Deconstruction begins with the eerie ambience of 'Praise The Lowered' accompanied by the subtle drumming of Ryan Van Poederooyen. Strange electronics buzz and hum as Devin's quiet vocals glide into the music. The guitar can be faintly heard in the background as the music builds mysteriously. Devin's vocals begin to soar ('Ah, soul of mine!') and the music continues building up to... something. The drums go from subtle to crushing as the intensity rises. Devin's vocals become demonic, the guitar becomes audible, chaos unfolds and it is all let loose with a tremendous roar of 'SMOKE THAT FUCKING WEED, BOY'. We are thrown into the chaos, with crushing metal, a choir, and an orchestra. Immense it is, but is only a taste of the music yet to come. However, the immensity fades back into ambience that leads into the next song.
'Stand' is nearly 10 minutes long, and begins in a similar way to 'Praise The Lowered'; ambience with a simple drum beat. However, the guitar is immediately present with a small, creepy riff. Again, Devin's vocals add to the mysterious atmosphere. The orchestra and choir kicks in, widening and enhancing this mood. Suddenly, we're hit in the face with a sudden majestic, heavy section, which leads the orchestra into its upper register and the choir into its full force accompanied by some dark undertones by none other than one of my favourite vocalists, Mikael Åkerfeldt. Then the chorus hits, and it is absolutely incredible. It is simply the word 'stand', sung by what seems to be a thousand voices ranging from angelical to the voice of death itself, accompanied by the orchestra and standard metal instruments. A guitar solo nicely complements the crushing music underneath, which grows more and more chaotic until we're unexpectedly left with just Devin's subtle vocals and palm-muted guitar. Short burst of heaviness lead us back into the majestic chaos that has been present throughout the rest of the song. The chorus comes back, more majestic than ever. A song you have to hear to believe.
'Juular' (originally intended to be 'Jugular', but Devin made a typo and decided to keep it) is the single of the album (also with its own music video). The song flies at tremendous speeds with demonic guitar chords slicing through the off-beats, complemented by the choir and orchestra to give a very evil feel. Despite the chaos of the rhythm, the song is not fully unleashed until the chorus hits, and we're thrown into heaviness. It feels like being hit by the devil's train (as depicted in the budget CGI music video). This is one of the few songs by Devin that for the most part sticks to the verse-chorus structure, which is most likely why it was chosen as the single. It's a solid track, but perhaps one of the weaker on an album that goes much bigger than just this song.
Time for another long, crazy track. 'Planet Of The Apes' clocks in at 11 minutes, beginning with mysterious, creepy harp sweeps, which leads into a very Meshuggah-inspired riff. What seperates it from Meshuggah, however, is the orchestra and choir, which really turns it into something else entirely. It paints a picture; majestic and in-your-face. It's heavy moments are punishing, and it's not-so-heavy moments are... still pretty crushing. Suddenly, the dark mood is broken, punctured by bright, lovely choral music ("Tungsten body, glowing mind"), but this is quickly brought back into the dark chaos. I'm using the word 'chaos' a lot, because it so perfectly describes the album. Although 'Planet Of The Apes' is meant to be inspired by Meshuggah (with the lyrics in the next verse even acknowledging so), there is no pattern. Meshuggah is all about patterns, but this song is chaos. As the song takes many turns through heavy layers, eventually we are unexpectedly thrown into the sunshine once more ('World away... sun, it glows...'). These quieter moments really stick out in the album (in a great way), and are explored in the next album in the quadrology; Ghost. Of course, this is Deconstruction, so we're thrown back into the heaviness, now with vocals from Tommy Rogers (of Between The Buried And Me fame). The song continues, very fast paced and heavy, yet maintaining a melodic edge showing off the choir. A frantic guitar solo leads us towards the chaotic end of the song.
'Sumeria' continues in the same vein. Chaos, melodic bliss, blah blah blah. I don't intend to criticise (as I love it) but Deconstruction does sound 'all the same' in a way. But hey, it's a winning formula, right? Structurally, the songs are all quite different, but from a sonic perspective you can expect each song to feature fast, heavy, chaotic verses, along side majestic, operatic choruses. 'Sumeria' is no exception. Fast paced riffs lead into a dark section led by deep male choir vocals, which leads into a more spacious choral section, which leads into more heavy stuff, which leads into the majestic chorus (similar to that of 'Stand'). Then we hear a new voice; Joe Duplantier of Gojira. One of my favourite vocalists, he leads in a very groovy, heavy section. The song repeats its fast riffs and majestic chorus until suddenly... silence. Well okay, there's a glockenspiel, but it sounds very quiet compared to everything on this album since the introduction of 'Praise The Lowered'. An acoustic guitar glides in as we hear the soothing vocals of to end the song, which flows neatly into the next.
