The New Black
Studio album by Strapping Young Lad
Released	July 11, 2006
Recorded	2006
Genre	Progressive metal, heavy metal
Length	42:44
Label	Century Media Records
Producer	Devin Townsend
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Strapping Young Lad chronology
Alien (2005) The New Black (2006) 1994–2006 Chaos Years (2008)

The New Black is the fifth and final album by Canadian heavy metal band Strapping Young Lad. It was released on July 11, 2006, debuting at #200 on the Billboard charts.^[1] A music video was shot for the album's sole single, "Wrong Side", and another video, done in CGI, was made for "Almost Again", which was not a single.

[edit] Background

Century Media imposed a strict deadline on the release date of the album; it was to be ready before the 2006 Ozzfest festival. Despite this, Townsend stated the recording was not rushed,^[2] and The New Black became a critical, as well as a commercial, success. It was more melodic than any of the band's previous albums and brought back the debut album's tongue-in-cheek humor.^[2]

[edit] Release and critical reception

The New Black was released on July 11, 2006. Having sold more than 4,000 copies during its first week, The New Black reached #200 on the Billboard 200 chart,^[3] #15 on the Top Independent Albums, and #8 on the Top Heatseekers charts.^[4] Stylus Magazine's Cosmo Lee described it as "heavy, catchy, and with no filler",^[5] and About.com's Chad Bowar was also positive, stating that "this is a CD that's dense and heavy, but also has some memorable hooks".^[6]

A music video was shot in late May to accompany the sole single from the album, "Wrong Side".^[7] In June 2006 Strapping Young Lad embarked on a short festival tour of Europe, including performances at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany and the Download Festival in England, which was followed by a second stage appearance at Ozzfest in July and August, where they played to some of their largest audiences in their career.

The album comes packaged with a second CD featuring a sampling of various other Century Media artists. The European version contains two bonus tracks: "The Long Pig" and a cover of The Melvins' "Zodiac".^[8] The Japanese version contains "The Long Pig" and the instrumental "C:enter:###" (pronounced: see colon, enter colon, pound pound pound).

[edit] Track listing

1. "Decimator" – 2:53
2. "You Suck" – 2:40
3. "Anti-Product" – 3:56
4. "Monument" – 4:11
5. "Wrong Side" – 3:35
6. "Hope" – 5:02
7. "Far Beyond Metal" – 4:36
8. "Fucker" – 3:53
9. "Almost Again" – 3:43
10. "Polyphony" – 1:54
11. "The New Black" – 6:15

[edit] Bonus CD (Century Media sampler)

1. "In Effigy" (Shadows Fall)
2. "My Apocalypse" (Arch Enemy)
3. "Chains of Humanity" (God Forbid)
4. "Slaves Shall Serve" (Behemoth)
5. "99" (The Haunted)
6. "Our Truth" (Lacuna Coil)

[edit] Bonus tracks

• "The Long Pig"
• "Zodiac" (The Melvins cover) (European only)
• "C:enter:###" (Japanese only)

The bonus disc can only be found on North American/standard copies, while international versions have previously unreleased tracks.

[edit] Personnel

• Devin Townsend - vocals, guitar, production
• Jed Simon - guitar
• Gene Hoglan - drums and percussion
• Byron Stroud - bass guitar
• Will Campagna - keyboards
• Oderus Urungus (GWAR) - guest vocals on "Far Beyond Metal"
• Bif Naked - guest vocals on "Fucker"
• Cam Kroetsch (The Almighty Punchdrunk) - guest vocals on "You Suck"
• Chris Valagao (Zimmer's Hole) - backing vocals (small appearance on "Monument")
• Shaun Thingvold - engineer
• Mike Fraser - mixing
• Ryan Van Poederooyen - drum technician
• Travis Smith - artwork and photography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The New Black at Century Media Records