Devin Townsend’s Extreme Metal Hails the New Flesh
Through their respective arts—Devin Townsend’s dense, aggressive music and David Cronenberg’s visceral, psychological cinema—they explore the fraught boundaries of human experience.
Alien Strapping Young Lad Hevy Devy | Century Media 22 March 2005
Devin Townsend and David Cronenberg delve deeply into the complex and often unsettling relationship between body, identity, and transformation. Through their respective arts—Townsend’s dense, aggressive music and Cronenberg’s visceral, psychological cinema—they explore the fraught boundaries of human experience.
The phrase “Long live the new flesh”, from David Cronenberg’s 1983 sci-fi horror film Videodrome, acts as an evocative symbol for this exploration: a call to embrace change, even when it is monstrous, alienating, or deeply disorienting. For Devin Townsend, particularly during his Strapping Young Lad era, this call to transformation is reflected in his intense, chaotic music and persona, which echoes the tragic physical and psychological mutation of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) in Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986).
Brundle’s horrific metamorphosis, a terrifying fusion of man and insect, embodies a fundamental loss of control—both bodily and mental—and the painful struggle to reconcile human frailty with the overwhelming transformation. Likewise, Townsend’s work wrestles openly with inner turmoil, madness, and the tantalizing possibility of rebirth. His lyrics and evolving soundscapes chart a complex journey—from chaos and self-destruction toward clarity and balance—from monstrous excess to a more grounded, “human” state. The profound parallels between Townsend’s music and Cronenberg’s cinematic themes illustrate how the concept through which “new flesh” becomes a powerful lens to understand Townsend’s artistic evolution and personal transformation.
The Mad Scientist and the Monster Within
Devin Townsend’s Strapping Young Lad persona embodies the archetype of the mad scientist, much like Seth Brundle in The Fly. Townsend earned the nickname “mad scientist of metal” for his ability to construct dense, layered sonic textures that push the boundaries of aggression and controlled chaos. Strapping Young Lad’s 2005 album Alien can be heard as a sonic maelstrom—an intense, overwhelming soundscape that mimics the internal and external torment of Brundle’s mutation.
Brundle’s transformation is driven by scientific experimentation gone awry: a horrific fusion of human and fly DNA that results in physical grotesqueness and mental unraveling. Townsend’s Alien reflects this scientific obsession and loss of control. The track “Shitstorm” explicitly references scientific themes, repeating the words “Science, science, science / And math, math, math” over a relentlessly pounding background. This mirrors Brundle’s fixation on his experiments and the desperate struggle to retain control over his body and mind even as they betray him.
Devin Townsend’s mad scientist persona extends beyond Strapping Young Lad’s raw chaos. His Physicist era, during which he often appeared in promotional photos wearing a lab coat, visually reinforces the image of the obsessive experimenter. This visual theme underscores his ongoing exploration of scientific and psychological transformation, mirroring the compulsive and destructive tendencies embodied by Brundle.
Vomit as a Symbol of Repulsion and Loss of Control
One of the most visceral and unforgettable moments in The Fly is when Brundlefly vomits uncontrollably—a raw, physical manifestation of his body’s violent rejection of its mutation. This act of bodily revolt is as much psychological as it is physical, representing revulsion toward the self and the horror of transformation.
Devin Townsend’s song “Detox” contains strikingly similar imagery, with the lyrics, “All my hopes and aspirations / Nothing but puke. God, I’m so lonely.”
This evokes the same sense of physical and emotional disgust, a rejection of one’s self and the alienation that transformation can cause. Vomit here symbolizes the betrayal of the body and mind, the loss of agency, and the anguish that accompanies profound change. Townsend’s raw, bodily imagery connects directly to the physical horror Cronenberg famously explores, making Townsend’s internal torment palpable through music.
The Fear of Procreation and Transformation
Another key theme in The Fly is Brundle’s growing dread of procreation; specifically, his fear that having a child would multiply his monstrous mutation and perpetuate the horror of his transformation. This anxiety about legacy and the continuation of trauma echoes in Devin Townsend’s Strapping Young Lad track “Possessions”:
“And being HUMAN / …is FUCKED as it is / With all these questions / Of FAITH, and of…KIDS!!! / So what do you wanna do now baby??? / …Do you wanna have a fucking BABY!?”
These lyrics capture the ambivalence and fear surrounding the creation of life in a world marked by chaos and dysfunction. Like Brundle, Townsend wrestles with the existential horror of extending the consequences of personal and societal dysfunction through future generations. Both narratives confront the terrifying uncertainty of legacy, identity, and transformation—whether genetic, psychological, or cultural.
From Chaos to Clarity: The Journey Beyond the Monster
While Alien represents the apex of Devin Townsend’s chaotic, monstrous phase, his artistic and personal journey moves far beyond it. His later works, especially the Ziltoid albums, mark a form of rebirth and renewed control. Ziltoid the Omniscient (2007) centers on an alien figure that ironically embodies themes of estrangement and absurdity. It also signals a turning point where Townsend regains agency and embraces a more balanced, complex identity.