Alien

***Alien*** is the fourth studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad, released on March 22, 2005. The album was written by Devin Townsend and Gene Hoglan over a six month time period as Townsend was also writing *Synchestra* (with the working title *Human*) and *The Hummer*.

The album reached No. 32 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 35 on the Top Independent Albums chart. "Love?" became the album's single, with a music video which aired on MTV Headbanger's Ball.

## Hevydevy.com description

> *This album changed everything for me. After Alien, I knew I was finished with SYL. After Alien, I knew I needed to change my lifestyle. The events leading up to this album, as well as the circumstances surrounding the recording were disruptive to the point where I truly thought I had destroyed myself and my mind. The patterns of my creative cycles are very obviously circular (as we see from the timeline here), but the realization of that has lead me to where I am today (thankfully). Essentially, Alien was a manic episode that I encouraged, and that was encouraged by the people in my life at the time to the point of a psychological collapse. I felt that because I had become 'known' (despite my best intentions) for the self-titled SYL record, I suppose my ego couldn't abide the criticism again of another half assed record. I decided to really give Alien my all, and go as far into my process as I recalled myself doing for Infinity. Despite Infinity being a complete drama, there was this nagging 'romanticism' of the 'martyr-artist' thing I had driven myself to that I thought I could reach again and make a 'classic statement' in the metal genre. Based on pushing myself further than 'anyone had gone', The things that came naturally during 'City', were now having to be 'forced' and the scene that surrounded SYL had become increasingly more violent and entwined with things I admit in hindsight I knew very little about, so my lyrical bend was skewed. There is a thought that some people can’t be happy unless they're angry, or depressed, or what have you, and when I was capable (and willing) of taking myself to that limit, I found myself in a scenario that fed on itself to a dark and malignant end. I dug the attention and allowed myself to stop taking the medications that had controlled this during Terria, however, I refused to admit that my dependence of marijuana and alcohol had any ill effects, but were what was ultimately fuelling the distorted vision. I wrote very closely with Gene Hoglan on this album, rehearsing every day at his house. In fact, if there’s anything from Alien that I can recall as truly positive, it was the steps I had made as a musical friend with him during that time. We argued, we compromised, and we ultimately made something that was better than either of us could do on our own. To say I miss that is an understatement, however, the product of the two of us together created something that I was so ultimately uncomfortable with that it left me despondent for the entire tour cycle following. I wrote the last song in my basement at 4 in the morning 'Info Dump' with Morse code and mathematical ideas that although was clever and I thought 'pushed the envelope', left me a horrified shell of a person. The paranoia and fear of myself and my situation haunted me till very recently. However, from a distance, and several years away from it… I would say this album is a very proud moment for me as an artist. But a huge portion of that pride comes with the knowledge that I learned my lessons the hard way, and have no intention of repeating them.*
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## Background

Townsend and Hoglan were the primary writers of the album, since guitarist Jed Simon and bassist Byron Stroud were busy with other commitments. To prepare for the recording of *Alien*, Townsend had stopped taking the medication prescribed to treat his bipolar disorder; he explained that the final track, "Info Dump," is a reflection on the panicked state of mind that ensued when he stopped taking his medication. Townsend has stated that the easiest track to record for the album was "Zen," and the most difficult track to record, "Skeksis," was also his favourite. The making of *Alien* was documented and made viewable online on Century Media's official site in February 2005 and is also available as a bonus DVD of the limited first edition of the album. The band intended to record a cover of Tom Jones' "What's New Pussycat?", but it was left aside because it did not fit the flow of the album.

Due to some kind of error, the unmastered promotional release of *Alien* (and subsequently the early leaks of the album on the internet) contained the longer version of "Love?", a version of "We Ride" which had most of the guitar solos missing, and "Thalamus" credited as "Landscape." Prior to the promotional release, press releases credited "Thalamus" as "Mega Bulldozer". Additionally, an instrumental version of the album (without "Two Weeks" and "Info Dump") was leaked from the sessions, with the same versions of "Love?" and "We Ride" as the advance promo and without segues between songs.

The Morse code in "Info Dump," which translates to "om," was later used to create the rhythm used at the end of "Color Your World" on *Ziltoid the Omniscient*.

