IN ABSENTIA

In Absentia introduces Porcupine Tree's metal side and what great way to start a new sound for this band. Many people probably did not like like the tree putting more of metal sound into their music. But sometimes you have to change and progress and thats what they did. And this album album introduces Gavin Harrison on drums which is a great addition to the band, he gives more of the heavy feel on drums, and former drummer Chris Maitland drumming kind of reminds of Nick Mason at times, Gavin's style fits great with the direction they are going musically. I will not go through every song on this album but some of the great tracks on this album are the opener Blackest Eyes, Trains which shows great acoustic work from wilson and great vocals also. Lips of Ashes is another good one from the Tree, kind of Floyd like with some spacy guitar playing. Gravity Eyelids is builds up into a real heavy song and shows some great riifs by Steven Wilson. The creator has A masterpiece is a great Porcupine Tree song probably on e the strongest tracks on the album. Heart attack in layby is real dark song with just some soundscapes and amazing vocals by Wilson. The second half of the album is very different from the start, the second half of the album has more of mellow feel to it besides Strip the soul which is my least favorite song on the album. Porcupine Tree's first most recognized album and overall a Fantastic album. I'm gong to give this 5 stars because I am a big fan of the latest Porcupine Tree work than their earlier stuff,i still like the early works but the more metal oriented stuff grabs my attention more.