DEVIN TOWNSEND – The Moth

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8.0

• Bands:
  DEVIN TOWNSEND
• Duration: 01:10:00
• Available from: 05/29/2026
• Label:

• Inside Out

When Devin Townsend released “Empath” in 2019, the thing that struck us most was the sense of absolute freedom that pervaded that album: having freed himself from the inevitable restrictions of having a more or less fixed band (the Devin Townsend Project) had given the volcanic Canadian artist back the enthusiasm to experiment with new things, with an expanded lineup capable of putting itself at the service of his eclectic talent. During the interview, when we told Devin how the song “Why?” had struck us in particular, with its Broadway musical atmosphere, he had already told us that he was working on an entire orchestral album, entitled “The Moth”, which would bring forward that type of sound in an organic way.
Since that interview, Devin hasn't stopped for a moment: he has released two official albums (“Lightwork” and “PowerNerd”), three live albums, three improvisation records, two experimental projects and seven (!) albums of ambient music under the name DreamPeace.
Yet “The Moth” was never set aside, it continued its incubation, just like a moth wrapped in its cocoon that slowly mutates and evolves until it can finally spread its wings and take flight.

Now that this long-awaited orchestral album has finally seen the light, it becomes really interesting to immerse yourself in its grooves, because “The Moth” is not at all a record that reveals itself in its fullness from the first listen: it is a layered album, which grows with listening and reveals itself little by little.
At first listening, the listener might mistakenly think they are dealing with the usual Devin, because the grandeur orchestral, the majestic approach to melodies, the wall of sound, are all characteristics that he has always cultivated in his solo career. Delving deeper into the listening, however, what emerges is the richness of the work, which really seems to have drawn from every facet of Devin's career, to find a synthesis in which every aspect of his writing can emerge.
In it there is the majesty of the orchestra, the emphasis of the choir, there are heavier and more progressive passages (although softened both by the production and by the dialogue with the symphonic scores), there are textures derived from ambient and electronics, and, above all, there is crazy vocal work.
Just like in a musical, Devin remains the protagonist, with his changing and versatile voice, but alongside him, in the role of two key characters, we find both Anneke Van Giersbergen, celestial as always, and the extraordinary Lynn Wu of OU. Three very different voices, which together reach an out-of-scale color spectrum.

The seventy minutes that make up the work are many, but they are never excessively heavy, because the tracklist manages to balance the central moments well with the connecting passages, furthermore the richness of tone given by the orchestra makes everything very changing, almost completely avoiding redundant or cloying moments.
Clearly “The Moth” is not to be considered as a collection of songs, it is really difficult to extrapolate individual episodes, so much so that one of the singles chosen by Devin a few days after publication is not a song, but the sum of two distinct moments in sequence, “Prepare For War” and “The Snit”.
The album is made to be enjoyed in its entirety, from start to finish, possibly with the lyrics booklet in hand: we will therefore avoid dwelling on individual moments, making an exception only for “Covered By Causes”, an eight-minute masterpiece which truly contains all the best of this project, in terms of balance, richness of the arrangements and vocal performance.

To conclude, therefore, we can say, without fear of being wrong, that “The Moth” represents the culmination of Devin Townsend's recent career, for ambition and for how it manages to be representative of his artistic vision.
Anyone who has followed this extraordinary artist in all his evolutions will find here his entire and multifaceted personality elevated to power, with all that follows; the only aspect left out, in fact, is the more ironic side and camp of his music, the one that plays with nonsense, which made him create crazy characters like Ziltoid.
It is a more introspective and composed album, never serious or written with didactic intent, yet aware of how, when one exposes oneself in this way, one cannot always adopt a playful mask.
And perhaps, precisely in light of this last consideration, the symbolic image of this work becomes its cover itself, which for once abandons the illustrations, in favor of a simple black and white photograph of a man of immense talent who seeks, first of all, peace and serenity.