Infinity

***Infinity*** is the third studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. It was recorded from April 1997 to August 1998 at Red Stripe Studios in British Columbia.

## Hevydevy.com description

> *I remember once I had finished Ocean Machine and City, the idea of duality became a big thing for me. I began to find myself fascinated by the concepts of 'this and that' and 'yin and yang' (or whatever metaphors supported that idea). I realized that the things that were motivating me were (in hindsight) a relatively common 'coming-of-age' type of artistic view. I found myself engaging in drugs and relationships that were unhealthy, yet playing into the whole metaphoric nature of that period to the point where my whole world resonated with a very deluded sense of self importance that ultimately had much invested in the music itself.*
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> *I felt a very arrogantly gratifying sense of martyrdom in 'sleeping on the studio floor', feeling 'persecuted', and ultimately winding myself up to believe that what I was doing was of some sort of great significance. At the time it was very romantic, but in hindsight, it was very obviously engagement in chemicals and drugs that I was unfamiliar with. These experiences threw me into a psychological tailspin that resulted in a chaotic, dense, (at times glorious), but mostly very confused statement.*
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> *It was done on ADAT in my friends basement, and the recording was unfortunately a self-imposed hellish mess. Again, hindsight is 20/20 and currently it’s much easier to recognize what is legitimate drama from artistic gratification. At the time, I believed it was the last record I would ever make. Strangely, I feel that about most records I've done. Ultimately, Infinity is one of the most important records I feel I've been involved with, and it was a rewarding time for my process.*
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## Background

After the completion of Strapping Young Lad's extreme metal album *City* and his solo progressive rock release *Ocean Machine: Biomech*, Townsend began to approach a mental breakdown. "I started to see human beings as little lonesome, water based, pink meat, life forms pushing air through themselves and making noises that the other little pieces of meat seemed to understand." In 1997, he checked himself into a mental-health hospital, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The diagnosis helped him understand where the two sides of his music were coming from; he felt his disorder "gave birth to the two extremes that are Strapping's *City* record and Ocean Machine's *Biomech*."[1]

After being discharged from the hospital, Townsend found that "everything just clicked" and he was able to write his third solo album, *Infinity*, which he described as "the parent project" of *City* and *Biomech*. Townsend returned to the studio, accompanied by drummer Gene Hoglan, to work on the album, on which Townsend played most of the instruments. During the recording sessions, Devin slept on the studio floor.[2] Townsend has claimed *Infinity* was partly inspired by experimentation with LSD and other psychedelic drugs.[3]

Due to these issues, the record took an extended amount of time to complete, going through two different mixing processes ("red" and "blue") before it was finished.

## Music

*Infinity* features a mix of hard rock, ambient music, and progressive metal, continuing the style of *Ocean Machine*. However, it has many moments of fast-paced insanity, culled partially from the spirit of SYL but devoid of the inherent anger; its outbursts are 'crazy' rather than volatile, such as its incorporation of big band jazz and showtunes music in "Bad Devil" and "Colonial Boy." Its production value is much higher, as the mix is similar in quality to *City.*

Due to a mastering error, every copy of the album includes the intro of "Soul Driven" at the end of "War." Lyrics in the liner notes confirm the mistake, as well as the performance of this part on *The Retinal Circus* being billed as "Soul Driven." Their proper song lengths are thus 5:40 and 6:03, respectively.

Many of the tracks on the album, such as "Truth," "Christeen," "Bad Devil," and "War" have become live staples during Devin's career; however, several are counted among rare setlist choices and songs never played live.

A variety of unfinished, demo, and remix material left over from the *Infinity* sessions was released the same year on *Infinity/Christeen + Four Demos*.

The end of "Truth" is implied in the ending of "Almost Again" from SYL's *The New Black*. "Bad Devil" would be reinterpreted for "Forgotten" from *Physicist* and quoted in "Radial Highway" from *Ghost 2*/*Contain Us*. A demo of "War" without the guitars is available on *Ass-Sordid Demos* as "Morwar;" the same source includes the same "Man" demo included as an *Infinity* bonus track.

## Release

*Infinity* was released in October 1998 on Townsend's independent label, HevyDevy Records. It was distributed in Canada by HevyDevy, in Japan by Sony with different cover art, and in Europe initially by USG Records and later on by InsideOut Music with bonus tracks.

Back on Black, a division of Plastichead, released the bonus track version of the album on limited double white vinyl in 2010. All sides contain three tracks except the second, which has four.

## Track listing

*Note: The InsideOut release has different titles for several tracks; these are listed in parentheses. It also contains three bonus tracks that were remastered for this release.*

All words and music by Devin Townsend except where noted.

1. "Truth" (3:58)
2. "Christeen" (3:41) [Townsend, Ginger]
3. "Bad Devil" (4:52)
4. "War" (6:29)
5. "Soul Driven (Cadillac)" (5:14)
6. "Ants" (2:01)
7. "(Wild) Colonial Boy" (3:04)
8. "(Life is All) Dynamics" (5:08)
9. "Unity" (6:07)
10. "Noisy Pink Bubbles" (5:22)
**Bonus tracks**
11. "Sister (Live, Acoustic)" (2:15)
12. "Hide Nowhere (Live, Acoustic)" (5:03)
13. "Man (1996 Demo)" (5:12)

### Original sequence

*The originally intended track listing was different from its final release. Due to the record label's time restraints, Townsend could not finish some of the tracks. These were later included on the* Christeen + Four Demos *EP. The original track list was:[4]*

1. "Truth"
2. "Processional"\*
"Star Child Rise"
"Welcome Home"
"Metamorph"
"Infinite Waltz
3. "Christeen"
4. "War"
5. "Soul Driven"
6. "Om"
7. "Dynamics"
8. "Unity"

\* Note: The HDR FAQ, in the same answer, says "Processional" alone in track 2, but also stipulates "Star Child Rise" is situated between "War" and "Soul Driven." It's unclear which was originally intended.

## Personnel

### Music

* Devin Townsend – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, programming
* Gene Hoglan – drums
* Christian Olde Wolbers – upright bass
* Andy Codrington – trombone
* Erin Townsend, Lyn Townsend, Dave Townsend, Naomi, Tanya Evans, Lara Uthoff, Chris Valagao, Brad Jackson, Jennifer Lewis – additional vocals

### Production

* Devin Townsend – production, recording, engineering, mixing, digital editing, digital assembly
* Mark Gordon – bass engineering
* Matteo Caratozzolo – assistance, digital editing
* Mark Gordon – assistance
* Byron Stroud – assistance
* Marty Schwartz – assistance
* Ross Gale – assistance
* Ramon Donati – assistance
* Scott Ternan – assistance
* Pete Wonsiak – mixing, additional recording
* Matteo Caratozzolo – additional recording
* Jennifer Lewis – digital editing
* Jamie Meyer – digital assembly
* Brett Anthony – digital assembly
* Greg Reely – mastering
* Tracy Turner – management

### Artwork

* Mille Thorsen – layout and design
* Aaron Mason – photography

## External links

* *Infinity* on Discogs
* *Infinity* (InsideOut Music)