The somewhat ridiculously named 'The Mighty Masturbator' might be the one true masterpiece of the album at 16 and a half minutes long. We firstly hear sweeping guitar, all very quiet and mysterious, until we're hit with possibly the heaviest moment of the record. The guitar sweeping continues, alternating between an octave, major seventh, and minor seventh (Devin uses this quite a lot; such as in 'Deathray', 'A New Reign', 'Universe In A Ball!', and 'Numbered!'). Beyond the guitar is the powerful bass, the slow (but crushing) drums, the keys (presumably somewhere in the mix), as well as the orchestra and choir in unison. Devin's operatic vocals also soar over the top. The song eventually shifts to a more progressive, driving tune. For such a silly title, 'The Mighty Masturbator' sounds very evil and very big. It sounds like swimming through piranha infested waters while a UFO shoots at you... or something like that... not too sure what I was thinking there. All of a sudden we hear an old man's voice over acoustic guitar, boasting about his readiness to save the world. Once again this leads into crazy, heavy arpeggios. After a few repeats, the arpeggio section is joined by a old-timey piano and "doo-wap" vocals from the choir - unexpected for sure. The arpeggios gradually become crazier and more atonal until a countdown begins... but it gets stuck at the second decimal place of π. Now the metal is left behind, and some weird electronica plays briefly. We now hear someone speaking to an alien crowd, which leads into the next section that repeats three times. The first time, the speaker claims to praise god, the second himself, the third the devil. Each 'verse' - if you'd call it that - is interspersed by growing heaviness taking form in the guitar riffs. Once this bit has finished, more melodic heaviness comes, becoming more and more intense. The music is absolutely relentless. Deconstruction does this better than any other album I've heard; just when you think it can't get any more crazy, intense, or heavy... it does. We're left in an anxious moment of dissonance as Devin says "And now hunger does what sorrow could never do... feed!". The foreboding drums kick in playing a... waltz? Yep, it's a waltz. In fact, it's a reprise of the 'Infinite Waltz' from the song 'Processional', a B-side from Infinity. It sounds majestic, bold, and gallant. 'The Mighty Masturbator' at this point has cycled through at least 10 different genres over the course of its 16 minute life span. It ends with a huge cadence from the orchestra and choir, a fitting end to the album... or so it seems.
Nope. The next song, 'Pandemic', kicks in full pelt, with perhaps the fastest drumming on the entire album. It's the shortest song on the album, but somehow I feel that it maybe has the most notes played in it of any song on the album. We hear what may be Devin's most insane scream, which leads into beautiful operatic vocals from everyone's favourite female metal singer, Floor Jansen. I must admit, other than the stupidly fast drumming and Floor's beautiful vocals, this song doesn't really have much unique about it. It's really good, but a really good song stands out on an album where every other song is extremely good. That's exactly what Deconstruction is: extreme.
But the most extreme moments of the album aren't let loose until the title track, 'Deconstruction'. It starts off with a sample of some people (hilariously voiced by Devin) discussing the philosophical idea of 'deconstruction'; how anything - even a cheeseburger - can be deconstructed to it's source. The word 'cheeseburger' repeats over and over as the guitar riff comes in. Devin himself has described this song as a 'soundtrack to a mental breakdown', and that description seems pretty apt. It feels like 'Planet Of The Apes' on steroids. It shifts through different crazy musical themes, heaviness accompanied by the orchestra and choir. It's heavier than anything else we've heard so far, and just when you think it can't get heavier - it does. A brief moment of stillness can be heard as we hear a choir of farts, burps, and pukes, before being released into an intricate guitar section, which ascends (or descends?) into pure chaos accompanied by the late Dave Brockie (GWAR). But it eventually slows down into a more electronica-based ambient bit, where the double cheeseburger containing the secrets of the universe itself makes it's presence known. The choir sings praise of the holy cheeseburger, before Devin reveals: 'but I don't eat the cheeseburgers guys I'm a vegamatarian'. The song goes apeshit. We hear a guitar solo from Frederik Thordendal (Meshuggah), as the song dies down. But it seems to be building up a bit again. The orchestra fades into a majestic chord as the guitars doing an incredible arpeggio, and a scream from Devin leads into one of the most beautiful moments in all of music. It sounds heavenly; divine. Devin's vocals are operatic, the drums from Dirk are top-notch, the orchestra and band are in perfect harmony. I've just about run out of words to describe this bit, but it lasts for about two and half minutes and ends the nine-minute song. Surely this is the end to the album?
