Devin Townsend has once again said he has no interest in reforming Strapping Young Lad, the industrial metal band he led until 2007.
In a recent interview with Teraz Rock, the rocker was asked if Strapping Young Lad would be the ‘next big band’ to reunite after Oasis and Linkin Park. And the bad news is, he didn’t change his mind.
“I don’t think so, no. I don’t think so. I don’t talk to anybody in the band anymore,” he explained. “And the person that I am 25 years past that is just I’m a different person. And I don’t want to. I think that’s my answer. And it’s a hard one because that’s tinged with guilt because I know other people want it. But if there’s anything I’ve learned over the past couple of years is that I have to pay attention to my own needs, and I just don’t want to [resurrect Strapping] at all.”
Since the band split up, he’s been asked many times about a reunion, but he often mentions the mental and physical toll it took on him and his desire to try new musical projects.
Townsend talked about a possible Strapping Young Lad reunion in a December 2022 interview. “That’s confusing,” the rocker responded when asked how he feels about people wanting the ‘old, angry Townsend back.’ “I can explain it until I’m blue in the face, and people are, like, ‘Yeah, cool. Anyway, can you do it?’ I think it’s good for me having to try and work on my patience, because there’s a part of that’s, like, ‘Really? You think that it’s that easy?’ I know why they want it. I love it too — I love it — but I can’t do it.”
So, as long as Townsend and the rest of the band don’t get in touch, it seems unlikely that they would ever come back together for a reunion.
Strapping Young Lad’s final studio album, ‘The New Black,’ was released in 2006 through Century Media.