Porcupine Tree
Deadwing

THE REVIEW

Recorded across various studios in England (as many as seven), "Deadwing" can be considered in some ways a sort of concept album, as it is based on a previous screenplay written collaboratively by singer Steven Wilson and Mike Bennion, who also handled the album's artwork.

The psychedelic rock with progressive tinges of the band has given up some of its space to purely metal arrangements in the style of Tool, as in "Open Car" and "Start Of Something Beautiful", with great pulsating bass work by the always talented Colin Edwin creating a staggering and syncopated rhythm; in both tracks, however, we have a final part that indulges in broader melodic openings, aimed at creating that uplifting melancholy typical of Porcupine Tree.

We also have more catchy tracks (not coincidentally the singles) like "Shallow," a fast-paced hard rock track that evokes ancient grunge ghosts in the chorus (read Alice In Chains), and "Lazarus," a soft ballad that advances on a carpet of ivory notes created by the piano.

For fans of long compositions, we have two tracks halfway through the setlist that raise the overall difficulty level: the religiously polemical (in the lyrics) "Halo," made of sharp guitars, psychedelic solos, filtered vocal breaks, and freewheeling drums hinting at psychedelic jazz-rock, and above all the masterpiece "Arriving Somewhere (But Not Here)," an introduction made of liquid psychedelia with a ticking that sets the pace before bursting into a guitar escape, while a wolf howls solo...something to try; and this is just the beginning because then it's all a succession of "trashy" arrangements, synth layers cleaning the atmosphere and lo-fi sounds up to the tortured finale with the fading voice.

The only moment of calm is the final and less successful "Glass Arm Shattering," which drags with its chanting pace, gaining a bit of tone in the finale rich in arrangements.

Great work of psychedelic more than progressive rock.