### Reception

*Alien* was released on March 22, 2005, selling 3,697 copies in its first week. It reached No. 32 on the *Billboard* Top Heatseekers chart, and No. 35 on the Top Independent Albums chart. Critics praised Townsend's inventiveness and the dynamism of the songs in which "melody and discord meet midway"; Adrien Begrand of PopMatters wrote that the band had "raised the bar yet again", while Blabbermouth.net's Krista G. called it one of the best albums of the year.

The album was well received by the public. On Rate Your Music, the album has an average rating of 3.73 out of 5, based on more than 1,750 ratings, and on Sputnikmusic, the album has an "excellent" average rating of 4.1 out of 5, based on more than 800 ratings.

## "Love?"

"Love?" was chosen as the sole single from the album. Its accompanying music video, inspired by the cult horror film *The Evil Dead*, was directed by Joe Lynch. The video garnered the band wider attention, and helped "Love?" become one of their most recognizable songs. Simon admitted to having produced a video for this particular song because it had "the most commercial potential". "Love?" was originally one of two confirmed songs for an EP that was supposed to contain four new songs and four covers. Although planned for release in 2003, the EP was eventually cancelled.

A second music video was released for the track *Zen*, which would also later appear in 2007 film *Shoot 'Em Up*, where Clive Owen's character notices that the music video calms a crying baby.

## Track listing

All songs written by Devin Townsend.

1. "Imperial" (2:17)
2. "Skeksis" (6:42)
3. "Shitstorm" (4:22)
4. "Love?" (4:53)
5. "Shine" (5:13)
6. "We Ride" (2:37)
7. "Possessions" (4:12)
8. "Two Weeks" (3:28)
9. "Thalamus" (3:58)
10. "Zen" (5:02)
11. "Info Dump" (11:56)
**Japanese bonus tracks**
12. "Zodiac (Melvins cover)" (3:59)
13. "Love? (Extended Version)" 5:43
14. "In the Rainy Season (Live)" (5:29)
**Australian bonus track**
15. "Aftermath (Live)" (7:11)
**Korean bonus track**
16. "Force Fed (Live)" (5:42)

## Personnel

### Strapping Young Lad

* Devin Townsend – guitar, vocals, keyboards, samples, production, engineering
* Gene Hoglan – drums
* Byron Stroud – bass, associate production
* Jed Simon – guitar

### Additional personnel

* Dave Young – keyboards, vocals
* Will Campagna – live keyboards

### Male choir

Chris Valagao, Rossy Living, Cam Krotche, Will Campagna, Shane Clark, Ross Gale, Christ Stanley, Will Cochrane, Ash Manning, Ross Empson, Mike Quigley, Billy Marquardt, Jeff Cook

### Female choir

Laurielynn Bridger, Marnie Mains, Ani Kyd, Tammy "Tamz" Theis, Magdalena Bulak, Shay Ward, Steph Reid, Deborah Rodrigo-Tyzio, Michelle Madden, Joanna Ussner

### Children vocals

Dorian Glaude-Living, Damian Moore, Ethan Belcourt-Lowe, Jayden Gignac

### Production

* Shaun Thingvold – engineering, mixing
* Kristina Ardron – 2nd engineering, editing
* Ryan Van Poederooyen – drum technician
* Alex Aligizakis – editing
* Scott Cooke – editing
* Bryan Seely – editing, assistant
* Rob Stefanson – assistant
* Alan Wong Moon – assistant
* Greg Reely – mastering at Green Jacket Studios
* Travis Smith – art consultant
* Per Johansson – artwork, layout design
* Omer "Impson" R. Cordell – photography

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 In Music We Trust interview
2. ↑ S. Johnson, Alex. "Tales of extraordinary madness." Zero Tolerance magazine. December 30, 2004. Iss. 003.
3. ↑ Interview w/ Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad
4. ↑ Strapping Young Lad Confirmed For New England Metal And Hardcore Festival
5. ↑ Hevydevy forums - Love (extended version)
6. ↑ Hevydevy Forums - Differences between Aliens
7. ↑ Strapping Young Lad Finalize Track Listing For 'Alien'
8. ↑ Soundscan Report, Blabbermouth
9. ↑ Cleveland Scene Review of Alien
10. ↑ Popmatters Alien review
11. ↑ Blabbermouth review of Alien
12. ↑ Alien at Rate Your Music
13. ↑ Sputnik Alien user opinions
14. ↑ Tartar and Desire Interview
15. ↑ Music Emissions Alien review
16. ↑ Rock Eyez Interview with Jed Simon
17. ↑ Strapping Young Lad to Release New EP