DEADWING

Deadwing is the eigth full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Porcupine Tree. After being blown away by the last album by Porcupine Tree In Absentia from 2002, I was expecting great things when I started listening to Deadwing and fortunately my high expectations have been fully met. I´m actually a rather new fan of the band as In Absentia was the first album by Porcupine Tree that really clicked with me. I´ve owned both The Sky Moves Sideways (1995), Signify (1996) and Coma Divine Live (1997) for a number of years but those albums never really did much for me ( the latter has won me over throughout the years though and I´ve begun to greatly enjoy that one now). With In Absentia, Porcupine Tree introduced a more heavy sound and a new era in their career started with that album. While earlier albums never got me hooked In Absentia certainly did the trick.

The sound on Deadwing pretty much continues the heavy progressive and generally melancholic rock style that was introduced on In Absentia. It took me a bit longer to digest the songs on Deadwing though and at first I didn´t find the album as memorable and accessible as In Absentia. With repeated listens Deadwing has completely won me over though and the songs have unfolded their treasures to me. There are some truly beautiful songs on the album like Lazarus and especially Mellotron Scratch which is a song that really send shivers down my spine. What a beautiful chorus melody. Those songs almost cross the line to commercial pop/ rock but do manage the hard balance of staying on the right side of the line. Porcupine Tree also shows their diversity with the hard rocker Shallow and the two most progressive tracks on the album Deadwing and Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. The latter features a guest vocal and guitar solo appearance by Mikael Åkerfeldt ( Opeth). Arriving Somewhere But Not Here also features the heaviest section on the album. We almost enter Dream Theater territory in the middle of the song with some really heavy riffing that reminds me of the last couple of minutes of Peruvian Skies from Falling Into Infinity (1997). Otherwise the Dream Theater comparison doesn´t hold true, so don´t get me wrong and think this sounds anything like that band other than that section.

What I enjoy first and foremost about Deadwing is those beautiful melody lines that seems to grow on me with every listen. At first they seemed to just be there and not really make an impression on me but I guess this is the kind of album you have to give many spins to really appreciate. The band is of course very well playing and the songs are cleverly arranged and those features doesn´t really drag an album down either.

The production is clean and powerful. People who crave organic productions might be put off a bit here but I think the sound suits the music perfectly.

It´s wrong to say that the high quality on Deadwing came as a surprise to me because I expected it to blow me away. It´s still quite an achivement that Porcupine Tree succeeded in doing just that though and the album fully deserves a 4.5 star rating. It´s a highly recommendable album for those who enjoy melancholic and at times pretty heavy progressive rock with accessible pop/ rock sensibilities.