Ocean Machine: Biomech

Devin Townsend has put out a lot of stuff over the years. Initially he was one of Steve Vai's vocalists and then he has produced a portfolio of his own stuff, including the likes of Strapping Young Lad and self-titled things. Most of his work features high octane chaos but there is this album among them. It is still heavy (of course) but it doesn't have the 600bpm intensity of the likes of City. If anything it sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd and Opeth - progressive songwriting, heavy keyboards and dense arrangements, but with a rythmic pace more like standard rock and lyrics that are actually worth listening to. 

It's very restrained. The bass playing is, well, a bassline - sticking to simple walks around the roots and inversions of what's going on harmonically instead of demented frenetic chugging, and the guitar playing avoids needless twiddling while never being dull. There's a wall of electronics as well, with synth pads washing over everything and keys taking melody lines when appropriate. It's just wonderful. There's nothing you could add to this or take away from it in order to improve it in any way. 

I've always thought of this in terms of movements instead of individual tracks. You have the opening quad which then dallies into an interlude of a more ambient duo. Mid section of the album is made up of three individual tracks and there is a closing quad to round things off.  Any one of these sections is outstanding and you have three of them (plus the interlude) on one disc. It's great. 

For some reason this wasn't very well known when it first came out but over the course of a few years its sheer quality built up a fan base. Really is one of my favourites.