Z² (album)

*This article is about the album Z² and its sub-album Dark Matters. For the songs, see Z² (song) and Dark Matters (song)*

## ***Z²***

### Genre

Progressive rock, experimental rock, progressive metal, alternative rock, hard rock, new-age

### Producer

Devin Townsend

***Z²*** (short for ***Ziltoid 2***; pronounced "zed squared") is a double album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend and his group, the Devin Townsend Project, released on October 27, 2014. It consists of two albums released together: the sixth album in the Devin Townsend Project series, ***Sky Blue***, and the second concept album featuring Ziltoid, ***Dark Matters***, following Townsend's 2007 album *Ziltoid the Omniscient*. The main theme of the album is, according to Townsend, "Ziltoid against the world".

## Background

*Z²* has been a long-running project, with Townsend first announcing it in 2009. Later he stated that he "may have just written the heaviest thing he's ever done" for the album. Townsend also mentioned there is a surprising lack of Ziltoid himself appearing on the album, and that it "will be interesting to see how it all pans out". The project took its first steps on August 24, 2013, when a London-based radio station TeamRock Radio aired the first one-hour episode of *Ziltoid Radio*, a satirical radio show hosted solely by Ziltoid. Later, Townsend stated that "*Z Radio* is just one little element of the *Z²* project". After several episodes aired, Townsend said he found the project hard to schedule and work with amidst touring and writing, because he doesn't want to just "phone it in", and "it takes a lot of effort" to keep the content with tongue-in-cheek humour entertaining. A total of seven episodes aired between August 2013 and January 2014, and since then there has been no discussion or activity considering the series or its affiliation with the *Z²* project. The episodes have since been removed from TeamRock Radio's website. Townsend has also discussed a "ZTV" or "Ziltoid TV", being a part of the *Z²* project and preceding the album.

In October 2013, Townsend said that he had "more ideas than time", but that it was "almost time to start demoing" the album. Later Townsend stated that since June 2013 he had written ideas for over 70 songs, and revealed that the album was "taking shape". Townsend also stated he was going to finish the whole project in two years. In February 2014, Townsend announced the recording process of *Z²* started on May 2, 2014, in Los Angeles, and also revealed that the project will include the Ziltoid TV program and a live show, with a "big graphic novel comic" and a documentary. On February 26, 2014, Townsend posted that *Z²* will be a double album, with disc one being the main album and disc two featuring Devin Townsend Project material. According to Townsend, the album's theme will be "Ziltoid against the world". Townsend revealed his intention of adding audience-participated choir tracks on both discs.

A live performance of *Dark Matters* in full took place at the Royal Albert Hall on April 13, 2015, after which Townsend intended to take at least a year-long hiatus from recording and touring. It was recorded and later released on Blu-ray/CD as *Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall*.

*Z²* won the Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year at the 2015 Juno Awards.

The title *Dark Matters* seems to stem from the song "Dark Matters" on the DTP album *Ghost*, released in 2011.

## Release

*Z²* is released in three different editions. The basic jewel case edition includes both albums on CD. The limited digipak edition features expanded artwork, both albums on CD and a bonus CD featuring *Dark Matters* without dialogue. The vinyl edition features a double gatefold package in a slipcase, including the two albums on four records and both albums on CD; InsideOut later released each sub-album separately on vinyl. The Japanese limited edition of the album features a Loud Park concert on a bonus DVD, recorded in Saitama, Japan, in October 2013.

The album was leaked onto the Internet prior to the final mixing stage. The mix of every song is significantly different, and some songs on *Sky Blue* have longer running times.

## Track listing

### *Sky Blue*

All songs written by Devin Townsend except where noted.

