 Following the release of the record , Townsend and several other musician friends he knew in Vancouver recorded his first solo album in 1996 entitled <unk> <unk> – <unk> on <unk> . Written and recorded in under a month , the album was produced as a parody of punk rock bands and documents the act of selling out for mainstream success . Townsend founded his own independent record label , <unk> Records , to release the album . Townsend assembled a permanent lineup of Strapping Young Lad to record City , including prolific metal drummer Gene Hoglan , along with Townsend 's former bandmates <unk> Simon on guitar and Byron Stroud on bass . The industrial @-@ influenced album was released in 1997 . To this day , the album is widely considered Strapping Young Lad 's best work , with Metal Maniacs calling it " groundbreaking " and Revolver naming it " one of the greatest metal albums of all time " . Townsend himself considers it the band 's " ultimate " album . Later that year , Townsend released his second solo album , Ocean Machine : Biomech . The album featured a mix of hard rock , ambient , and progressive rock . 
