architect , was commissioned to build the synagogue . Klein , a representative of romantic historicism , modeled the building on the Viennese Leopoldstädter Tempel ( 1858 ) , a Moorish Revival temple designed by Ludwig Förster . It became a prototype for synagogue design in Cent... |
The composition of the main facade , with its dominant drawn @-@ out and elevated projection and the two symmetrical lower lateral parts , reflects the internal division into three naves . At ground @-@ floor level , the front was distinguished by the three @-@ arch entrance and bifora , whereas the first @-@ floor le... |
The synagogue occupied the greater part of the plot , facing west . It receded from the street regulation @-@ line in accordance with the rule then still enforced in Austria – Hungary , prohibiting non @-@ Catholic places of worship from having a public entrance from the street . The synagogue had a wider and slightly... |
Construction began in 1866 and was completed the following year . The synagogue was officially consecrated on September 27 , 1867 , a ceremony attended by representatives of city and regional authorities , Zagreb public figures , and many citizens . It was the first prominent public building in Zagreb 's lower town , ... |
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