Yes Doug. This is a good one. I struggle to name a more “human” artist working today. I look forward to catching this later.

A friend of mine, many years ago, listening to Terria, described his music as "something that gets into you, takes your guts and turns you inside out, to then gently put you back together, with love and care". Devin is much more than just a musician, he's a powerful amplifier of humanity.

There were a lot of comments at the time that the crowd at that show were quiet, but as an attendee to this show, when someone is projecting something like Devin does, it's hard to jump about and sing along because you find yourself captivated by what is happening on stage. There was a number of people in my section in the stands deadly silent during The Death Of Music, because to not be transfixed with the music would have been to do it a disservice

You could probably request an interview with Devin for your channel - he's done one with The Charismatic Voice - seems like a really chill and friendly dude.

HE'S DOING IT. I actually juat asked him on patreon to do this one, I guess it was coming anyway, ha

Funeral is a very emotional song. When Devin played this song in his quarantine live performance he broke into tears to the point he was almost unable to keep singing 😔

Re Funeral, taken from an old Metal Hammer interview: "But the most stirring songs on Ocean Machine are those that confront that cruel plane of existence head on. Life, a sonically uplifting rumination on the preciousness of existence, and Funeral, a hymn-like address punctuated with desperate cries, were written following the death of 16-year-old schoolmate Jesse Cadman. On the evening of October 18, 1992, he was senselessly stabbed. “He was killed walking home by a group of kids that wanted his hat,” says Devin quietly Though Devin and Jesse weren’t close, Devin was good friends with Jesse’s sister. He also played in local band Grey Skies, of which Jesse was a fan. When it came to organising his funeral, the Cadmans asked Devin to speak in church - something that left an indelible impact on him. “I hadn’t experienced death in a tangible way prior to that, so when we went to the funeral and I had to speak, I remember I hadn’t anticipated they were gonna bring the body out, and I just panicked,” he says. “I couldn’t cope with it, and I wasn’t alone in that, either. It was a real heavy time for a lot of people, because it was our first experience with that sort of thing, and it was senseless. It affected my teen years profoundly.” Jesse’s parents became involved in youth work and politics, and Devin is moved to learn that his mum, Dona Cadman, has publicly spoken alongside the mother of her son’s killer. “It’s a testament to the parts of the human condition that are worth fighting for,” he says."

I will never in all my life tire of these 3 songs together, especially in this live set.

"The vocal delivery is something only he can do" is pretty much what I'll take from this. Really really enjoyed this reaction.

The amazing thing is that Devin absolutely wailed for two whole hours prior to Funeral and still haz ample gas in the tank. Absolutely amazing!

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet, but he did a solo livestream of Ocean Machine that you ABSOLUTELY need to check out. These three tunes in particular are absolutely wrenching.

I've been a Devin fan for going on 20 years and have NEVER listened to Funeral until now... just crept by me all these years.... holy crap.... firsttime i've cried in a year.

Thanks for doing this. My favorite. I did get to see him in a small venue, just before lockdown. Absolutely amazing. Best show I've ever seen. Stripped down and beautiful. He did a rooftop quarantine concert of Ocean Machine. My wife was going through cancer surgeries at the time. I threw out a line and asked him to say hi to raise her spirits. He dedicated the whole show to her.

Devin is legendary. I have every album he's ever done aswell as Strapping Young Lad too.

I've been with Devin since 98 and it's surprisingly emotional to hear other people discover him for the first time and find out what us OG fans have known for decades. Especially guys like Doug who CLEARLY understand music and composition. Welcome to the best fandom in the world Doug!

Came back to this little corner of the internet to report on seeing this exact trilogy of songs at the same venue on 17th April 2022. I cried my fucking eyes out Doug :)

One little observation: when Doug first reacted to Devin he didn't seem to like the screaming parts that much. In this reaction he seems to be cheering when they happen, put a big smile on my face.

I’ve seen him many times and the feelings I’ve experienced at his shows are unmatched. I highly recommend everyone go see him and feel it for yourself.

Devin plays for the most part using an open C tuning. What an artist and a heck of a human being. He makes me very proud to be Canadian. Thank you so much for reacting to these songs.

