Devin Townsend Order Of Magnitude

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Marplot

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Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Devin Townsend will release "Order Of Magnitude - Empath Live Volume 1" on October 23, a document of his winter 2019 European tour that saw him taking on possibly his most ambitious live show to date.


Recorded in December 2019 in London, U.K. on the penultimate night of the tour in support of his latest album "Empath", this run of shows saw Devin joined by an incredible lineup of musicians. The band was made up of guitarists Mike Kenneally (ex-FRANK ZAPPA) and Markus Reuter (STICK MEN, THE CRIMSON PROJECT), drummer Morgen Agren (KAIPA, MATS & MORGAN, FRANK ZAPPA), bassist Nathan Navarro, HAKEN keyboard player Diego Tejeida, and guitarist/vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval, as well as vocalists Samantha and Anne Preis and Arabella Packford.


Devin's plan for the "Empath" touring cycle was to divide it up into three "Volumes," and this was Volume 1. The idea behind the shows was a simple one: none of the backing tapes or click tracks that had long been necessary to bring the kaleidoscopic cacophony in his head and on his records to life in the flesh. This would just be Townsend and a band of genius-level musicians getting up there and trying to keep it from spinning off into outer space. Or maybe just letting it spin off into outer space for the sheer hell of it.


"The whole objective was that I wanted to make that statement: This is by the seat our pants," he says. "Because it's important to me to represent this hyper anal-retentive music that I've made over the years, but in a human way. Rather than it just being, 'Well, here it is, perfectly done.'


"I was overwhelmed by the fact that all these brilliant people that I have so much respect for were willing to come together and play this weird shit with me," says Devin. "I had these unique players and this interesting instrumentation that allowed us to interpret the music in different ways. It was clear to me that I could just have fun and be me and know that they would be effortlessly be able to follow that."


That sense of fun and freedom was evident to anyone who was there on the night. Visually, it was an assault on the senses in the best possible way. A digital screen projected vivid images throughout the show. A giant gleaming mirrorball hung from the ceiling. There were multiple costume changes and a tiki bar onstage (a tiki bar!).


"Order Of Magnitude - Empath Live Volume 1" will be released as a limited deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray+DVD artbook (including expanded artwork and photos), limited 2CD+DVD digipak, standalone Blu-ray, gatefold 3LP+2CD vinyl box-set and as a digital Album. The Blu-ray disc includes a bonus behind-the-scenes documentary, and both DVD and Blu-ray feature a 5.1 Surround Sound mix.


The track listing is as follows:


01. Borderlands
02. Evermore
03. War
04. Sprite
05. Gigpig Jam
06. Coast
07. Gato
08. Heavens End
09. Ain't Never Gonna Win
10. Deadhead
11. Why?
12. Lucky Animals
13. Castaway/Genesis
14. Spirits Will Collide
15. Disco Inferno
16. Kingdom


Look out for the first clip and pre-order start on August 28.


In June, "Empath – The Ultimate Edition" was released, the definitive version of Devin's latest studio album. It features a glorious 5.1 Surround Sound mix with accompanying visuals, plus a host of bonus material including mixing lesson, documentary, as well as a live set filmed during his April 2019 acoustic tour.


Last month, Townsend announced a new virtual event dubbed "Empath Volume 2: By Request". Set to take place on September 5, it will see him run through the set he was due to perform at this year's edition of United Kingdom's Bloodstock Open Air festival. Townsend will be joined by drummer Samus Paulicelli, guitarist Wes Hauch and bassist Liam Wilson.

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The original release date was the 23rd, Amazon now says 13 Nov. Looks like you will be first in ..
This is coming just in time too because the amount of times I have listened to Empath in 5.1 and my wife now calls the band by its full name ... F'ing Devon Townsend Listen To Something Else
 
I'm listening to the stereo mix now, and the "Ki" portion of the set is amazing! Coast, Gato, Heaven's End, and Ain't Never Gonna Win. I love that album! Morgan Agren is on fire, and adds an element to the songs that wasn't present on the studio album.

I am definitely ordering the Bluray for these 4 tracks alone.

The stereo mix has a pretty decent DR of 10. The peaks are all at 0db but I don't hear any clipping.
 
Finally got my copy. I ended up using Amazon after ImportCDs cancelled my order due to availability.
I have only listened to it in stereo so far but they did an amazing job of bringing his music to life. And come on, Dev doing Disco Inferno was a hoot.
The behind the scenes was full of musicians working hard and saying what a joy it was. The ending is a somber note from Devin as he mixed it during the pandemic.
 
Finally, 3 months later!! After receiving my copy, I get to watch this Devil , sorry Devin in disguise release. :D
You know, he will always come up with hard driving, rock music but this show is full of surprises. No spoilers.
I'm thoroughly enjoying these fantastic musicians and singers doing their stuff.
If you like Devin and his band then this live release is a no brainer.
I'm sitting here with my head nodding along and feet a tapping, always a good sign.
Even letting the Marantz amp play it via Auro 3D on a couple of tracks, to see if that adds to the overall ambience...to my lugholes ...it sure does. (y)
 
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