IN ABSENTIA

I have just finished listening to this for the first time, and I am truly amazed. This is definitely a near perfect piece of progressive rock, and there are not very many people who can dislike it. Porcupine Tree is very talented. I find that they are one of those bands that I know is really amazing, but just can't really get into. Prior to this, I only heard the Alternate Version of "The Sky Moves sideways" from the eponymous album, and I just used that to judge all of Porcupine Tree. That's the only song I ever listened to, being that I am drawn to very long epics.

But this album sounds a lot different than that, yet I can still believe it's from the same band, because I can hear just the little things. In Absentia is the album that definitely helped me overcome the hard time I had getting into Porcupine Tree, and after listening to this album, I can safely say that I will probably be a Porcupine Tree forever after this, and begin to collect all their stuff.

The album is an amazing mix of progressive rock and hard rock, it has some heavy metal elements in there, as well as ambient and surreal stuff from krautrock. None of the songs are super long, but the album still provides a feeling of continuity by segueing quite a few of its tracks together, which is another element of progressive rock that I love.

Having listened to that album from begining to end, I honestly don't remember all of it, because the memory general has a hard time grasping it after only hearing it once. It needs repetition. However, I believe I will remember this whole album as one album rather than any specific songs from it. There are no songs that are absolutely outstanding over the others, because all the songs are very special, and have that little artistic perfection in them.

This album is amazing, and original. If you ever had trouble getting into Porcupine Tree, just listen to this album from beginning to end. By the last song, it will be known to you whether or not you're a huge Porcupine Tree fan.