Album/EP

Devin Townsend – PowerNerd (Album Review)

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Oct 18, 2024

7 min read

Devin Townsend - PowerNerd
Released: October 25th, 2024

Lineup

Devin Townsend // Vocals, Guitars, Synths, Bass and Computer
Darby Todd // Drums
Diego Tejeida // Keyboards
Mike Keneally // Keyboards
Jean Savoie // Additional Bass
Aman Khosla // Additional Vocals
Tanya Ghosh // Additional Vocals
Jamie Jasta //Additional Vocals

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I have no qualms in stating that Devin Townsend is my equal favourite artist of all time on the planet. With that said, I have to say that the following has happened on each of his major releases since 2016’s Transcendence – I’ve been happy that there’s been a decent gap between receiving the pre-release copy of his new album and writing the review, so that I’ve had a chance to listen many times and ingest them properly. In each case, while I liked the albums on first listens, I didn’t adore them straight off the bat - like I have with the vast majority of his releases prior to and including Transcendence. So the reviews of all of them may have been different.

Now, after many listens to PowerNerd, I thoroughly adore it.

The album opens with the title track 'PowerNerd', first single and arguably the most downright fun track Dev has ever done, especially when you combine it with the hilarious video. It’s a blistering, almost thrashy rock/metal track, but delivered with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. And the video? It’s not merely tongue-in-cheek, it’s played purely for comedy, and it all works a treat. As it usually does when it emanates from the mind of this genius.

Now, I’ve heard that the title track embodies what the original intention of this album was in its early stages, big rockin’ riffs and fun times, designed purely to put a big cheesy smile on your dial. But, ultimately, I think Devin may actually be incapable of creating anything so simplistic, as in, it’s so far beneath his abilities as a songwriter and musician that it’s not even really worth doing. So it evolved, it grew darker in places, and moved into myriad different musical realms. As it virtually always does with the great man.

So the first single is not really indicative of what you’re getting with this record.

Case in point might be ‘Jainism’, which is slower, darker and deals with the subject of the trepidation and disappointment that artists often deal with when they put their art out into the public arena and receive criticism, or worse, indifference. I’m glad he chose this as a second single, as it’s a good expectations manager – always expect the unexpected with the devilish Mr T.

Then, at the very opposite end of the spectrum, is ‘Ruby Quaker’, which is kind of a country/rockabilly/honky tonk ditty, that gets heavy and thrashy out of nowhere around half to two-thirds of the way through, about drinking coffee, that closes the album in typically, yep, unexpected and idiosyncratic fashion.

Favourite track from the word go, and still is as I pen this review, is ‘Ubelia’. It is one of those truly cathartic, memorable, inspired and inspiring anthems that the bloke seems to be able to pull out of his arse (think ‘Life’, ‘Save Our Now’, ‘Universal Flame’ and the like.) It’s one of those songs that improves your mood and just makes you feel good about life when you listen to it, despite the turmoil in the world.

So, rather than getting a fun heavy rock 'n roll album, as what may have originally been intended, we get a journey that takes us to all points of the musical compass.

One thing that may have remained from the original vision for PowerNerd is the fact that this is Devin’s songwriting at its most economical. There’s no ten-minute-plus prog explosions here, in fact, there’s only one track, among the eleven on offer here, that’s over five. The song intros are short, there’s little in the way of complicated instrumental passages, and the choruses are mostly enormous payoffs.

Really, the only other track that kind of has a fun anthemic rock vibe to it is the album’s penultimate tune, ‘Goodbye’. And even then, not really, and it doesn’t sound a bit like the title track. It is, however, a fantastic track and probably a close second favourite at this stage.

Go into this album with zero preconceived ideas of what Devin’s music is, and what you expect of it. He is an artist on his own unique path, writing, creating and releasing whatever TF he wants, whatever has burst forth from his monstrous well of creativity at that time. He has no ‘direction’ as an artist (and I mean that in the most positive way.) He is not an artist like Opeth, who radically changed the direction of their music mid-stream. He radically changes direction like that on every album. This is the only expectation you should have of him.

The neck-snapping stylistic changes he makes, album to album, and often song to song, no doubt alienate many fringe listeners, people who could potentially be paid-up customers and fans, and this may have affected the breadth of his notoriety and following over the years. But he doesn’t give a rat’s fat arse about that. He only cares about making music that pleases himself first and his dedicated fans second.

PowerNerd is yet another wonderful, unpredictable entry into the illustrious Hevy Devy catalogue. It’s not the absolute greatest thing he’s ever done, but that’s only because his standards are so stratospherically high. Viewed in isolation, it’s another absolute winner from this prolific genius.