DEVIN TOWNSEND AND SEPTIC FLESH DRIVE TO WINNIPEG, AND 7 HORNS 7 EYES CONVALESCE

I’ve never been in a metal band. I fantasize about it sometimes. I’d guess most fans do that at one time or another. But there’s at least one aspect of band life that I think I’d get tired of pretty fast — touring in cramped, dysfunctional vans, sleeping on people’s floors, and eating crap food while on tour. When I was younger, I didn’t think anything about living (and smelling) like an animal. But now that I’m older than dirt, it don’t sound so appetizing any more.

It’s easier to fantasize about being in a band who are successful enough to tour in style, in a big full-comfort bus with a road crew to take care of some of the heavy lifting and assorted other bullshit you’d otherwise have to do for yourself. But even bands like that don’t get to travel in style all the time. Like when the bus breaks down and 15 of you have to get in a van and drive for hours across the flat, featureless landscape of the Canadian prairie. Which is what happened to The Devin Townsend Project and Septic Flesh on the road from Saskatoon to Winnipeg not long ago.

Most hand-made tour videos that I see aren’t all that interesting. Basically, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. But Devin Townsend, being the evil creative genius that he is, put together a short video of this cramped van trip that I enjoyed. In terms of what you see, it’s still pretty much in the category of “seen one, seen ’em all”, but the editing and especially the musical soundtrack are cool. Plus, I saw these bands on their current tour (along with Obscura and Children of Bodom), and they were both so tremendous that I couldn’t resist watching this. The video is after the jump.

Also after the jump — news about a newly released 3-song single from 7 Horns 7 Eyes that we recommend highly.

First, here’s DT’s road-trip video:

Now, about 7 Horns 7 Eyes.

They’re a Seattle band who we’ve raved about more than once around here. In late March, they were signed by Basick Records and Century Media for the release of their debut album, Throes of Absolution, which will be released a bit later this year. To build interest in the band and that album, just a couple days ago the labels released a digital “single” by 7 Horns 7 Eyes consisting of three songs.  The single is called Convalescence, and it’s available on iTunes (at least in the US) for $1.99 or at Amazon mp3 for $1.42.

I’d heard the opening track — “Vindicator” — before.  In fact, we featured it here back in April. That’s a great song, and it turns out the other two songs are great, too — the relatively short (and very cool) instrumental title track, which functions as an interlude between the other two songs, and a killer tune called “The Winnowing”.

Overall, the music combines Meshuggah-like rhythms, beautifully cavernous unclean vocals, flights of proggy instrumental extravagance, and memorable melodies. If you haven’t checked out this band yet, it’s time. Here’s “The Winnowing”:

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/03-The-Winnowing.mp3|titles=7 Horns 7 Eyes – The Winnowing]