thrives on extremes. From his early Nineties breakthrough singing on Steve Vai’s, to the brutalizing industrial death-thrash of Strapping Young Lad, to his coffee-centered prog opera, to the drone-heavy ambient daydream of last year’s solo album, the Canadian eccentric isn’t known for staying in a specific lane for long. Townsend is just as predictably unpredictable on his 21 solo album,, which may raise eyebrows from the metal faction of his fanbase over its grandiose, hard-swung power ballads (“Lightworker”), industrial biker rock (“Dimensions”) and cactus-scented, electro-acoustic strummers (“Vacation”).
