STRAPPING YOUNG LAD Mainman Talks About The Making Of 'The New Black'

Justin Donnelly of The Metal Forge recently conducted an interview with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD mainman Devin Townsend. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

On writing the new STRAPPING YOUNG LAD album, "The New Black":

"When it comes to making STRAPPING YOUNG LAD albums, it's just a matter of me picking up the guitar and starting to write something. Whatever feels like coming out at that given time dictates the direction STRAPPING YOUNG LAD takes. There's no real conscious decision to make things sound the way they do. I simply start writing and go for it. This time around there a little more groove, a little more melody and a lot humour. It's simply what we came up with at the time. Every album we've done has been unique unto itself, and 'The New Black' is no different in that regard. It's never preconceived. It's not like we sit down and determine whether it's going to sound like this or sound like that. We had the opportunity to make this album, and with that in mind, the most honest thing we could do is just let it all come out and let it be what it wants to be. I think maybe this album wanted to be a little more melodic, a little less chaotic and a little easier to relate to. I think the humour plays a big part of that equation. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this album. I'm not hoping for this album to do anything more than what our other albums have done in the past. I don't care about that. As soon as you put hopes on something, it kind of breaks it down. 'The New Black' is just another album in a long line of albums. I'm just happy that we did a good job on it, and that it came out sounding good. The only hope I have is that people enjoy it for what it is, and that we can move on from this."

On decision to add horns to a song on the new album:

"They're actual horns too! I was never cool, so I always decided to do uncool things when most people wouldn't. So it shouldn't come to any surprise to find me putting horns and flutes in a heavy metal song. Some people might find that it dubious decision, but for me, it sounds like 'West Side Story'. I think it sounds good. I kind of had it in my head from the beginning to have brass on there, even though it's a song for STRAPPING YOUNG LAD. As for what you call the blurred line, in terms of sonically and the melodic elements, I would say that be a fair statement. But overall, this album definitely comes from a STRAPPING YOUNG LAD headspace no matter how melodic it may be."

Read the entire interview at www.themetalforge.com .