DEADWING

While Porcupine Tree takes a rigid stance against being labeled as practically any genre, Deadwing obviously sees them returning to their more progressive characteristics. This couldn't have come at a better time, as 2005 was probably the greatest year for the genre in an extremely long time. The bands that compose my personal "holy trinity" of progressive music, Dream Theater, Opeth and Porcupine Tree, all released near perfect albums in a very short span of time. While admittedly, Porcupine Tree's newest opus is my least favorite of the three, that is by no means an insult, because Deadwing is a excellent album by itself.

The overall mood of the album is otherworldly, and this style, interspersed with numerous hard rock elements, is used to great effect. Beautiful vocal melodies, ethereal keyboards, and heavy riffs all characterize this album as a Porcupine Tree work. While Deadwing does seem to be a continuation of Steven Wilson's experimentation with the heavier side of music, it is definately a unique experience from In Absentia.

As far as lyrical content, the majority of the album is based off of a screenplay that Steven Wilson personally wrote. This accounts for the rather bizarre nature of the material, and in my opinion, suits the often spacey instrumentation quite well. The actual meaning behind a few of the songs is extemely vague, but the beauty of the poetry can't be denied in this instance. Regardless, some songs like Halo contain far more apparent messages involving religion, sex, and love.

The instrumentation itself is expertly written and transitions from mellow to more rock oriented passages very fluidly. Deadwing is abound with creativity and you'll likely hear effects that you have never previously imagined. The only songs that I found to be somewhat bland is Open Car and some portions of the far too drawn out Glass Arm Shattering.

In short, Deadwing has its weak points, but its depth, scope, and variety truely give it something to offer for the enitirety of the progressive rock fan base. Whatever your favored sub-genre, you owe it to yourself to pick this album up.