Devin Townsend is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and record producer. After launching his musical career in 1993 with singing effort on Vai's Sex & Religion and subsequent tour, Townsend released the album Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad, in 1995. His debut solo release was 1996's Punky Brüster – Cooked on Phonics. Townsend formed a band under the Strapping Young Lad name to perform his next album, the industrial metal album City, in 1997. Townsend started a project initially called Biomech, under the Ocean Machine moniker, to release his less metal-influenced music. It was ultimately released under his own name as 1997's Ocean Machine: Biomech. This was followed by his first charting album, the 1998 album Infinity, which appeared at number 29 in Jap