Canadian heavy music artist Devin Townsend released his acclaimed new album ‘EMPATH’ in March, and will embark on the ‘EMPATH – European Tour Vol. 1’ later this year. In advance of that, he has launched a brand new animated video for the track ‘Why?’,directed by D C Turner.
Watch the video now here: https://youtu.be/fT-uWOVP5q0
Devin recently completed a run of acoustic shows in Australia, and will embark on the ‘EMPATH – European Tour Vol. 1’ beginning in November, with HAKEN along as support. Before that he will perform acoustically in Singapore, followed by an appearance at the Guitar Show in London.
The full list of dates are as follows:
18th September – Gateway Black Box Theatre, Singapore, China (acoustic)
21st September – The Guitar Show, London, UK
15th November – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
16th November – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
17th November – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
18th November – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany
20th November – Logomo, Turku, Finland
21st November – Cirkus, Helsinki, Finland
23rd November – Münchenbryggeriet, Stockholm, Sweden
24th November – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway
25th November – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
27th November – Astra, Berlin, Germany
28th November – Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic
29th November – A2, Wroclaw, Poland
30th November – Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary
2nd December – Simm City, Vienna, Austria
3rd December – X Tra, Zurich, Switzerland
6th December – Academy, Dublin, Ireland
7th December – Limelight, Belfast, UK
9th December – SWG3 Galvanisers, Glasgow, UK
10th December – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK
12th December – Roundhouse, London, UK
13th December – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
Tickets available here: https://www.hevydevy.com/tourdates/
Devin comments: “After a year of intensive recording, mixing, and reflection, I have decided where I want to take the next level of my career as a live performer. I have had success and great memories from both the Devin Townsend Project as well as Strapping Young Lad, but now I am fortunate enough to be able to follow the muse where it currently leads. I am proud to announce that for the first ‘band’ tour of the Empath cycle, I am going to stretch my wings in ways I have not had the opportunity to do before and tour with a ‘backing band’ that can shift and morph as the music dictates instead of adhering to a click track. ‘Empath Europe Volume 1’ will be the first example of this, and the first tour will be in Europe (other territories to follow).
I have spent considerable effort think about the things I wanted to do for these shows, and one thing I came out of DTP with was the awareness that I wanted to incorporate a more improvisational element to what I do. With the best players I can find, my plan is to interpret my back catalogue, as well as the Empath material, in ways that may change nightly. less computers, and less of a rigid structure. I want to use Volume 1 as a way to bring my music to people in a potentially new way. People playing music…
I hope you will consider joining me at these concerts. As a performer, it’s important to be able to be willing to react, and my hope is that each of these shows will be a unique experience.
Thank you for allowing me to do what I do. See you there?
Devin Townsend”
Over the past few years, the success that Devin has slowly worked for has fortunately come with the power to control his own creative destiny. The recent successes with the DVD from a sold-out Royal Albert hall, or his 2012 ‘Retinal Circus’, or last year’s ‘Ocean Machine’ live DVD with the Orchestra and Choir of State Opera Plovdiv has put him in a position where with the new album ‘EMPATH’, he will once and for all define himself as a musical force outside of any particular genre classification.
On this album Devin has decided to see what would happen if all the styles that make up his current interests were finally represented in one place. To finally shake the fear of expectation, and just do what it is he was meant to do creatively, EMPATH, true to the name, is about allowing the audience a feeling for a variety of musical emotions. The musical dynamics represented on this single album are broad, challenging, and immense. To approach this sort of work with a long history of what makes heavy music ‘heavy’, allows this to be done with a type of power rarely heard.
Joining Devin on this album is Frank Zappa alumni Mike Keneally as music director, as well as Morgan Ågren (Mats And Morgan, Frank Zappa, Fredrik Thordendal), Anup Sastry (Monuments, Periphery), Samus Paulicelli (Decrepit Birth, Abigail Williams), Nathan Navarro, Elliot Desagnes, Steve Vai, Chad Kroeger, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Ché Aimee Dorval, Ryan Dhale and the Elektra Women’s Choir.
A bold statement with massive production values and dynamic, uncompromised musicality. This is a statement about not only pursuing creative freedom in a conservative scene, but also trying to show that heavy music is truly a valid musical tool.
