Strapping Young Lad – Alien
Century Media Records – CM 8327-2 – March 22nd, 2005
By Jason Jordan
I’m kind of confused. I thought
Alien was going to be heavier and angrier than
SYL, but the former is actually more personable. I’m sure you’ve heard
Alien in its entirety; it leaked a while back. At any rate, I think this particular album is
Strapping Young Lad’s strongest outing since
City, but that’s no major achievement.
Methinks the production on this one is more fine-tuned than
SYL’s, which means that an opener such as “Imperial” doesn’t relay the frenetic instrumentation as it should. On the whole, I think the sound quality on the group’s latest is perhaps weaker than its predecessors’. Complaints aside, it is indeed a decent introduction that segues into the longer-than-usual “Skeksis.” The aforementioned is a great tune that displays the frantic musicianship that
Strapping Young Lad are known for, as well as keyboard arrangements that rise to complete lofty, atmospheric goals. “Shitstorm,” the first single I believe, returns to maniacal roots as iterated by Townsend’s (
The Devin Townsend Band, ex-
Steve Vai) hate-infused, vocal performance. “Love?” has the most groove-oriented riffs present on the disc, and I love how Hoglan’s (
Dark Angel, ex-
Death, ex-
Testament) double-bass is superimposed with the riffage…and then isn’t. In “Shine,” the subtle synths at the 1:15 minute mark are nice touches. “We Ride” is a quick, pissed-off composition. “Two Weeks” is the proverbial odd man out, because it’s serene
and acoustic amidst many troubled songs. “Thalamus” retains a bombastic beginning, however, but continually dips into astral passages, while “Zen” ruminates for about fifty seconds until it’s content to blastoff. Arguably, the most perplexing thing about
Alien is the extraneous (is it?) “Infodump,” which comprises the last twelve minutes of the album. All that is heard is static and unintelligible voices.
Despite being slightly more laid back than
SYL, this album felt more cohesive and substantial than its ancestor. Though diehard
Strapping Young Lad fans’ alliances may lie with
City,
Alien is nevertheless pretty good. In other words, it’s worth picking up if you have some extra cash. But, maybe you should save it for their killer live show instead.
8/10
Official Strapping Young Lad website
Official Century Media Records website
