Devin Townsend Will Play Strapping Young Lad Songs on 2020 Tour

Devin Townsend's Empath is one of the most highly-praised metal albums of 2019 so far. While the singer has a plethora of solo material to play during shows, he has now confirmed he'll be playing Strapping Young Lad songs on his upcoming 2020 tour.

"I’m doing a tour in November that’s gonna be a very selfish tour for me," Townsend told Australian podcast Everblack. "A ton of people on stage, playing a bunch of stuff that I’ve wanted to play for years, a lot of improv, a lot of really interesting things."

"But starting next year, I’m gonna be touring everything, and that includes the Strapping stuff. I’m gonna be doing what equates to… like, what’s a ‘best of’ what I’ve done over the past few years. Let’s make this live venture for me the best it can possibly be and learn from your past and come back out," he enthuses.

Townsend has said of his refusal to play SYL material in the past that it doesn't represent who he is as a musician anymore. It was a different era of his career, which has spanned a very large discography over all of his bands and side projects.

“I think there’s a lot of musicians that fall away from metal. But I kind of fell back in love with it recently. But in no way does that mean that it’s taking over. It’s a big part of what I do and it’s a big part of who I am, and I think I’ve denied that for a certain amount of time," he admits.

Listen to the full interview below.

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