CLOSURE/CONTINUATION

As unlikely or surprising as it may seem, Porcupine Tree are back after a little more than a decade of complete silence, and they are back with a heated new studio album, ambiguously titled 'Closure/Continuation', an excellent collection of seven tracks spanning across some 48 minutes of playtime, with three additional bonus songs that do not necessarily fit the main album. However, with all the events that have unfolded in the last two years concerning the band, we can safely conclude that this elevenths studio album was well though out and supposed to be released sometime in the 2010s, with Steven Wilson and Gavin Harrison joining forces and jamming together to what ultimately became songs ending up on this new release, but the time never seemed right, with the busy schedules of the band members... or at least, the remaining ones.

The first Porcupine Tree album recorded by a trio is now a fact - Steven Wilson, Gavin Harrison and Richard Barbieri deliver what has been promoted as 'the most collaborative record' of the band's entire catalogue, with each member contributing almost equally to the final product. Former bassist Colin Edwin never showed interest in playing or recording any Porcupine Tree material, according to Wilson, who gracefully handles all bass duties on the album, which quite interestingly, was mostly written on his bass guitar and Gavin Harrison's drums, in their multiple jam sessions, with Richard Barbieri ultimately stepping in to filter the songs through his own masterful approach to playing keyboards, adding an extra layer of excellence to the fantastic songs.

The album opens with the first single, the first real taster of the new Porcupine Tree sound, the bombastic and haunting 8-minute track 'Harridan', kicking off the whole thing with a quirky bass riff, ominous soundscapes and pitch-perfect drumming by Harrison. The identity of PT seems to be well-injected into this powerful new track, yet there is something different in the way it sounds - the drums are so dominant, so prevalent and masterful, driving the whole song through its many movements, the Rush-like chorus 'attacks' the listener, the guitars are optional and very lovely, and the sound design provided by Barbieri does a lot of justice to this hard-hitting track. After that comes 'Of the New Day', a deceptively simple and tranquil song, with gentle acoustic guitars, melancholic lyrics and gentle keyboard sounds, that turns into a time signature monster, after the chorus hits, as the song has been said to go through forty-two time signature changes. The sound of it distantly reminisces something like 'Lightbulb Sun', but once again, it sounds bright and vigorous. 'Rats Return' sees PT utilizing some math rock riffage, as they provide one of the darker songs in the band's catalogues, commenting on the grim political situation of the world and the leaders-rats who "express having an interest in the public, but when it comes down to it, only want to save themselves".

Then we have the fourth track 'Dignity', which is very atmospheric, peaceful and certainly brings flashbacks of some old-school Porcupine Tree, maybe with hints to 'Russia on Ice' or 'Sentimental', carrying a similar spirit. This also happens to be one of the songs co-written with Barbieri. The 7-minute prog attach of 'Herd Culling' is quite fantastic - the lyrics, the mood, the tempo and all the shifts going on inside the composition are just working perfectly well, giving the album one of the more underrated pieces. The band is playing beautifully, every strum of the guitar, every drumbeat and every key pressed on the keyboards of Richard Barbieri has a specific place and serves a particular purpose in the song, no time is wasted here and there, just straight-to-the-point playing that gloriously fits one of the most interesting art rock songs in Porcupine Tree's catalogue. Then comes the electronic, wavy and grim 'Walk the Plank', another song that has a very prominent Richard Barbieri contribution, while it also has bits and pieces that remind us strongly of 'The Future Bites', Wilson's last solo album before 'C/C' - simply, this is the big surprise on the record, one of the most interesting compositions to have even landed on a Porcupine Tree album. The main album is closed by the 10-minute epic 'Chimera's Wreck', the song that has already gained a sort of cult status among the people enjoying this stellar collection of songs. This one reflects on the death of Steven Wilson's father, while other, more general existential realizations serve as a broader framework of the lyrical content. The music is epic, emotional and thunderous, the song is cathartic, agonizing, haunting and plain killer, one of the best in the entire Steven Wilson universe.

Finally, there is the 3-track bonus disc featuring the instrumental 'Population Three', and instantly recognizable Porcupine Tree number, the sweet 'Never Have', essentially a Steven Wilson solo track that could have been quite welcome on something like 'To The Bone', and 'Love in the Past Tense', a gorgeous little art-rocker, another effort of Wilson and Harrison. It is true that none of these would have fitted smoothly on the main album, all of the songs are quite good, and when presented as bonus material, are more than welcome.

The fact that this is the first Porcupine Tree album to top the all-format UK album chart speaks numbers - their absence has only strengthened the cult status of 'the most important cult band' out there, according to Wilson, with whom I could hardly disagree on this, as his band's legacy and prominence in the genre of progressive rock is immense and inevitable, and now, in 2022, they have reunited and delivered another monolith of a record, another very excellent addition to their truly majestic back catalogue. We could only conclude that everything surrounding the release of this album is simply a great celebration - a great celebration of the music of one of the best bands in existence, a celebration of music as a craft, and a celebration of a musical genre that is still full of vigor, despite the fact that it continues to exist just under the surface, with a couple of exception here and there, 'Closure/Continuation' being one of them.