Devin Townsend's maniacal/wacky tendencies duel with his instinct for skull-crushing heaviness on
Addicted, the second in a planned trilogy of albums he's put together since retiring his ultimate metal band,
Strapping Young Lad, a few years back.
Anneke van Giersbergen, formerly of
the Gathering, is
Townsend's vocal partner throughout much of the album, creating a
Lacuna Coil-esque effect as he roars and she croons and the guitar riffs ride almost disco/techno rhythms. "Bend It Like Bender" is a particularly weird blend of metal and Hi-NRG, something
Rammstein might come up with after a weekend of carousing in Berlin's most flamboyant discos. Other tracks, like "Supercrush" and the mostly acoustic "Ih-Ah," offer a kind of anthemic pop crunch that could rocket up the charts in an alternate universe. When he's not screaming his lungs out,
Townsend is a hell of a singer, and his voice intertwines with
van Giersbergen's in a very European way -- many of
Addicted's songs have the feel of a metallic
Ace of Base, and that's not actually a bad thing. But then there's a song like "Numbered" or the nearly ten-minute album closer, "Awake," to smash the listener's skull to powder all over again.