There is no one in modern music quite like Devin Townsend. A Canadian multi-instrumentalist, producer and force of nature, he has spent three decades careering between brutal metal, weightless ambient, bombastic “wall of sound” bombast and tender, soaring melody — often on the same album. Releasing under his own name, the Devin Townsend Project and his extreme-metal band Strapping Young Lad, he has built a catalogue of staggering range and ambition. Here is our fellow fan’s ranking of a core selection of eleven.

The short version

For the heart of Devin Townsend, start with Ocean Machine: Biomech, Terria, Empath, Deconstruction and Ghost. Between them they hold his early atmospheric masterpieces, his sprawling modern tour-de-force and the wild, paired extremes of his peak. The full ranking is below.

A genre of one

Trying to pin down Devin Townsend’s music is a fool’s errand. Over the years he has moved from the industrial savagery of Strapping Young Lad to serene ambient soundscapes, from a concept album about a coffee-obsessed alien overlord to some of the most emotionally raw music the genre has produced. His vast output spreads across his own name, the multi-album Devin Townsend Project and more, and these eleven records are a core selection — there is a great deal beyond them, and he remains tirelessly active. That restless, fearless eclecticism is the whole point.

How we ranked them

This is one fan’s order, weighing songwriting, ambition and emotional impact across music that refuses to sit still. The facts are accurate; the order is a starting point for the debate — and given how wildly his albums differ, your favourites may land wherever your taste leans, heavy or gentle, chaotic or calm.

The essential five

At the top sits Ocean Machine: Biomech (1997), the atmospheric, emotionally overwhelming album many regard as his masterpiece. Terria (2001) is its lush, deeply personal companion, another record fans hold sacred. Empath (2019) is the sprawling modern tour-de-force that crams his entire range into one dazzling whole. And the paired peak of 2011 rounds out the five: Deconstruction, a chaotic, guest-stuffed heavy epic, and Ghost, its serene, weightless ambient opposite — two sides of the same restless mind.

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Reliably great

The next tier is rich. Epicloud (2012) is his most joyous, anthemic record, a wall of uplifting sound that wins over almost everyone; Synchestra (2006) is an eclectic, melodic favourite spanning his many moods. Addicted (2009) is the energetic, hook-laden album that made the Devin Townsend Project a force.

The interesting middle

Here opinions vary. Transcendence (2016) is a polished, collaborative record with real highlights if a slightly even keel; and Ki (2009) is the restrained, slow-burning, almost meditative album that opened the Project — deliberately understated, and divisive for it.

For completists

At the foot of the list sits Lightwork (2022), an accessible, pop-leaning record with lovely moments that nonetheless feels lighter and more conventional than his most ambitious work. It is far from poor, but it is one for those already won over rather than a first port of call.

The core selection, in order

A core selection from a vast catalogue, in chronological order — with much more beyond it. Click through to the full write-up on any record.

Where to start

Begin with Ocean Machine: Biomech — it is his most cohesive and moving album, and the standard gateway for newcomers who want the real Devin. If you would rather start with pure uplift, Epicloud is the most immediately accessible way in; and Empath is the place to hear his entire range collide in one record.

The artist

Devin Townsend is, in every sense, a one-man phenomenon — writing, singing, playing and producing his vast layered sound, with its trademark choirs of overdubbed vocals and crushing, shimmering guitars. He first made his name with the abrasive Strapping Young Lad before pursuing a solo path of dizzying variety, later organising much of his work under the Devin Townsend Project banner and drawing on gifted collaborators, the singer Anneke van Giersbergen chief among them. Whatever the mood, the fingerprints — that scale, that humour, that heart — are unmistakably his.

Why they still matter

Devin Townsend is one of the most singular and fearless talents in modern progressive rock, a writer who can be devastating and absurd within the same song and who has expanded the emotional vocabulary of heavy music. His influence ripples through a generation of adventurous bands like Haken and Leprous, and his refusal to ever stand still has kept him essential for three decades. Few artists give their listeners so much, or surprise them so often.

Go deeper

Keep exploring: read about the best Devin Townsend songs, see every Devin Townsend album in order, find your way in with our where-to-start-with-Devin-Townsend guide, or dig up the most underrated Devin Townsend albums. You can also place him in the bigger picture with our list of the best progressive rock albums of all time.

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