Ziltoid the Omniscient by Devin Townsend

Ziltoid the Omniscient is the tenth studio album by Canadian metal musician Devin Townsend, released on his own label HevyDevy Records in May 2007, and distributed in America and Europe by InsideOut Music. The album is a concept album about an extraterrestrial being named Ziltoid from the planet Ziltoidia 9. Ziltoid travels to Earth in search of "your universe's ultimate cup of coffee". A cup of coffee is delivered to him and he is promptly appalled by its taste, declaring it "fetid", and summons the Ziltoidian warlords to attack Earth, facing the full might of Earth's army. Townsend describes the album as a mix between Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band, with a storyline like that of Punky Brüster's Cooked on Phonics.The album is a solo album, with all music written, mixed, produced and performed by Townsend. All drum tracks were produced with EZdrummer, a software drum machine, using the Drumkit from Hell expansion.Townsend played a world exclusive ZTO concert in Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in Helsinki on July 2, 2010, where the whole Ziltoid album was played, with a regular Devin Townsend Project set the next day. Townsend plans to begin a series of online videos, a series titled ZTV, in which a Ziltoid hand puppet conducts interviews with various bands.In 2014, Townsend announced the recording of Z², a sequel to the original rock opera. The recording of Z² started in May 2014, and the album was released on October 27, 2014.