UMUR
"Ki" is the tenth full-length studio album by Canadian artist Devin Townsend. The album was released through HevyDevy Records (Townsend´s own label) in May 2009. It´s the successor to "Ziltoid The Omniscient" from May 2007 and marks the end of a 2 year release hiatus, which at the time was an unusually long break between releases for Townsend. After a period of hectic recording and touring activity, Townsend however decided that he would withdraw from touring, to concentrate on family life and on getting sober from his addiction to alcohol and drugs. He recorded and released "Ziltoid The Omniscient" during the first period of his isolation, but then stopped writing music for a full year, before returning to composing at full force, writing around 60 tracks, some of which ended up on "Ki". Townsend brought in drummer Duris Maxwell and bassist Jean Savoie who he had never worked with before, and also asked former Devin Townsend Band member Dave Young to join the project and play keyboards. Female vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval (who Townsend would create the Casualties of Cool duo project with a few years down the line) sings additional vocals on the album.
Compared to "Ziltoid The Omniscient", "Ki" is a completely different type of release. It´s still unmistakably a Devin Townsend album (although released under The Devin Townsend Project monicker), but it´s predominantly a non-distorted, non-metal oriented release (although it can still be pretty heavy at times). Instead Townsend have opted for a stripped down, organic, and earthy rock sound, which often works through tension and release type dynamics. It´s sometimes a pretty intense album, and often not meant for mellow listening pleasure, so it´s not one of those atmospheric and pretty acoustic guitar releases, although the album does feature a good share of mellow and laid back sections and tracks. Some of the tracks feature jam parts combined with more structured sections and the whole album feels loose and creative in spirit. Featuring 13 tracks and a total playing time of 66:50 minutes, it´s also a pretty long release.
"Ki" is probably Townsend´s most personal release in terms of the lyrical subjects which include subjects like dealing with sober life, self-discovery, and spirituality. "Ki" features a gorgeous organic and earthy sound production. It´s an absolutely brilliant production, where you can hear every detail of the music and all instruments and vocals are well balanced in the mix. It´s interesting to hear Townsend´s music presented in this type of production package, as it stands in great contrast to his usual wall of sound/multi-layered sound productions, but that´s pretty obviously the whole point of "Ki"...to produce a release which sounds vastly different from anything which Townsend had been involved in before.
Personally I find "Ki" a very hard album to get into and it´s taken me many years to get through the album and many re-visits to be able to write something about it. And it´s not because it´s an overtly complex release in terms of the song structures or challenging parts, but it´s the whole atmosphere and the sometimes slow building and repetitive nature of the music (which is often laid back and ambient), which has taken me a while (well...actually a very long time) to get into. Even after all this time "Ki" still leaves me a bit perplexed...
...I´m sure the often idiosyncratic Townsend would be delighted if he read my reaction to "Ki" and the struggles I´ve been through to understand what he has created, but at some point you do have to ask yourself if it´s worth it. Some albums just seem to alienate you even though you try everything to understand them and appreciate them. And that´s how I felt about "Ki" for many years. But understanding and appreciating music sometimes comes down to experience with different types of music, the real life situation you´re experiencing at the given moment, and maybe who you listen to the music with. Negative feelings often create a negative reaction to difficult music, because you don´t have the emotional surplus to grasp it.
The point is that "Ki" is one of the most unique but also one of the most difficult releases in Devin Townsend´s discography, and it´s one of those releases which is an aquired taste. Just because you think of yourself as a Townsend fan doesn´t mean you´ll be able to appreciate "Ki". In parts maybe, but probably not the full album in one sitting unless you´re one of those rare folks who get it right away. But while you should consider yourself warned at this point, I would still urge you to give "Ki" a listen. This is the work of a real artist trying something new and working outside his comfort zone, and while I still have a way to go before I completely surrender to "Ki", there are arguably musical treasures buried on the album, which deserve to be discovered. The only way to find them...is to keep digging. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.