Sixteen years into a recording career that began with an appearance on Steve Vai's 1993 album Sex & Religion, the Vancouver-born eccentric and prolific metal performer and producer Devin Townsend revealed details of the Devin Townsend Project. Following the brief hiatus that came after his 2007 rock opera, Ziltoid the Omniscient, a newly shaven-headed and teetotaling Townsend announced an intended four-album sequence under this moniker, with the primary goal being that he wanted to make music without the assistance of drugs. Townsend's vision also revealed an ambition to record with different musicians on each album, in order to keep things fresh. ~ James Wilkinson