Devin Townsend
It’s not hard to see why virtuoso shredder Steve Vai plucked a 20-year-old Devin Townsend from obscurity and employed him as lead vocalist on his Sex & Religion album in 1993. With a multi-octave range and enough personality to sink a ship, the young Canadian was plainly a prodigious talent. But even the benevolent Mr Vai could not have foreseen the extraordinary musical career that would unfold. 27 years later, Devin Townsend is firmly established as one of modern heavy music’s most unique and irrepressible talents.
An eccentric but compelling artist from the start, Townsend kicked off his steady rise to glory with a dual approach, launching industrial-tinged metal crew Strapping Young Lad and his own solo efforts simultaneously. In 1997, the release of SYL’s second album and solo debut confirmed that the still-young muso was constructing his own sonic universe.
