STORM CORROSION

Storm Corrosion is a collaboration between Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, solo, and many other projects), And Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth). Åkerfeldt handles all of the guitars while Wilson does the keyboards. Both contribute to the vocals. The small amount of drumming is performed by Porcupine Tree's Gavin Harrison. Ben Castle Plays woodwinds, Dave Stewart (not sure if it's THAT Dave Stewart) does the string arrangements which are played by the London Session Orchestra.

I have a 0 experience level going into this.

Track 1 - Drag Ropes

If you are expecting something that sounds like a cross between Porcupine Tree and Opeth, you will be disappointed. This is a much more "experimental affair." This is a very mellow piece of music, with some odd musical textures, but somehow, it works for me. Åkerfeldt handles the lead vocals in a very smooth, clean way. No metal style here. At just under 5 minutes in, the instruments drop out and we get Gentle Giant style harmony vocals. The guitar returns later with a clean jazz tone. Nice piano as well. The musical arrangement really pulled me in.

Track 2 - Storm Corrosion

Another mellow intro, with a distant sounding flute, being overtaken by classical guitar arpeggios. Wilson takes over on vocals. The arrangements on this album thus far are really intriguing and make me WANT to listen. After the first verse a mellow electric guitar lead line comes in hard panned to one side. This is a peaceful song so far. Strings start building at around 4 minutes in. OUTSTANDING musical arrangement! It keeps holding my attention, at around 6-minutes in it sounds like the strings of the piano are being plucked by fingers in a dissonant way, with ominous strings, like a building storm accompanying. Gradually the classical guitar comes back in, while that dissonance stutters to an abrupt stop. (You'll have to hear it to understand what I mean.) After another verse (on a different tune that earlier) a flute plays a countermelody to the guitar. The ominous strings close the song out at the end.

Track 3 - Hag

.Mellow sounds with a creaking sound with it. After a soft verse, the music becomes more rhythmic. Each verse adds another layer of sound. Everything drops out except distant sounds of what sounds like people laughing. Then a verse accompanied by piano, eerie mellotron and electric piano and the clean jazzy guitar tone, Then it becomes louder and more ominous, in a semi-Porcupine Tree manner, along with drum improv. Things settle back down for the final minute or so with the laughing sounds returning.

Track 4 - Happy

Despite the title, it doesn't sound very happy in the beginning (Irony?). More acoustic guitar, mellow vocals, and spooky sound effects. An acoustic melodic guitar solo enters at around 3:45? It ends with somewhat disturbing or at least unsettled sound effects.

Track 5 - Lock Howl

Begins with a single wavering keyboard note, then a rhythmic pattern on a low note on electric guitar, and acoustic guitar parts layer on top. Some (perhaps) mellotron rounds out the sound along with big sustained bass notes. What a great sound! Probably my favorite track on the album so far. The groove changes about halfway through, then most of the instruments drop out, and it seems like its going to start over as the guitar groove comes back, but the keyboards play a different tune over the top. I keep going "oooohhh" as different sounds come in. Absolutely fantastic arrangement and production. A sudden stop at the end. This was the highlight of the album for me

Track 6 - Ljudet Innan

Begins with slow sustained jazzy electric piano chords (perhaps even vibraphone). Åkerfeldt adds falsetto vocals over the top. This gives way to soft sustained mellotron. It reminds me of movie soundtrack music. A very peaceful track. Around the halfway point, we get a but more rhythm with some distant jazzy drums. Next, Åkerfeldt's vocals come back in. A slow melodic jazzy guitar line begins following that. A mellow tune, overall.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

I came into this with a bit of trepidation, having read reviews that compared it to King Crimson, but I did not get a KC feel at all. I do generally like KC, but sometimes, they lose me (See my comments on the Cirkus album, earlier in the challenge). This is really its own thing. I really enjoyed this album. The arranging and production kept me intrigued. Not something I'd want to hear ALL of the time, but on occasion as a "chill out and relax" type of album. As mentioned, I particularly enjoyed Lock Howl. I'll give this a 4 out of 5 stars.