Infinity (Devin Townsend album)

Infinity is the third solo album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the first released under his real name. The album was released in October 1998 on Townsend's label, HevyDevy Records.

Infinity
Studio album by
Devin Townsend
ReleasedOctober 21, 1998
RecordedNovember 1997 – July 1998
Studio
  • Red Stripe Studios, Burnaby, BC, Canada;
  • Premier, Coquitlam, BC, Canada
Genre
Length46:41
Label
ProducerDevin Townsend
Devin Townsend chronology
Ocean Machine: Biomech
(1997)		 Infinity
(1998)		 Physicist
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Chronicles of Chaos[1]
Sputnikmusic[2]

Background

After the completion of Strapping Young Lad's extreme metal album City and his solo progressive rock release Ocean Machine: Biomech, Townsend began to approach a mental breakdown. "I started to see human beings as little lonesome, water based, pink meat," he explained, "life forms pushing air through themselves and making noises that the other little pieces of meat seemed to understand." In 1997, he checked himself into a mental-health hospital, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The diagnosis helped him understand where the two sides of his music were coming from; he felt his disorder "gave birth to the two extremes that are Strapping's City record and Ocean Machine's Biomech."[3]

After being discharged from the hospital, Townsend found that "everything just clicked" and he was able to write his third solo album, Infinity, which he described as "the parent project" of City and Biomech.[3] Townsend returned to the studio, accompanied by drummer Gene Hoglan, to work on the album, on which Townsend played most of the instruments. During the recording sessions, Devin slept on the studio floor.[4] Devin has claimed Infinity was partly inspired by experimentation with LSD and other psychedelic drugs.[5]

A music video was made for the song "Christeen".[6]

Track listing

The InsideOut release of Infinity had different titles for several tracks; these are listed in parentheses. The InsideOut release of Infinity also contained three bonus tracks.

All tracks are written by Devin Townsend, except "Christeen" by Townsend and Ginger.

No.TitleLength
1."Truth"3:58
2."Christeen"3:41
3."Bad Devil"4:52
4."War"6:29
5."Soul Driven" ("Soul Driven Cadillac")5:14
6."Ants"2:01
7."Colonial Boy" ("Wild Colonial Boy")3:04
8."Dynamics" ("Life Is All Dynamics")5:08
9."Unity"6:07
10."Noisy Pink Bubbles"5:22
Total length:46:41
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Sister" (Live acoustic version)2:15
12."Hide Nowhere" (Live acoustic version)5:03
13."Man" ('96 Demo)5:12
Total length:59:11

The original track listing intended for Infinity was different from its final release. Due to the record label's time restraints, Townsend could not finish some of the tracks. These were later included on the Christeen + Four Demos EP. The original track list was:[7]

Original track list
No.TitleLength
1."Truth"3:58
2."Processional"
  • "Star Child Rise"
  • "Welcome Home"
  • "Metamorph"
  • "Infinite Waltz"
11:42
3."Christeen"3:41
4."War"6:29
5."Soul Driven"5:14
6."Om"6:18
7."Dynamics"5:08
8."Unity"6:07
Total length:48:37

Music

The first 2 minutes of the track "OM" have occasionally been played live as an intro of sorts to other songs, and were demoed for inclusion on Addicted (later appearing on Contain Us). The "Infinite Waltz" section of "Processional" was later used as the outro to "The Mighty Masturbator" from Deconstruction. The track "Truth" was re-recorded for Transcendence, the seventh studio album by the Devin Townsend Project.

Release

Infinity was released in October 1998 on Townsend's independent label, HevyDevy Records. It was distributed in Canada by HevyDevy, in Japan by Sony, and in Europe initially by USG Records and later on by InsideOut and with three bonus tracks.

Chart performance
Chart Peak
position
Oricon (Japan)[8] 29

Personnel

Music

Production
  • Devin Townsend – production, recording, engineering, mixing, digital editing, digital assembly
  • Mark Gordon – bass engineering
  • Matteo Caratozzolo – assistance, digital editing
  • Mark Gordon – assistance
  • Byron Stroud – assistance
  • Marty Schwartz – assistance
  • Ross Gale – assistance
  • Ramon Donati – assistance
  • Scott Ternan – assistance
  • Pete Wonsiak – mixing, additional recording
  • Matteo Caratozzolo – additional recording
  • Jennifer Lewis – digital editing
  • Jamie Meyer – digital assembly
  • Brett Anthony – digital assembly
  • Greg Reely – mastering
  • Tracy Turner – management

Artwork
  • Mille Thorsen – layout and design
  • Aaron Mason – photography
gollark: I'll switch to kMarx if it ever becomes MIT-licensed (or similar) and will probably finish kristshop if I ever refactor MW.
gollark: No, Wojbie, kristshop is still WIP eternally.
gollark: I think it ought to be possible to implement the ender sparkles too, with additions, assuming you don't mind some extra equipment.
gollark: Pyramids and cubes also available.
gollark: I mean, it loses the whole "scarcity" thing of actual eggs, but hey, it looks cool.

References
  1. Schwarz, Paul (January 16, 1999) http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/reviews/albums/2-1064_devin_townsend_infinity.aspx" Chronicles of Chaos.
  2. Cousin Ed (November 17, 2005). "Devin Townsend – Infinity Review." Sputnikmusic.
  3. Ingham, Chris (1998). "Metal Hammer Interviews Devin". Far Beyond Metal. Archived from the original on 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-25. Retrieved 2014-12-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzakdYvbmCY. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Devin Townsend - Christeen + 4 Demos". hevydevy.com. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  7. "FAQ". HevyDevy Records. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19.
  8. (in Japanese) "∞（インフィニティ）/デビン・タウンゼンド." Oricon. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
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