Editing Accelerated Evolution (section)

==Background==
During the creation of his early solo albums ''[[Infinity (Devin Townsend album)|Infinity]]'' (1998) and ''[[Physicist (album)|Physicist]]'' (2000), Devin Townsend went through personal struggles that affected his writing ability. These struggles were resolved on ''[[Terria (Devin Townsend album)|Terria]]'' (2001), which Townsend described as "a really healing record". After ''Terria'', Townsend felt a newfound enthusiasm for his music, saying, "Bring it on. I'm going to be so fucking sensitive but so intense, and be unafraid to be either."<ref name="popoff-2003">Popoff, Martin (Winter–Spring 2003). "Strapping Young Lad." ''Lollipop Magazine'' (61).</ref> In 2002, Townsend began work on his next two albums. He reunited his [[extreme metal]] project [[Strapping Young Lad]], which had been on hiatus for four years,<ref name="gramlich-200302">{{cite magazine|title=The Reluctant Return of Strapping Young Lad|author=Gramlich, Chris|magazine=Exclaim!|url=http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid2=4&fid1=1576&csid1=44|access-date=2008-04-28|date=February 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202110457/http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid2=4&fid1=1576&csid1=44|archive-date=2008-12-02}}</ref> and began writing the band's new release, ''[[Strapping Young Lad (album)|Strapping Young Lad]]'' (''SYL'').

At the same time, Townsend formed a new, permanent band "on par with Strapping" to record and tour for his solo releases.<ref name="popoff-2003" /> The Devin Townsend Band consisted of Brian Waddell on [[guitar]], [[Ryan Van Poederooyen]] on drums, and brothers Mike Young and [[Dave Young (musician)|Dave Young]] on [[Bass guitar|bass]] and keyboards, respectively. Townsend performed guitar, vocals, and production, as he did in Strapping Young Lad. Townsend chose members of local bands who "hadn't had the same experiences" and could give a fresh perspective on "all those emotions" that were present in his solo material. He found it "refreshing" to play with people who appreciated his solo material more than Strapping Young Lad's.<ref name="popoff-2003" /> Notable was the absence of drummer [[Gene Hoglan]] of Strapping Young Lad,<ref name="hoose-20030521" /> who had played on Townsend's previous three solo albums.

Townsend wrote and produced the band's first album at the same time he was working on ''SYL'',<ref name="popoff-2003" /> spending half the week on one and half on the other.<ref name="metal-rules-interview-2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/167/74/ |title=Interview With Gene Hoglan |date=June 16, 2005 |author1=Lord of the Wasteland |author2=Lehtinen, Arto |website=Metal-Rules.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821222024/http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/167/74/ |archive-date=August 21, 2008 }}</ref> The album was [[audio engineering|engineered]] and [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] by Townsend and Shaun Thingvold, who has worked on many of Townsend's and Strapping Young Lad's albums. It had the working title ''Relationships'',<ref name="sharpe-2005-p115" /> but was renamed ''Accelerated Evolution'', a nod to the frantic pace of putting a new band together in under a year.<ref name="popoff-2003" />