STRAPPING YOUNG LAD have completed tracking their highly anticipated new album, The New Black, which frontman Devin Townsend promises to be the group’s definitive release. The soon-to-be genre defying epic will showcase a new dimension of the SYL beast that puts an emphasis on incorporating more hooks and catchier melodies into the group’s renowned insanity, which is backed up with an abundance of devastating guitar solos. It would be safe to say that you can expect the unexpected.
The album’s U.S. touring campaign will kick off June 29th, as the group joins the second stage lineup at Ozzfest alongside such acclaimed acts as ATREYU, BLEEDING THROUGH and UNEARTH, among others. Townsend further describes his excitement over being a part of Ozzfest and sheds some light on their new disc: “The recording process went amazingly well, and STRAPPING as a whole is really excited about this effort. We were very inspired with the idea of doing Ozzfest, and the concept we are running with on this record is really based around abhorring the current music scene, yet being a part of it in some weird way. SYL is ready to be a subversive product for the unwitting 14-year-olds to scream along with.
“We also intend to sprinkle a little ugly around all the pretty bands this year. You can think of us as the proverbial pubic hair in the cheesecake of this year’s festival. We are ugly, large and angry. We have also been around longer as a band than 90% of the other bands. Most of all, we’re just really excited to be a part of Ozzfest and this summer is going to be crazy. See you all soon.”
On June 12th, Century Media Records will re-release the bands’s 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing. The re-issue features a re-mastered version of this classic debut, four bonus tracks, the “S.Y.L.” video and a 12-page booklet with extended liner notes from Devin himself. As he recalls, “I had finished with the WILDHEARTS just prior to this [1994], and they were so anti- everything that I decided to take a similar approach while focusing on dissonance and just being as over-the-top as I could. Songs didn’t really matter; it was just the intensity and the vibe plus lots of humor. Screaming and laughing are pretty close, I think, and I have just never been ‘hard’, so we do what comes naturally, right? Right.”
Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing (re-issue) tracklisting:
1. “S.Y.L.” 4:46
2. “In the Rainy Season” 4:37
3. “Goat” 3:30
4. “Cod Metal King” 5:08
5. “Happy Camper (Carpe B.U.M.)” 3:01
6. “Critic” 4:08
7. “The Filler - Sweet City Jesus” 5:24
8. “Skin Me” 3:30
9. “Drizzlehell” 3:10
10. “Satan’s Ice Cream Truck” 2:34 (hidden bonus track from original pressing)
11. “Japan” 5:17 (originally Japanese bonus track)
12. “Monday” 5:13 (previously unreleased bonus track)
13. “Exciter” 6:04 (European bonus track from original version; JUDAS PRIEST cover)
+ “S.Y.L.” video clip 4:50