Physicist

Artist:

The greatest gift I received from Infinity, (If I look at it that way) was the total, and colossal personal meltdown / failure that resulted from such a heightened sense of self importance. The humiliation I felt in the face of the many crass and narcissistic decisions I made during that period put me in a place that I wasn’t sure how to bounce back from. At the time, my desire to return to the studio was overwhelming, though my motivation to exist in the same ‘romantic studio gnome’ frame of mind was nonexistent.

I wanted to make a ‘pop’ flavoured metal album, that took the production cues from Def Leppard type sheen, and apply it to bleak, futuristic and cold music. The writing was done haphazardly in my basement, after which I would present it took the guys in SYL who ultimately were waiting for me to work through my ‘existential crisis’ to get back on the road with Strapping. I felt unable to pull my shit together, as the experience with drugs had left me with an uneasy feeling about SYL in general, as if certain frames of mind I was in had proved to me that the music I made with SYL was ultimately very unhealthy for me and I needed to quit doing it. I used Physicist as a way of including the guys in the music again, but ultimately, that seemed to just confuse things more. The result was a record that came off more as ‘SYL-Lite’ by the fan base and critics alike. It allowed us as a band to go out on tour and play a combination of SYL and my solo stuff, but neither thing really had any emotional commitment from me in terms of deciding one over the other, and it ended up a dark and hostile time.

The production and mix were handled by Mike Plotnikoff, (who was a big shot Vancouver producer) that was absolutely the wrong mix for me. Most other things he had done sounded great, but ultimately, (primarily due to his involvement in just the drum track and mix, and my half-assed production at the time).

The album is one of my least favourite statements I’ve made, primarily due to the sonic qualities of production and mix. I intend to slowly revisit some of the songs as I do like a good portion of the material, but I ultimately think it’s a gross sounding record.

Tracklisting

1.“Namaste”3:34
2.“Victim”3:15
3.“Material”2:47
4.“Kingdom”5:55
5.“Death” (Townsend, Gene Hoglan)2:27
6.“Devoid”1:28
7.“The Complex” (Townsend, Hoglan)3:31
8.“Irish Maiden”2:45
9.“Jupiter”3:36
10.“Planet Rain”11:08
11.“Forgotten” (Hidden track)5:59