1. "Rejoice" (4:16)
2. "Fallout" (4:30)
3. "Midnight Sun" (4:58)
4. "A New Reign" (4:52)
5. "Universal Flame" (4:39)
6. "Warrior" (3:31)
7. "Sky Blue" (3:52)
8. "Silent Militia" (4:28)
9. "Rain City" (7:45)
10. "Forever" (3:45)
11. "Before We Die" (8:24)
12. "The Ones Who Love" (1:32)

### *Dark Matters*

1. "Z²" (3:59)
2. "From Sleep Awake" (3:00)
3. "Ziltoidian Empire" (6:26)
4. "War Princess" (8:18) [lyrics: Townsend, Persi]
5. "Deathray" (4:43)
6. "March of the Poozers" (6:25)
7. "Wandering Eye" (3:41)
8. "Earth" (7:39)
9. "Ziltoid Goes Home" (6:20)
10. "Through the Wormhole" (3:44)
11. "Dimension Z" (6:13)

A version of this with narration and "Through the Wormhole" entirely removed is featured as the deluxe edition bonus disc.

### Loud Park '13

This is a bonus DVD included in the limited edition 2xCD Japanese print, recorded in Saitama, Japan on October 19, 2013.

1. "Truth (Live)"
2. "Regulator (Live)"
3. "Christeen (Live)"
4. "Kingdom (Live)"
5. "Liberation (Live)"
6. "War (Live)"
7. "Juular (Live)"
8. "Grace (Live)"

## Personnel

### Devin Townsend Project

* Devin Townsend – vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming
* Dave Young – guitars, keyboards
* Brian Waddell – bass
* Ryan Van Poederooyen – drums
* Mike St-Jean – keyboards, programming
* Morgan Ågren – additional percussion
* Kat Epple – flute
* Anneke van Giersbergen – vocals

### Guest Vocalists

* Chris Jericho – vocals (as "Captain Spectacular")
* Dominique Lenore Persi – vocals (as "War Princess")
* Mark Cimino – vocals (as "Poozer")
* Chris Devitt – vocals (as "Planet Smasher")
* Bill Courage – narrator
* Marina Bennett – additional voices
* Adyson King - voices on "Warrior"
* Maria Werner & Jazz-A-Fire (Jasmin Kramer) - voices on "Z²" (as "excited women on Earth")
* The audience at Utrecht Tivoli, August 5, 2014 – backing vocals on "Z²" and "March of the Poozers"
* Universal Choir – additional vocals on "Before We Die", "Z²" and "Dimension Z"

### Orchestration

* Randy Slaugh – orchestrations, string arranging
* Florian Magnus Maier – orchestrations
* Eric Severinson – choir and orchestra conducting, additional voices
* Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestra

### Production

* Devin Townsend – production, recording, mixing, engineering, additional mastering
* Jason Van Poederooyen – additional mixing, additional engineering
* Sheldon Zaharko – additional mixing, additional engineering
* Dave Young – additional engineering
* Mike St-Jean – additional engineering
* Randy Slaugh – orchestral engineering
* Andy VanDette – mastering
* Anthony Clarkson – artwork, layout
* Tom Hawkins – photography

## References

1. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqkvv3OZT\_U
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Devin Townsend unveils track listing for 'Ziltoid 2'
3. ↑ @dvntownsend on Twitter
4. ↑ Ziltoid Part 2... Z2
5. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
6. ↑ Devin Townsend's Ziltoid gets TeamRock Radio show
7. ↑ Devin Townsend's TeamRock Radio show is part of the Z2 project
8. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
9. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
10. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
11. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
12. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
13. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
14. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
15. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
16. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Devin Townsend's Twitter
18. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Devin Townsend's Twitter
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Devin Townsend's Twitter
21. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
22. ↑ Devin Townsend interview with TotalRock @Sonisphere 2014
23. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
24. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
25. ↑ BLABBERMOUTH.net: Devin Townsend Wins Juno Award in Metal/Hard Rock Album of the Year Category
26. ↑ See #External Links
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Amazon.co.jp listing for *Z²* 2xCD+DVD
28. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter

## External Links

* *Z²* at Discogs
* *Sky Blue* at Discogs
* *Dark Matters* at Discogs