Devin Townsend – The Moth
Release Date: 29th May 2026
Label: InsideOut
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Metal, Rock Opera.
FFO: Emperor, Cradle of Filth, Arcturus.
Review By: Jeff Finch
There are few people in the music industry who are almost universally respected and praised by both fans and peers alike: Devin Townsend is one of those few. As great a human as he is a talented musician, Devy has never released a bad album, and the sheer amount of sounds he produces is staggering for someone who has never dropped a dud. All this having been said, a disclaimer for this review: Devy is one of my all-time favorites, and in my estimation, he’s never released anything short of excellent, including today’s focus, The Moth.
As I’ve learnt throughout fandom, it’s hard to be critical of your favorite artists, but with Devy, it’s even harder because what is there to be critical of? The arrangements are spectacular, and his singing voice is as if he hasn’t aged a day. The man still sounds just as good as when Strapping Young Lad was a thing. Whatever his vocal techniques are, and whatever his practice sessions are like, he is doing something incredibly correct. Devy may have sounded better before in certain areas, but with him, it’s just varying levels of spectacular vocally. And this also includes his screams; to be able to go from soft utterances to heart-wrenching anguish screamed to the heavens is impressive in and of itself, but for Devin, everything just hits exactly how it should: humanly. Those transitions are remarkable.
And speaking of transitions, The Moth is not an album that should be approached as individual songs. There are 24 tracks on this that I’m reviewing, but as you’re listening to it, you don’t realize it. A song could be two minutes or eight minutes, and you’d never know it was meant to be different tracks; it all masterfully blends together, undoubtedly exactly how this is supposed to sound. It doesn’t feel like this is just audio taken from a visual and audio performance; this sounds like Devy musically composed the concept and then made those sounds into sights. It’s awe-inspiring, at points, just how good this is. There are moments of pure rage on here, excellent riffs, his soft croons, guest vocalists, orchestras, choirs, and just the Devin Townsend-patented wall of sound; but it’s a wall of sound that doesn’t just hit you with one noise; it hits you with an epic arrangement.
It’s hard to consider Devin Townsend releasing anything remotely less than excellent, as I alluded to before, but this late in his career, this close to probable retirement, the pure elation a listener will get hearing this and knowing that Devin has not lost a step in decades is incredible. This is just another notch in the argument for greatest single musician of all time. If this is one of the last things we hear from Devy, then he’s making sure that we go out with a smile on our face just as big as his, because I know he’s proud of this. If we get more Devy after this, all the better for everyone else, but if you like Devin Townsend, you don’t need to read any of this review. Go listen to it. You will enjoy it. It’s just a matter of where it ends up on your list from 1A to 1Z.
(5 / 5)
