| Ocean Machine: Biomech | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 21, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | September – December 1996 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 73:52 | |||
| Label | HevyDevy | |||
| Producer | Devin Townsend | |||
| Devin Townsend chronology | ||||
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| Devin Townsend overall chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
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.
Material for Ocean Machine: Biomech had been around since the time Devin Townsend was touring with Steve Vai in support of Sex & Religion , with some tracks, such as "Funeral", "Regulator" and "The Death of Music", stretching back to Townsend's days with Noisescapes. The album's basic tracks of guitar, bass and drums were recorded in The Factory Studios in Vancouver during the same time Rob Halford recorded there the Voyeurs album of his band Two. Due to Townsend's discontent with the sound, in September 1996, he took the recorded material with producer Daniel Bergstrand to Málaga, Spain, to re-record the guitars, drums, and re-amp the bass. Torrential rains were storming the seacoast of Spain at that time, which prevented them from taking any decent recording of the drums. As a result, the sample for the snare drum on the album is actually taken straight from the beginning of "Sad but True" by Metallica. Due to Townsend's constant dispute with the studio owner, who kept kicking him out of the studio every afternoon to party with his friends, one of them being then rising movie star Antonio Banderas, Townsend then refused to pay the studio bill, which resulted in him being denied access to the master tape by the studio owner. Frustrated by that, Townsend eventually decided to sneak in the studio with Bergstrand at 3 A.M. to make a copy of the master tape, accidentally leaving out the song Ocean Machines there, thus the song exists only in demo quality. [2] [3]
Ocean Machine: Biomech featured a mix of hard rock, ambient, and progressive metal. [4] The album was the follow-up to the critically acclaimed [5] City by Townsend's extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. Townsend viewed Strapping Young Lad as a "little project" that he considered a "parody" and not the intended focus of his music, but lamented that Ocean Machine, which he described as "the music that was really close to me," was largely dismissed upon its release. [6]
The album opens with a reciting of a poem from 19th century English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Track 7, "Voices in the Fan," ends with an excerpt of the madrigal "Giovane donna il suo bel volto in specchio" from the 16th-century cycle Lagrime di San Pietro by Orlande de Lassus. [7]
Many of the songs on Ocean Machine: Biomech have become live staples during Townsend's career; however, "The Death of Music" did not make its live debut until April 2015. [8]
The album is specifically referenced in the demo "Ocean Machines" from Ass-Sordid Demos and "Resolve" from Addicted . "Sister" is sampled in the ambience ending "Traveller" on Accelerated Evolution . "Voices in the Fan" is recalled in "Colour Your World" on Ziltoid the Omniscient . A riff in "Regulator" forms the basis of "Om" from the Infinity/Christeen + 4 Demos EP. "Bastard" is referenced in "Rain City" on Sky Blue . "The Death of Music" reuses the chorus of bonus track "Japan" from the first SYL album Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing (also released as a bonus on No Sleep 'till Bedtime ).
Ocean Machine: Biomech was released in July 1997. When Townsend was unable to get the album picked up by a record label, he founded his own independent record label, HevyDevy Records, to release his solo material. [6] On its original Japanese release, the album was entitled Biomech and "Ocean Machine" was listed as the artist name; the album was later reissued worldwide with a compound title under Townsend's name. The album was distributed in Canada by HevyDevy, in Europe and America by Inside Out Music, and in Japan by Sony.
The album sold 12,000 copies in Japan in its first week of release. [9] Although musically straying from Townsend's extreme metal work in Strapping Young Lad, Ocean Machine: Biomech was met with favorable reviews. Metal Hammer praised it as a "concept album akin to the sensuality and escapism of Pink Floyd, [as] Devin lyrically and musically explores real and not particularly uplifting topics such as death, isolation, and depression." [10] Noise Level Critical wrote that "anyone who heard the [Steve] Vai album Sex & Religion will know that Townsend's voice is top-notch, with the ability to go from aggressive bark, to high-pitched wail, to soft emotional whisper in the space of one song." [11]
On 17 March 2017 a complete live playthrough was made at Hammersmith Apollo, followed on September 22, 2017, by a live performance in the Ancient Roman Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, recorded and featured on the band's third live album, released on July 6, 2018, via Inside Out Music.
All tracks are written by Devin Townsend
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Seventh Wave" | 6:50 |
| 2. | "Life" | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Night" | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Hide Nowhere" | 5:00 |
| 5. | "Sister" | 2:48 |
| 6. | "3 A.M." | 1:56 |
| 7. | "Voices in the Fan" | 4:39 |
| 8. | "Greetings" | 2:53 |
| 9. | "Regulator" | 5:06 |
| 10. | "Funeral" | 8:06 |
| 11. | "Bastard"
| 10:17 |
| 12. | "The Death of Music" | 12:15 |
| 13. | "Thing Beyond Things" | 4:47 |
| Total length: | 73:53 | |
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.
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.
Byron Stroud is a Canadian bassist. He is the former bassist for metal bands Fear Factory, Imonolith and Strapping Young Lad, current bassist for metal bands City of Fire and Zimmers Hole, and studio bassist for 3 Inches of Blood.
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.
Infinity is the third solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the first released under his real name. The album was released in October 1998 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.
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.
No Sleep 'till Bedtime is a live album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was recorded live in Melbourne Australia, on October 12, 1997; however, the live tracks presented here are the only ones recorded before the tape ran out. "Japan" and "Centipede" are new studio tracks that were added by the label as a bonus material. The title is a homage to and parody of Motörhead's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith live album.
The Hummer is the ninth solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and his second ambient album. It was released on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records, on November 15, 2006.
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.
Devin Townsend is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and record producer.
Ki is the eleventh studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the first album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on May 25, 2009, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records.
Addicted is the twelfth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the second album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on November 17, 2009, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records. The album was written and produced by Townsend, and features Ryan Van Poederooyen, Brian Waddell, Mark Cimino, and Anneke van Giersbergen.
Deconstruction is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the third album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on June 20, 2011, simultaneously with the fourth Devin Townsend Project album Ghost, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records. The album features two drummers, Dirk Verbeuren and Ryan Van Poederooyen, as well as a number of guest vocalists. The album's choral and orchestral parts were written and arranged by Townsend using Pro Tools software. The parts were later transcribed into conventional musical notation for the orchestra.
