Devin Townsend – PowerNerd (Review)

Devin Townsend is a prolific Canadian artist who has a vast and intimidating discography. Whatever he touches though is always individual and interesting, and frequently brilliant.

PowerNerd is a 44-minute progressive rock album that has apparently been born out of a desire by the artist to simplify his approach to songwriting.

PowerNerd ranges from the upbeat and energetic to the beautiful and epic. The music is varied and engaging throughout. The constant is the artist’s love of melody, and his own powerful and idiosyncratic voice.

Of course, although the music may have had a simple approach to its creation, that’s all relative, as the record has its intricacies and layers. This is an artist who is extremely talented, after all, and despite how it might present itself in places, this a record with quite a bit going on. Also, as well as Devin Townsend himself, there are guest musicians too, providing services such as drums, keyboards, synths, and additional vocals.

At the heart of PowerNerd sits a good old-fashioned rock album, albeit channelled through a particular vision. It is essentially an old-school rock/metal record, with an abundance of 80s influences, all funnelled through that unique Devin Townsend lens that we all know and love.

The songwriting is strong, remarkably so for a record with such a short gestation, and it has an emotional weight that’s impressive. The album lies at the intersection between fun and feelings, and that is PowerNerd‘s true superpower – positivity.

The songs are strong, the entertainment value high, and the messages potent. Yep, PowerNerd is very easy to like.

Apparently PowerNerd is the beginning of a new trilogy, with both successor records already having been written and all three quite different in character. I will definitely be looking forward to them.

Very highly recommended.