A creation of the Canadian composer and producer Devin Townsend, Strapping Young Lad (or simply SYL) is a speed-industrial metal band, characterized by extremely fast and "thrashy" songs, led by the now-screaming, now-melodic vocals provided by Devin himself, and a powerful "wall of sound" technique obtained with the use of several layers of effects, which became a distinctive trait of all of Devin's works. Lineup:Devin Townsend - vocals, guitarsJed Simon - guitarsByron Stroud - bassGene Hoglan - drums
Strapping Young Lad began as a solo project by Canadian musician Devin Townsend. Once he had completed his work as vocalist on Steve Vai's Sex and Religion and that album's subsequent tour, he recorded the majority of the instruments on the debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing.
Rather than remain a solo project, additional members and the release of the album City, saw SYL secure their line-up permanently. City was released to a huge response, prompting Kerrang! magazine to call it one of the heaviest albums ever.
SYL's third album, the self titled Strapping Young Lad, marked SYL's first release on Devin's own label, Hevy Devy Records, which was founded just after the release of City and is managed by Devin and his wife Tracy.
In early 2004, Devin advertised on the band's official forum for fans to join SYL for a free show at the Commodore in Vancouver. This show was filmed and released as the first DVD from SYL: For Those Aboot to Rock: Live at the Commodore.
Strapping Young Lad's fourth album, Alien was released March 22, 2005, to a mixture of reviews, mostly favouring the progressive element Devin Townsend continues to bring to extreme metal.
They entered the studio in March 2006 to record their follow-up, titled The New Black - which was released in July 2006. In addition, Strapping Young Lad embarked on a short festival tour of Europe in June (including the reputable Download Festival at Castle Donington, England), and were added to the bill of the prestigious Ozzfest, where they played to some of their largest audiences thus far, in July and August 2006.
Although Hoglan initially denied the definitive break-up of the band, saying they would go on tour in March 2007, he later stated Strapping Young Lad is on "extended hiatus", and might never reunite again.
From Wikipedia:Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing. By 1997, he had recruited permanent members; this line-up, which consisted of Townsend on vocals and guitar, Jed Simon on guitar, Byron Stroud on bass, and Gene Hoglan on drums, lasted until the band's dissolution.
Containing elements of death metal, thrash metal, black metal, progressive metal and industrial metal, Strapping Young Lad's music was characterized by the use of complex time signatures, polyrhythmic guitar riffing and drumming, blast beats and Wall of Sound production. The band's musical direction was mainly determined by Townsend, whose battle with bipolar disorder and dark sense of humour were major influences on his songwriting. Townsend was also noted for his eccentric appearance and on-stage behaviour, which greatly contributed to the band's intense live performances.
The band gained critical success and a growing underground fan base from their 1997 album City. After a hiatus between 1999 and 2002, the band released three more albums, reaching their commercial peak with the 2006 effort, The New Black. Townsend disbanded Strapping Young Lad in May 2007, announcing his decision to retreat from public view while continuing to record solo albums.