"Let's finish this!" Devin says, introducing one last track: 'Poltergeist'. This song is really something else. 'Deconstruction' times ten. It's a heavy as Strapping Young Lad, but in a completely different way. Devin's vocals are intense, almost terrifying. From the apocalyptic verse into the murderous chorus, Devin's vocals sound like hell itself, and the end of the first chorus produces an inhuman scream. A voice echoes in the distance 'stand for what you truly believe in!' and the song slows to a grand finale pace. It sounds like the climax to the greatest thriller film of all time. It keeps on building and building until... beautiful arpeggios and clean vocals. The first time I head this... I actually fell to my knees, it took me by surprise. After the brief moment of complete serenity, we're thrown into the ending of the song; a building series of cadences and heaviness (the interval growing each time) until it peaks into Devin screaming at the top of his lungs: "STAND!!!"
That's gotta be my favourite ending to any album. Ever.
The album features a few bonus tracks. 'Ho Krll' is an iTunes bonus track, originally intended for Ziltoid The Omniscient. My first experience with it was listening to it while driving through a brightly lit city in the dark hours of the morning with no other cars around, and it really fit the vibe of the song. It's mostly driven by 'twinkling' guitars and what seems to be a glockenspiel, but their is the usual heaviness of the album as well. It does sound very 'spacey', and would've fit will on the original Ziltoid record. A very pleasant song, but I can see why it was relegated to a bonus track - it's quite different to the main disc of Deconstruction.
'Terrorizer' (known in demo form as 'Madd at my Dadd' - released on the Contain Us compilation) was released with an edition of the Terrorizer magazine. It is somewhat similar to 'Pandemic' - it's fast, angry, melodic, and relatively straightforward. It's got a really good chorus though, so it's definitely worth a listen.
'Deconstructing Badgers' was released via Devin's youtube channel (formerly known as 'poopynuggeteer'). It's a cover of Weebl's song 'Badgers'. If you are familiar with the original (it was a viral video back in the day) then it is definitely worth a listen, it stays true to the original while also being heavy as hell. If you aren't familiar with the original, you'll probably be confused by this song. Nevertheless, this has got to be one of the weirdest cover songs around, and I quite like it.
'Traestorz' is a 19-minute electronica demo, released on Contain Us. It certainly is... curious. A decent portion of this song ended up in the middle section of 'The Mighty Masturbator', but the rest is a showcase of Devin's more experimental side, vaguely reminiscent of Devlab or Projekt EKO in parts. This marathon track is worth checking out if you're already fallen into the pit of Devin's music, but may be a bit confronting to a newcomer.
'Brown Man' - also released on Contain Us - is just a bit of fun. It's got Devin's 'ziltoid voice' over the top of some 'wankery' guitar. The ending is just a cool heavy bit with Devin almost rapping, but only the word "pussy" over and over. It made me laugh the first time for sure. Other than that, the song reminds me more of something from Punky Brüster: Cooked On Phonics than anything from Deconstruction.
It's worth noting that this album was performed in it's entirety and recorded for DVD as part of the By A Thread series. It's an incredible feat for sure; there's literally thousands of possible notes to stuff up, but the whole performance goes without a hitch (and yes, a giant cheeseburger descends onto the stage during the title track).
The artwork was made by Anthony Clarkson, and there are two different album covers. The 'main' album cover shows a staircase with some crazy machinery. I'm not really sure what it's trying to depict, but it looks badass and pretty brilliantly portrays the chaotic nature of the album. There is also a more simplistic slipcase version of the album cover, which shows the DTP logo made out of scrap metal. This, too, looks fantastic and ominous. These two album covers are amongst my favourite album covers of Devin's.
This review has ended up much longer than I had initially intended, but that's because this album is so damn good. It has an incredible, unique intro, and the most intensely perfect outro, without a dull moment of music between. It reaches the heaviness of Strapping Young Lad in parts (perhaps even exceeding it?) without being stylistically similar. It blends melody and metal like no other album has been able to do, and the orchestra and choir add a very splendiferous angle to the music. Deconstruction deserves to go down in history as a highlight of progressive metal, and indeed as a highlight of music that we're lucky enough to experience within this lifetime.
97%
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