-- PLEASE NOTE - Marathon Music Works is a cashless venue. Only debit or credit cards are accepted at our bars, box office and guest services window. Please plan accordingly.
PLEASE RIDESHARE - Parking is limited around the venue. We strongly recommend using rideshare apps like Uber or Lyft for transportation to and from the venue. There is a designated rideshare pick up / drop off location near the entrance for your convenience.
Need an Access Code? Sign up for our newsletter to get new show announcements, exclusive presale codes, rental discounts and more. Sign up HERE.
*Presale codes are usually sent out on Thursdays at 10am as part of our weekly newsletter.
Devin Townsend’s career is one of many distinct eras. He’s been the leader of Strapping Young Lad, the lynchpin of the Devin Townsend Project and the co-architect of country duo Casualties of Cool, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. Now, the polymath’s newest era starts with Powernerd: a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind’s childhood love of vintage rock.
“It was a conscious thing,” Devin says of his brand-new album, the music on which he wrote in just 11 days. “I thought, ‘I’ve spent so much time overthinking every aspect of my work – what would happen if I didn’t?’ Maybe I would have the opportunity to be a bit more direct with what it is that I’m trying to do. I really wanted to see if I could cut through some of the meandering.”
From the moment the title track ignites the record with a roar of “Powernerd!” and scrambles of Motörhead-like urgency, Devin’s 28th studio project is a gallop of melody, noise and emotion. The opener and “Knuckledragger” are all-out, high-speed rampages, their impact intensified by their central figure’s signature ‘wall of sound’ production style.
However, that aggression is far from the only thing to come from Powernerd’s 11 episodic tracks. “Dreams of Light”, by comparison, is an evocative and dynamic four-minute ballad. “Younger Lover” calms down from an explosive opening to lush verses of synths and singing, whereas “Falling Apart” and “Jainism” add texture after texture on top of dulcet, acoustic introductions. With each song also having an irresistible hook at its heart, Devin has undeniably crafted a soulful instant classic of a rock record.
Where Powernerd’s music is clear, though, its theme is far more complex. For all its displays of Devin’s beloved humour, the album finds the mastermind wrestling with emotion too.
“I guess the lesson that I needed to learn from this experience was, if you’re going through something emotionally – loss, specifically – whatever aesthetic you use artistically is just going to adhere itself to that,” Devin explains. “So – as much as I tried to make a simple, fun, party record – it ended up being such an emotionally heavy experience for me. It’s going to come out and you can’t really suppress it. From what was originally a quick, simple record, the process of loss and acceptance was just something I didn’t expect.”
As a result, where Powernerd’s music was written in less than a fortnight, its lyrics were refined over a far longer period of time into a narrative about strength and healing. On “Falling Apart”, Devin commands himself to “keep the tension under control”. “You’ve got to believe that things will only get better,” subsequent song “Gratitude” powerfully declares. These uplifting messages even play into the record’s title.
Devin offers as a definition: “I would say that a powernerd would be somebody that has a tendency that society has deemed weak or not valuable, whether that’s empathy or being an insular person or an introvert, and turns that into a type of personal power. It’s like, ‘OK, yeah, I’m sensitive to this, that and the other thing, but man, I am going to pull through! I am going to do things with that sensitivity that are rooted in strength.’”
As well as express strength through adversity, Powernerd will open the door to Devin’s immediate future. Its positivity and succinctness will soon be contrasted by follow-up The Moth – self-described as “orchestral, over-the-top, dark and uncomfortable” – and the “alien weirdness” of finale Axolotl. Both efforts have already been written, and together the trilogy will express the mind-boggling range of this man’s musical talent.
For now, though, Devin has faced the throes of grief then conveyed them in a therapeutic, focussed and ultimately inspiring release. The next chapter of the prog star’s work is off to an unmissable start. And, when this era comes to a close, who knows what will come next?
Since 2018’s Sonder, TesseracT have risen to new heights across the globe, consistently smashing through glass ceilings and touring arenas with the likes of Bullet for My Valentine, Dream Theater and Gojira. In addition to being established high-profile festival headliners themselves. On their fifth studio album, War Of Being, TesseracT return with a career-high release that is their most conceptual, dynamic and sonically complex to date. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional journey undertaken by two characters (ex and el), within The Strangeland, a world made to reflect the socio-economic state of our own. Throughout its hour-long run time, the band treat listeners to sprawling atmospherics, impassioned vocal performances from Daniel Tompkins and atom bomb level heavy riffs. The band have long been an innovative entity and with War Of Being prove they have become masters of a truly unique sound. Recorded at Middle Farm Studios in the UK, co-produced and engineered by the band and Peter Miles (Dodie, Sylosis, Architects) along with long-time collaborator Katherine Marsh of Choir Noir (Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Marillion). Assisting with additional programming and production, the band were joined by Randy Slaugh (Periphery, Architects, Devin Townsend). With additional engineering by Forrester Savell (Karnivool). War Of Being is TesseracT’s defining moment, one that will be remembered as the beginning of a new era for this forward-thinking, dynamic band.
