Devin Townsend announces Empath: The Ultimate Edition

Devin Townsend has announced that he’ll release a new version of his 2019 album Empath this summer.

Empath: The Ultimate Edition will be spread across 2CDs and 2 Blu-ray and, along with the original album, will feature a wealth of bonus material. It’ll launch on June 5 through InsideOut music.

The first CD will contain the full album, while the second will feature a total of 10 demos. Blu-ray one includes a 5.1 surround sound mix by Townsend, along with a stereo visualiser, while the second disc has Live In Leeds 2019, an Empath documentary, the Genesis 5.1 Missing Lesson and the official King music video.

Speaking about the new 5.1 surround sound mix, Townsend says: “On a technical level, I guess I have always been dissatisfied with the basic ‘stereo’ format in which the type of music I make gets presented in.

“Whether it’s headphones, computer speakers, stereos – or basically anything currently – I have had to figure out ways to get the work to function through two speakers. I hear things in a particularly orchestrated way, and with the amount of information that typically gets recorded per song, the result has been the dubious ‘wall of sound’ that I keep ending up with.

“But my intention has never been to make an oppressive experience, but rather something that is immersive and vast. Making it work in two speakers just simply doesn’t quite work for the vision.

“Although I’ve managed to get the point across – to varying degrees – things always have to compromise to make it all fit. Making the drums speak at the same time as orchestra, cymbals, guitars, choirs, synths etc, all with my voice on top, ends up with every conceivable frequency fighting for breathing space between those two speakers.”

Townsend adds: “Therefore, I asked the powers that be in my business world to tolerate one more ‘kick at the can’ when it came to Empath. I wanted to attempt a surround mix and follow the original vision of it being an immersive, multimedia experience for people in the ways I could best achieve at this stage. And although it’s still pretty ‘dense’, with four more sources for the sound to come from, I feel its significantly closer to the original vision here.”

Empath: The Ultimate Edition is now available to pre-order.

Devin Townsend: Empath – The Ultimate Edition

CD1
1. Castaway
2. Genesis
3. Spirits Will Collide
4. Evermore
5. Sprite
6. Hear Me
7. Why?
8. Borderlands
9. Requiem
10. Singularity: Adrift
11. Singularity: I Am I
12. Singularity: There Be Monsters
13. Singularity: Curious Gods
14. Singularity: Silicone Scientists
15. Singularity: Here Comes The Sun!

CD2
1. The Contrarian (Demo)
2. King (Demo)
3. The Waiting Kind (Demo)
4. Empath (Demo)
5. Methuselah (Demo)
6. This Is Your Life (Demo)
7. Gulag (Demo)
8. Middle Aged Man (Demo)
9. Total Collapse (Demo)
10. Summer (Demo)

Blu-ray 1
1. Castaway (5.1 Surround Mix)
2. Genesis (5.1 Surround Mix)
3. Spirits Will Collide (5.1 Surround Mix)
4. Evermore (5.1 Surround Mix)
5. Sprite (5.1 Surround Mix)
6. Hear Me (5.1 Surround Mix)
7. Why? (5.1 Surround Mix)
8. Borderlands (5.1 Surround Mix)
9. Requiem (5.1 Surround Mix)
10. Singularity: Adrift (5.1 Surround Mix)
11. Singularity: I Am I (5.1 Surround Mix)
12. Singularity: There Be Monsters (5.1 Surround Mix)
13. Singularity: Curious Gods (5.1 Surround Mix)
14. Singularity: Silicone Scientists (5.1 Surround Mix)
15. Singularity: Here Comes The Sun! (5.1 Surround Mix)
16. Castaway (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
17. Genesis (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
18. Spirits Will Collide (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
19. Evermore (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
20. Sprite (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
21. Hear Me (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
22. Borderlands (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
23. Why? (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
24. Requiem (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
25. Singularity: Adrift (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
26. Singularity: I Am I (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
27. Singularity: There Be Monsters (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
28. Singularity: Curious Gods (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
29. Singularity: Silicone Scientists (Stereo Mix Visualizer)
30. Singularity: Here Comes The Sun! (Stereo Mix Visualizer)

Blu-ray 2
1. Empath Documentary
2. Empath Album Commentary
3. Genesis 5.1 Mixing Lesson
4. Acoustic Gear Tour
5. Intro (Live in Leeds 2019)
6. Let It Roll (Live in Leeds 2019)
7. Funeral (Live in Leeds 2019)
8. Ih-Ah (Live in Leeds 2019)
9. Deadhead (Live in Leeds 2019)
10. Love? (Live in Leeds 2019)
11. Hyperdrive! (Live in Leeds 2019)
12. Terminal (Live in Leeds 2019)
13. Coast (Live in Leeds 2019)
14. Solar Winds (Live in Leeds 2019)
15. Thing Beyond Things (Live in Leeds 2019)
16. King (Official Video)

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