The name of Devin Townsend is already well-known among the Metal fans, both with his personal homonymous project and STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, two different facets of the same artist. What differentiates this band from his own separate act is the component of Metal which here is the main core of the music as far as the compositional and performing outlets are taken in consideration. STRAPPING YOUNG LAD was always a project of experimentation on the Extreme Metal ground, with a Devin in continuous effervescence of inspiration or on the verge of combining the unexpected modern elements with the usual receipt for Heavy Metal music.

With The New Black, the sixth album since the 1995 debut Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing, SYL establish its position as an important coordinate on the modern and cosmopolite scene where Metalcore is in cards now more than ever. Even if The New Black is not so violent and brutal as Alien was, and also not so linear too, or not so different than the self-titled product from 2003, it's an album with a range of variety, a framework for what can be new and fresh in this domain. A revolutionary epos as City is hard to create again or to accomplish with other meanings these days, but Devin goes on from the premise that everything can be recycled at some point in one way or another, so you may expect also on this record to hear a few old ideas, a sort of déjà-vu, brought to life in another kind of shapes and formulas.

Some songs that make a nice audition are Wrongside, Hope, and mostly Antiproduct with its futuristic Jazzy chansonnet look and Metalcore layers plus Far Beyond Metal which is by far the best one of the entire album with its vocals à la PANTERA and powerful Heavy Metal input that Oderus Urungus from GWAR inserts with the help of his clean vocalisations. Far Beyond Metal also offers a very good guitar work example for these musicians' skills, balancing from Thrashy moods to Heavy Power tones, all assorted by a well-proportioned percussion in the background. Monument is the most old-school, in terms of SYL career specifics, of course, reminding of City mainly because of the staccato tempo and echoed screams. STRAPPING YOUNG LAD release through The New Black another album in its own specific style, nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary though. Also this CD features as vocal guests Bif Naked (on Fucker) and Cam Kroetsch (on You Suck).