You need to see this guy live. Seen him at least half a dozen times or so. Every gig is different in songs, tone etc, but every one without fail is an experience you don't forget. Best artist I've ever seen live. Met him too and he is a wonderful guy, which makes the music even better.

This album, and these songs in particular were the first time I'd ever really been emotionally moved by music. To this day some of my favourite songs.

"Death of Music" literally gives me the shivers and goosebumps. This might be the ONLY song that I have EVER heard in my ENTIRE life.....that punches me in the face THIS hard. Oh man,....jeez, wow! Words cannot describe. It's soooooo painful AND sooooooo beautiful at the exact same time. How did he take two extremes and merge them perfectly like this?

The acoustic version of Funeral he does at cbc music is so haunting. His use of delay and reverb is just masterful. I really recommend you check that out. Had the pleasure of see him play that in his acoustic show. That was a magical night.

Great choice! 😁🤘

Thank you for introducing my husband and me to new music. Following your analysis, we watched Devin Townsend's ethereal acoustic version of Funeral on CBC Music. His angelic, melodic voice blew us away! Thanks also for introducing us to a new word - eargasm. Lol! This album is a must for the collection.

His music has a peaceful intensity

My absolute favorite from Scotland: The Laphroaig 10 is a perfect match to the intensity and the complexity of Devin's music. Cheers Doug!

See you all on feb 5th for Devin's livestream!

Great reaction Doug! I totally agree with the "eargasm" . Thanks!!🙏👍🙂

I would LOVE to see his Casualties of Cool Dunlop session here 🖤

A French literary theorist named Maurice Blanchot writes about the "end of death" and "writing of disaster", verbal paradoxes that work almost as well in English as they do in French. Anyway, "the death of music" is a paradoxical phrase and idea because it represents both "the death which is music" and "music meeting with death"... the word "of" is always paradoxical. In The Writing of the Disaster, Blanchot writes about how on the one hand, we write about catastrophe, but also, catastrophe is written upon us, writes upon us. I find a lot of similar ideas emerge from Devin Townsend's lyrics.

Thanks for introducing The Devin Townsend Project to me mon ami!! Vocals are boss. I hope Jim Morrison can hear this.

You should check out Devin’s podcasts Doug. The 1st one is about Ocean Machine and where his head was at when he wrote the album. Personally I find that Devin’s Music can be categorised or explained in one of two ways Euphorically Brutal Or Brutally Euphoric They both fit!

Awesome reaction. You could say a thousand words about this, and it wouldn't explain it enough. I love how he gave himself damn goosebumps while singing Death of Music. Profound doesn't come close.

These three songs always bring tears to my eyes. Devin Townsend is amazing, hands down my favorite musician.

I love people reacting to and sharing Devins music. He performed the entirety of the Ocean Machine album in Plovdiv in 2017, I highly recommend you check out that performance Doug.

One of the premier musical talents of our time. Endlessly creative, touching, and so human, but with superhuman vocal and guitar skills. Love him so much. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago and he was so nice and warm. I told him I'd been a fan since 1993 and he just gave me a big hug. Someone said "never meet your heroes", to which I'd reply: Pick better heroes!

My favorite section of maybe my favorite album of all time. Truly amazing

Devin is a national treasure.

No bigger loss of innocence for anyone, but especially kids than knowing a murder victim.

I don’t have perfect pitch like you do, but I do have synesthesia. And his music is just a huge burst of colors. The sound is so full, and colorful.

Thanks for doing this Doug. Loved that you took the time to go through all the lyrics. This is still one of my favorite albums of his, and love these songs so much!

One of the greatest rock concert performances ever.

Your pure joy at his vocal performance makes me happy too. Now you've sparked my interest in another musician that I've never really listened to. Thanks Doug!

And I thought I needed to go to therapy... This was the therapy I needed. Thanks Doug, your comments along this video really resonated. This was WAY more than a just reaction. You're the man. Cheers.

Devin is a worldwide treasure. Talent wise, he’s in a very rare pool. It’s crazy how little mainstream love he gets

I happened to be at that gig, sitting just to the right of the first camera shot. A great night, but....but, but I saw him earlier on the tour at a small venue (Bristol Academy) and that was a fucking riot. His manner is like a standup comedian; casual, and very funny. Shining supported, and they blew everyones minds too. A hilarious night in the pit.

