Devin Garrett Townsend is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also had an extensive solo career and has released a total of 28 albums across all of his projects as of 2022.
Strapping Young Lad (SYL) was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing. By 1997, he had recruited permanent members; this line-up, which consisted of Townsend on vocals and guitar, Jed Simon on guitar, Byron Stroud on bass, and Gene Hoglan on drums, lasted until the band's dissolution.
Tenet is a heavy metal band formed as a side project by Jed Simon of Strapping Young Lad and Zimmers Hole.
Eugene Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his playing style is very technically demanding, he retains high accuracy at extreme tempos, earning him the nicknames "The Atomic Clock" and "Human Drum Machine".
Accelerated Evolution is the sixth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, released in 2003. The album, written and produced by Townsend, was a mix of musical styles from alternative rock to hard rock to progressive metal. Townsend, the lead vocalist and guitarist, assembled a group of Vancouver musicians to perform with him on the album: guitarist Brian Waddell, drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen, bassist Mike Young, and keyboardist Dave Young. This lineup, the Devin Townsend Band, was Townsend's first dedicated lineup for his solo material, and was created as a counterpart to Townsend's extreme metal project Strapping Young Lad.
Zimmers Hole is a Canadian heavy metal band from Vancouver. The band formed by the guitarist, singer Chris Valagao Mina in 1991, and features former Strapping Young Lad members Byron Stroud, Jed Simon and Gene Hoglan
Terria is the fifth solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. The album was released in 2001 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.
Alien is the fourth studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on March 22, 2005. The album was written by Devin Townsend and Gene Hoglan over a six-month time period. The album reached No. 32 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 35 on the Top Independent Albums chart.
Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing is the debut studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on April 4, 1995. Century Media Europe released a remastered version of the album on June 12, 2006, which includes the video for "S.Y.L.", several bonus tracks, and a 12-page booklet containing extended liner notes.
City is the second studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad, released on February 11, 1997. Frontman Devin Townsend assembled a permanent lineup of Strapping Young Lad to record the album, including prolific drummer Gene Hoglan, and Townsend's former bandmates Jed Simon on guitar and Byron Stroud on bass. The album was critically acclaimed, with Revolver naming it one of "the greatest metal albums of all time", and it is widely considered Strapping Young Lad's best work. The album was re-released in 2007 with several bonus tracks and altered cover art.
Strapping Young Lad is the eponymous third album by Canadian heavy metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on February 11, 2003.
Physicist is the fourth solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. The album was released on June 26, 2000, on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.
Synchestra is the eighth solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the second and final album he recorded with The Devin Townsend Band. The album was released in January 2006 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.
The New Black is the fifth and final studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on July 11, 2006, debuting at No. 200 on the Billboard charts. A music video was shot for the album's sole single, "Wrong Side", and another video, done in CGI, was made for the non-single song "Almost Again".
Ocean Machine: Biomech is the second studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, originally released as Biomech under the name Ocean Machine. The album was released in July 1997 via Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.
Jedson Louis Simon is a Canadian guitarist. He was a member of supergroup Scar the Martyr and has been a member of numerous bands, including Front Line Assembly, Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole, Tenet, and Vimic.
Ziltoid the Omniscient is the tenth studio album by Canadian metal musician Devin Townsend, released on his own label HevyDevy Records in May 2007, and distributed in America and Europe by InsideOut Music.
1994–2006 Chaos Years is a retrospective compilation album from the heavy metal band Strapping Young Lad. The album contains tracks from all of the band's studio albums, as well as a DVD with live footage and music videos. The album had a European release on March 31, 2008.
Pitch Black Forecast is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in 2005 with a lineup consisting of Mushroomhead frontman Jason Popson and ex-Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan and former Integrity bassist Steve Rauckhorst, formed in Ohio in 2005 under the name Absentee. They released their debut album, Absentee, in 2008, which featured guest contributions from Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe and Human Furnace of Ringworm.
Dave Young is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. He has been a member of several notable groups, including The Devin Townsend Band, Ten Ways from Sunday, Terror Syndrome, and The Matinée. He has also played on the album Alien by Strapping Young Lad. He plays guitar, keyboards, and several wind instruments. He played guitar in the live lineup of the Devin Townsend Project, alongside former bandmates Brian "Beav" Waddell and Ryan Van Poederooyen.
