Remind me to not get on his bad side. Gene Hoglan's inhuman drumming gives the music an extra shot of adrenaline, not like the songs needed it in the first place. Strapping Young Lad's City demands your attention immediately, or Devin will beat you up. The actual appeal of Strapping Young Lad's music is that band leader Devin Townsend has the ability to take every irrational bit of anger, hate and angst that one might feel in life and set it to an appropriately destructive musical soundtrack. City is precisely what you should be playing the next time you have a pissy day and aren't sure why.
City is that perfect album just to enhance that moment.
Much more realized and honed than 1995's Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing , City 's sound is what Fear Factory could be if they weren't trying to hard to put on a drum clinic and bests anything Ministry was trying to accomplish in 1989. The sound is immensely dense and acts an aural ramrod that immediately crushes the listener in waves of packed aggression, but the production is able to still retain clarity, which is a neat little trick. Gene Hoglan, one of metal's finest high speed drummers, adds a lot to the album with his deft kickdrumming. The songs rarely let up in sheer intensity throughout, but still sneaking in a subtle melody that causes the songs to remain in your head well after you are done listening. I've heard in quite some time.