It's nice to see dynamics in music these days.

Yes, you definitely need to experience Devin live. Not only is he an amazing composer/musician and singer, he's also hilarious and ridiculously charismatic on stage, and his shows just have a wonderfully joyful vibe. I've never been at a concert with more smiling faces in the crowd. And yes, the Ocean Machine album, for me is Devin's masterpiece. He's written a lot of wonderful music, and also some self-indulgent stuff I have to say, but where Strapping Young Lad's City album is his most intense 'angry young man' record, Ocean Machine is his most intensely emotional release. And Synchestra rounds out the top 3 for me, fyi, which might be his most joyful album - I think that record marks his final transformation away from that angry young metalhead and into some kind of prog buddhist 😁

Yeah man , I saw Devin a lot , and ALWAYS great. Even the accoustic show was so much fun to see ... Miss al these awesome live shows during the pandemic ....

It would be interesting to see Doug's reaction to the next, and final, song of this concert. I've always loved the fact that Devin followed up this trio of songs with the most hopeful, raucously joyful piece of music that he's ever recorded: "Universal Flame". I call it "secular praise music".

Can't wait. 3 amazing songs.

Look at the distance to microphone at times. Incredible power to project his voice.

Devin and Dream Theater on tour in Europe!!! Must See Shows

Devin's performance of The Death of Music at the Ancient Amphitheater in Plovdiv was incredible. An orchestra was also included too! Actually Doug, there's an Extended Play for you as he played the entire Ocean Machine album there...

Met him a few times and he's a gentle soul.. I talk to Ryan (his drummer at the time) and he's a good egg as well.

To quote Meg Ryan, “yes, yes, yes!” Without hearing a single note. Need to add that you should check out his older concert Retinal Circus at Royal Albert Hall. And there’s a nice little bonus…Anneke van Giersbergen!

Especially with headphones on I feel Devin's music fills every unoccupied space of my brain. Some of the greatest headphone music imo Great react 👍🤘

Crap man I listened to this song for 20+ years and you just tease out nuggets that I had no idea were there. Great Job.

I think Devin is one of the rare people that can see music, rather than just hearing it. He definitely processes it on a different level than the rest of us. I've never run across someone else who can have so many layers and such a massive soundscape and not get lost in it.. Maybe it's just his way of drowning out his demons, but whatever it is, it's amazing and touches us all in a positive way

I SIMP for Lydian so much.....great breakdown Doug muhahaha

Powerful three songs of music and this live performance is brilliant. Really glad you did all three together. Bastard and Death of Music especially always hit hard.

The fact that he managed to perform this live at THIS show without bursting into tears is just incredible. He performed Funeral on a livestream a while ago and he had to take a break mid song, and that was without a crowd. Imagine doing it at the Royal Albert Hall, incredible!

This reaction of yours is by far my favourite. The commentary is exquisite. I've seen Devin multiple times in London and it's always worth the ticket.

Somehow the sound of these atmospheric rock songs by Devin T reminds me of the sound of several songs from Queen's album Innuendo (the last released before Freddie died). There is something epic and dreamlike about it...

The bass player is awesome and he's wearing an Iron Maiden shirt which makes him doubly awesome.

Such vocal passion.

Your lyrical analyses are on point! Very interesting. For songs that I've known for so long, but never really dove into the lyrical content.

When Ocean Machine: BioMech was released, I was blown away. The whole album is layers upon layers of music to the extent that you feel completely satiated by it.

Would love to see you dive into some Leprous. Progressive rock band from Norway. Unbelievable vocalist and outstanding drummer. One of the more underrated bands out there that has their own distinct sound. You can pick any album/song and get a different experience. The Congregation and Pitfalls seem to be the more popular albums (the former being my favorite) and their newest album Aphelion is pretty unique. Give them a shot you might enjoy them!

I'm more than sure he'd be up for an online interview on your channel if you tried asking him. Interesting and deep guy. Seen him live a few times and he really knows how to work an audience. Definitely not your typical metal guy.

Anxiously awaiting!

