Strapping Young Lad

Strapping Young Lad was undeniably one of the heaviest bands that ever existed, thanks to Devin Townsend's over the top vocal delivery and wall of sound production. The group's 2005 release Alien is absolutely insane, an almost unabated crush of full-throttle guitars and machine gun double bass. Townsend's absurd ranting on various metaphysical and emotional crises, womens', mens', and childrens' choirs, and xylophones all add a distinct taste of weird to the album.

Here's "Shitstorm." This title is probably the closest you could get to an all-encompassing description of the song. After just a few seconds of fairly standard thrash riffing, the bass drops all the way down to the underworld and Strapping Young Lad pummels away for 4 minutes straight. Ex-Death drummer Gene Hoglan shines in this track, blast-beating away like there's no tomorrow. The carnage culminates with Townsend's fevered screams that range from guttural cookie-monster growls to the Rob Halford-esque shriek around 2:16.

Strapping Young Lad - "Shitstorm"

Since 2007, Townsend has shaved off his distinctive skullet and disbanded Strapping Young Lad. He's not just sitting around, however: the Devin Townsend Project is currently producing some excellent music (read my post about them here).