CLOSURE/CONTINUATION

Harridan- Probably the best song in the album to open up with, especially with that super meaty bass line. Reminds me a bit of Blackest Eyes in the sense that its vey catchy, but at the same time very heavy and proggy. I really liked this song overall, instruments across the board were great, and Steve Wilson was great as always. A solid 9/10

Of The New Day- Probably the most radio-friendly of all the songs on the album, its pretty poppy/mellow at points, but it doesn't stray too far from the heavier sounds of the album. I don't have much to complain about but it also isn't my favorite. 7/10

Rats Return- Opens with a *really* meaty hook which I love, but the song doesn't do much otherwise. Lyrics are kinda bad which is surprising considering Wilson and Harrison wrote it. "Leave your principals at the door" does make me cringe a bit every time I hear it. Musically, its pretty good otherwise. A weaker 8/10

Dignity- One of two longer story-type songs on this album, and I think its pretty great. The guitar and vocals are especially great on this track compared to the rest of the album, and the songwriting isn't too bad either. I hear a lot of people call this a masterpiece and whatnot but it doesn't quite do it for me. Considering the other story- type songs the band has done its just not nearly as good as something off of FOABP. Still, its a 9/10 nonetheless.

Herd Culling- Musically, I really like what the band does in that it largely repeats the same verse throughout the entire song, changing up instrumentation as the song progresses. I was kind of surprised when I realized this, but really, skip to any point in the song and its pretty much the same thing. Lyrically, its fine. A solid 7/10

Walk The Plank- I don't love this one one as much as the rest of the album, but its certainly an interesting eerie sort of experimental song that I expect from Wilson. This definitely sounds more like his solo material. A weak 7/10

Chimeras Wreck- Probably the best song on the album considering its subject matter, and technicalities. I REALLY love the way Wilson plays with vocal rhythms which is something that I don't ever recall hearing on a PT album to date. A solid 9/10

Population Three- For as much as I love the instrumentation on this entire album, without Wilson's vocals it sounds like a completely different band. I didn't love this one as much as other people did. 7/10

Never Have- A very poppy tune with some great guitar. The song slowly builds throughout and explodes towards the end. I really like this one but I don't have much to comment. Sounds kinda like Harmony Korine from Steve's solo career. 8/10

Love in The Past Tense- Another poppy tune on this album. My comments are largely the same as Never Have, though I like this one slightly less. 8/10

Overall Thoughts: This was quite the underwhelming album in my opinion. Its been 12 long years since the band has put out any music and I don't quite know what I was expecting. On one hand this was Porcupine Tree's first album in *twelve years*. On the other, to my knowledge, the band wasn't painstakingly perfecting this album over the course of those twelve years much like Tool supposedly was with Fear Inoculum. C/C delivered some pretty great songs- Harridan being my favorite listen, though Chimeras Wreck and Dignity were probably better songs. Aside from those three songs though, the rest of the album was nothing special, ranging between good and pretty good. The lyrics throughout the entire album were mostly underwhelming (surprisingly), but Gavin, Harrison, and Wilson sounded as good as ever. This might even be one of Wilsons best vocal performances. Still, There weren't as many memorable songs as I would have wished on this one.

Weighted Average: 8.047/10. For now, I will keep this album at an 8, though I see this falling out of favor with time.