Well done Doug, you've introduced me to yet another amazing artist! I will look out for more stuff from this lad.

The Mighty Dev, and good whiskey! Couldn't be better 👍

Devin is incredible. Funeral and The Death of Music are sooo gut wrenching intense, so full of beauty and pain. Something personal for you Doug: you just happen to look a whole lot like a favorite uncle, which passed away a few years ago. He loved classical music, he loved Laphroaig, even your voice is close :-) Now combine these Devin tracks with your face and comments, and my emotions start spilling over.... Love your channel.

this one, i'm excited for! :)

This is the reason I'm watching this: beeing german and not even a musician, myself: these insights I would never come to realize, if only listening to the songs. But I want to understand more. Like "Strong", written by Floor Jansen is about her mother, struggling with rheumatism, all of her life. When she sung "I don't know a thing about love", it was the song that Ruben Annink had written about the divorce of his parents. (I think she even translated it to the english. I might be wrong.) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l86pnsRyta7Mo2w.html It's these insights, I'm looking for. Thank you, Doug! Happy new year and stay safe!

The Devin Townsend Divine Trio of live songs. Awesome 👌

Devon Townsend does an incredible (and creative) cover of Judas Priest's 'The Sinner' .. and he hits all the notes! I had never heard of him before hearing that .. I was blown away .. and it brought me here today .. cheers! : )

Doug has come a very long way from Episode 71 to Episode 305 when it comes to Devin's voice. Maybe it's the headphones.....Or maybe we converted him.

Please check out the final song, Universal Flame, from this show. After three deeply heavy songs, this song is beautifully positive. It sounds like the song Bill & Ted were supposed to write to save the world (or whatever Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was about).

I love it when new people begin to appreciate the talent and musicianship of Metal. Doug, do yourself a favor (and all of us), and listen to Ne Obliviscaris: As Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope -- live in CO 2016. I promise you will be blown away.

Fates Warning “Still Remains”, live in Athens 2005. Five ⭐️

Goosebumps, y'all!

His music sounds like what you should be listening to while exploring new planets

You seem to appreciate screamed notes more than in the past. :)

What makes these particular performances even more amazing is that Devin was fighting off a flu during this concert. During the show, he talked about barely having a voice ("I sounded like Super Grover!") just a few days prior. Absolute insanity.

Devin uses an Open C tuning (C-G-C-G-C-E) for most of his songs, for what it's worth. It's the same tuning Jimmy Page used on the song Friends. Anyway, this is good stuff. I haven't heard all of these, so it was fun hearing them for the first time with your input.

I’d like to see Doug react to “Spirits Will Collide” also by Devin Townsend. Such a powerful song-gives me goosebumps every time I hear it

It’s really fun to see you go on a journey with the music. Especially the experience of surprise or delight.

Thanks for doing this

I'm late to the game as usual but I went to the same high school as Devin. I think he was one year ahead of me but I remember seeing him. I don't know the story behind the song but I recall him for sure. Van Tec Secondary. My only regret is that I didn't discover his music earlier. As a multi instrumentalist myself, I can really appreciate the emotion behind this song and his live performance of it

Devin does a beautiful fully acoustic version of 'Funeral'. I think you'd appreciate that version as much.

1 year late to this video, but I have to say: welcome to the fandom. I've been binging Doug's content, and I'm still to find a music where he gets flabbergasted to the point where he loses his train of thought like he did here in Bastard. (16:55 for those interested.) If that isn't the most legit "welcome to Devin Townsend" moment I've ever seen, an absolute expert in music and composition just stopping dead in his tracks and saying "well, that's an eargasm", I don't know what is. Just about everyone that hears Devin has it, and usually gets hooked for life.

I absolutely love the way you talk about and understand dev's music. Thank you!🙏

This live version of Death of is my favorite live vocal performance of all time

Best trilogy of songs ever!

Always excited for more Devin Townsend. Keep it up Doug!

Easy to lose track of time listening to him. Good music does that. Picks you up and takes you for a ride.

Thank you, Doug! During the last Devin Townsend concert I attended I stood in a group of choir singers In their 20ies. We sang along the whole concert. To me it was like a church service in a non-religious way. A musical and emotional revelation. Atheist gospel.