Devin Townsend has announced his new album The Moth, due out May 29th via InsideOut Records. Ahead of its release, he has debuted the lead single “Enter the City.” Stream it below.
The Moth has been long-awaited, having first been announced by Townsend over a decade ago. The wait was in large part due to the scope of the project: with multiple choirs and orchestras from all over the world being part of the recording, it is by far the most ambitious record Townsend has ever assembled. Townsend intends it as a culmination of his career to date, having previously referred to the album as his “life’s work.”
Lead single “Enter the City” is a vast orchestral piece of progressive rock and metal compacted to just over two minutes. It combines the now-de rigueur Frank Zappa melodic sensibilities with orchestra and choir, which give the piece a sense of grandiosity sometimes felt missing from earlier works. Townsend, noted for using a high-complexity “Wall of Sound” production style of multiple layered guitars, vocals, and synthesizers, clearly has found the exact sonic tools he has always been looking for. The song is not a wild departure from material one might find on Ocean Machine, Ziltoid the Omniscient, or Transcendence, but is instead a clearly more fully realized form of that existing maximalist prog sound.
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Of the narrative of The Moth, a long-form conceptual piece, Townsend said it is “a loose story following someone who realizes that old patterns of behavior are no longer serving them. By digging in and sitting with themselves, an internal conflict is revealed, one they may have been resisting or unconsciously rationalizing for years.”
The Moth’s chosen symbolism represents the metamorphosis of self, with Townsend commenting, “The most obvious metaphor for change within the concept of this project was a moth: from caterpillar to an entirely different creature — one so drawn to the light that it burns itself away. What remains is immutable — only the spirit.”
Joining Townsend is an all-star cast including Steve Vai, Mike Keneally, Anneke van Giersbergen, and more. The album spans 24 tracks, with a deluxe 3xCD set comprised of three parts. The first is The Moth itself, while the second is The Moth – The Afterlife, highlighting the orchestral and choral elements, and the third is The Moth – The War, a recording of the live debut of the material that was played in March 2025 in the Netherlands. Pre-order the album here.
The Moth Artwork:
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<p><strong><em>The Moth</em> Tracklist:</strong><br />01. Semi-prologue<br />02. War Beyond Words<br />03. The Moth<br />04. Ode to My Eye<br />05. Enter the City<br />06. Covered by Causes<br />07. Lexin<br />08. Runaways<br />09. A Proxy by God<br />10. The Mothers<br />11. Orion<br />12. Stay There<br />13. Home at Night<br />14. Intermission<br />15. Lexin Returns<br />16. The Clergy<br />17. Prepare for War<br />18. The Big Snit<br />19. Silver Princess<br />20. A Life in Review<br />21. Metamorphosis<br />22. Stained Hearts<br />23. Let Go<br />24. We Don’t Deserve Dogs</p>
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