Townsend's solo albums have featured a varying lineup of supporting musicians and are a mix of hard rock, progressive metal, ambient, and new-age.

In 2007, he disbanded both Strapping Young Lad and the Devin Townsend Band, taking a break from touring to spend more time with his family.

His vocal delivery ranges from screaming to an opera-esque singing, while his musical style is rooted in metal and his albums are written to express different aspects of his personality.

Around the same time he joined a popular local group called Caustic Thought, replacing Jed Simon on guitar and playing alongside bassist Byron Stroud, both of whom would later become members of Townsend's flagship band, Strapping Young Lad.

[6] While touring with the Wildhearts, Townsend received a phone call from Monte Conner, then-A&R representative for Roadrunner Records, expressing an interest in his demos and an intention to sign him.

After being briefly signed by the label, the offer was ultimately rescinded by Cees Wessels, the owner of Roadrunner, who regarded Townsend's recordings as "just noise".

The diagnosis helped him understand where the two sides of his music were coming from; he felt his disorder "gave birth to the two extremes that are Strapping's City record and Ocean Machine: Biomech.

"[21][22] After being discharged from the hospital, Townsend found that "everything just clicked" and he was able to write his third solo album, Infinity, which he described as "the parent project" of City and Ocean Machine: Biomech,[22] with music influenced by Broadway.

[14] With Infinity, Townsend began to label all albums outside of Strapping Young Lad under his own name, dropping the Ocean Machine moniker, to reduce confusion.

After the creation of the IR8 demo tape, Townsend and Jason Newsted had begun work on a new project called Fizzicist, which they described as "heavier than Strapping Young Lad".

[28] He produced and recorded Terria, a "highly illustrated stream-of-consciousness" album,[14] with Gene Hoglan on drums, Craig McFarland on bass and Jamie Meyer on keyboards.

Mike G. of Metal Maniacs called it "the album of the year", praising it for "the hard-to-accomplish trick of being extreme yet accessible, simultaneously heavy 'n' rockin' yet majestic and beautiful.

[37] During the process of writing and recording the new album, Townsend stopped taking the medication prescribed to treat his bipolar disorder because he began expressing doubt about the initial diagnosis, and decided to stop taking the medication,[38][39] but continued with his substance abuse, and he eventually "flipped out" during the process, and later called the resulting album "toxic" and "psychologically very unhealthy".

[38] Although Townsend considered the album an "impenetrable mass of technicality",[40] it was well received on its release, selling 3,697 copies in its first week[41] and appearing on several Billboard charts.

[54] The second entry, a "commercial, yet heavy" album called Addicted, was released in November 2009 and features lead vocals from Townsend and Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen.

[62] Another project Townsend has mentioned several times between 2009 and 2012 is Obviouser, an album featuring "creepy, bass driven apocalyptic music" created with an "Ampeg rig" and an "Icelandic choir".

[66] Townsend described the album sounds like "haunted Johnny Cash songs" and "late night music", highlighting it will be different than anything he has done before.

[65] Townsend referred the music of the album to be "closest to his heart" at this point of his life,[67] and that it is an important and satisfying project he does not want to rush.

[97] The recording process started in May 2014,[98][99] and the final project includes the album, a Ziltoid TV program and a live show, with a "big graphic novel comic" and a documentary.

[101] After finishing the album, Townsend stated the project was "punishing" and an "absolute nightmare to complete" due to amount of material against tight schedules.

To approach this sort of work with a long history of what makes heavy music 'heavy', allows this to be done with a type of power rarely heard.

"[118] Guests on the album include former Frank Zappa collaborators Mike Keneally, Morgan Ågren and Steve Vai, as well as Samus Paulicelli, Chad Kroeger, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Ché Aimee Dorval from Casualties of Cool, and Ryan Dahle.

[125] Townsend collaborated with the likes of Kat Epple, Samus Paulicelli, Morgan Ågren, Federico Paulovich, Ché Aimee Dorval, Mattias Eklundh, Wes Hauch and Liam Wilson.

[126] In April 2020, Townsend began uploading a chronological series of podcasts on his official YouTube channel, with each episode discussing one or two of the albums in his discography.

[46] Townsend has drawn critical praise for his productions, which "are always marked by a sense of adventure, intrigue, chaotic atmospherics and overall aural pyrotechnics", according to Mike G. of Metal Maniacs.

In the early days of Strapping Young Lad, he was seen playing an ESP Flying V-style 6-string with a single EMG 81 pickup and a custom graphic designed by Townsend.

He was also occasionally seen playing what is believed to be a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS during Accelerated Evolution and Synchestra-era shows (mainly for performing "Deadhead").

[170][171][172] In regard to this, Townsend stated on HeavyBlogIsHeavy.com: "The Peavey situation was intense and a real eye opener in terms of how things REALLY work in the business side of endorsements, and I can't say I really enjoyed it, but we got the guitar out and everyone is nice to each other so all good...

No one is entirely happy with that decision, but I find it difficult to not be straight up with folks about what I want to play and do and have typically pissed people off as a result...

In 2015, for live shows, the Dual Rectifier was replaced with a Kemper Profiler Amplifier, and the Roland GP-100 was retired in favor of effects in the Fractal Axe-FX.