-- PLEASE NOTE - Marathon Music Works is a cashless venue. Only debit or credit cards are accepted at our bars, box office and guest services window. Please plan accordingly.
PLEASE RIDESHARE - Parking is limited around the venue. We strongly recommend using rideshare apps like Uber or Lyft for transportation to and from the venue. There is a designated rideshare pick up / drop off location near the entrance for your convenience.
Need an Access Code? Sign up for our newsletter to get new show announcements, exclusive presale codes, rental discounts and more. Sign up HERE.
*Presale codes are usually sent out on Thursdays at 10am as part of our weekly newsletter.
Devin Townsend’s career is one of many distinct eras. He’s been the leader of Strapping Young Lad, the lynchpin of the Devin Townsend Project and the co-architect of country duo Casualties of Cool, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. Now, the polymath’s newest era starts with Powernerd: a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind’s childhood love of vintage rock.
“It was a conscious thing,” Devin says of his brand-new album, the music on which he wrote in just 11 days. “I thought, ‘I’ve spent so much time overthinking every aspect of my work – what would happen if I didn’t?’ Maybe I would have the opportunity to be a bit more direct with what it is that I’m trying to do. I really wanted to see if I could cut through some of the meandering.”
From the moment the title track ignites the record with a roar of “Powernerd!” and scrambles of Motörhead-like urgency, Devin’s 28th studio project is a gallop of melody, noise and emotion. The opener and “Knuckledragger” are all-out, high-speed rampages, their impact intensified by their central figure’s signature ‘wall of sound’ production style.
However, that aggression is far from the only thing to come from Powernerd’s 11 episodic tracks. “Dreams of Light”, by comparison, is an evocative and dynamic four-minute ballad. “Younger Lover” calms down from an explosive opening to lush verses of synths and singing, whereas “Falling Apart” and “Jainism” add texture after texture on top of dulcet, acoustic introductions. With each song also having an irresistible hook at its heart, Devin has undeniably crafted a soulful instant classic of a rock record.
Where Powernerd’s music is clear, though, its theme is far more complex. For all its displays of Devin’s beloved humour, the album finds the mastermind wrestling with emotion too.
“I guess the lesson that I needed to learn from this experience was, if you’re going through something emotionally – loss, specifically – whatever aesthetic you use artistically is just going to adhere itself to that,” Devin explains. “So – as much as I tried to make a simple, fun, party record – it ended up being such an emotionally heavy experience for me. It’s going to come out and you can’t really suppress it. From what was originally a quick, simple record, the process of loss and acceptance was just something I didn’t expect.”
As a result, where Powernerd’s music was written in less than a fortnight, its lyrics were refined over a far longer period of time into a narrative about strength and healing. On “Falling Apart”, Devin commands himself to “keep the tension under control”. “You’ve got to believe that things will only get better,” subsequent song “Gratitude” powerfully declares. These uplifting messages even play into the record’s title.
Devin offers as a definition: “I would say that a powernerd would be somebody that has a tendency that society has deemed weak or not valuable, whether that’s empathy or being an insular person or an introvert, and turns that into a type of personal power. It’s like, ‘OK, yeah, I’m sensitive to this, that and the other thing, but man, I am going to pull through! I am going to do things with that sensitivity that are rooted in strength.’”
As well as express strength through adversity, Powernerd will open the door to Devin’s immediate future. Its positivity and succinctness will soon be contrasted by follow-up The Moth – self-described as “orchestral, over-the-top, dark and uncomfortable” – and the “alien weirdness” of finale Axolotl. Both efforts have already been written, and together the trilogy will express the mind-boggling range of this man’s musical talent.
For now, though, Devin has faced the throes of grief then conveyed them in a therapeutic, focussed and ultimately inspiring release. The next chapter of the prog star’s work is off to an unmissable start. And, when this era comes to a close, who knows what will come next?
Since 2018’s Sonder, TesseracT have risen to new heights across the globe, consistently smashing through glass ceilings and touring arenas with the likes of Bullet for My Valentine, Dream Theater and Gojira. In addition to being established high-profile festival headliners themselves. On their fifth studio album, War Of Being, TesseracT return with a career-high release that is their most conceptual, dynamic and sonically complex to date. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional journey undertaken by two characters (ex and el), within The Strangeland, a world made to reflect the socio-economic state of our own. Throughout its hour-long run time, the band treat listeners to sprawling atmospherics, impassioned vocal performances from Daniel Tompkins and atom bomb level heavy riffs. The band have long been an innovative entity and with War Of Being prove they have become masters of a truly unique sound. Recorded at Middle Farm Studios in the UK, co-produced and engineered by the band and Peter Miles (Dodie, Sylosis, Architects) along with long-time collaborator Katherine Marsh of Choir Noir (Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Marillion). Assisting with additional programming and production, the band were joined by Randy Slaugh (Periphery, Architects, Devin Townsend). With additional engineering by Forrester Savell (Karnivool). War Of Being is TesseracT’s defining moment, one that will be remembered as the beginning of a new era for this forward-thinking, dynamic band.
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