Strapping Young Lad - City (1997)

Strapping Young Lad - City (1997) album review by MetalFarmer Pritham D'Souza

Track Listing:	Lineup:
Velvet Kevorkian All hail the new flesh Oh my fucking god Detox Home nucleonics AAA Underneath the waves Room 429 Spirituality	Devin Townsend Jed Simon Byron Stroud Gene Hoglan

Gene Hoglan was the reason i first picked up this album, coz i loved his drum work in Death and was expecting something close to what he achieved there. When i heard the first track, Velvet Kevorkian i seriously didnt know what to expect. It had a very industrial sound to it and a guy with really good vocal chords shouting his guts out. when the second track All hail the new flash blasted from my speakers, i seriously was left wondering what hit me! it was the heaviest wall of noise i had ever heard. the drumming was insanely fast and the riffs were jabbing at the bone. and a powerful voice, over shadowing all the music.

Devin Townsend is the craziest guy in metal. and i am not joking. a multi instrumentalist, vocalist, song writer , composer, and funny guy all rolled in one. All his other projects however great they are, still cannot come up to the level, he achieved musically in this album.
SYL has redefined words like rage, aggression and power. This is like 'Reign in Blood' of the 90's, only a lot faster!

Detox, All Hail The New Flash, Underneath The Waves and Oh My Fucking God are some of the most heaviest songs ever written. Off course this is not Death Metal, neither is it Thrash. With City, SYL has probably created another sub genre in metal, coz honestly i cant put my finger on it! (is he really vomiting at the end of Oh My Fucking God! or is he really getting possessed!! i will never know)

and when u get used to the chaos, Room 429 surprises you with its twisted slow pace , melodic catchy chorus and menaching guitar work.

A true masterpiece and an absolute must have Metal Classic!!! Guaranteed entry in the Top 20 Extreme Metal Albums Of All Time.
Am surprised, the album didnt come with a warning "clearly not for the faint hearted"

My Rating
10/10