IN ABSENTIA

This album introduced me to the works of PT, and although it's not my favorite or their most complete, it was intriguing enough to get me to explore more of the band. While this is very much a more commercial release than their earlier material, it is still quite good and the songwriting is nothing short of excellent, even if it is not as progressive as previous outputs.

For a commercial album, it has the ability to be incredibly diverse, with a much wider variety than would be expected. The heaviness of the material I think is an apparent influence from SW's collaboration with Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth. Don't be scared though, there's no growls. The album remains very melodic, insightful, and Wilson is still on the top of his game. It's really hard to distinguish the quality of the tracks, but I must say I do prefer Trains over the others, if not for the very simple yet intriguing guitar lines.

If previous PT albums seemed to experimental to you, or you are looking for a more modern sound, In Absentia may be a perfect fit for you. The songwriting abilities are the best aspect of this band by far, as SW is the man when it comes to crafting music. Not their best, but certainly a fine little piece of music.

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