FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

Porcupines Tree's impressive run of strong albums continues with Fear of a Blank Planet, which is arguably their most progressive effort. This is pretty much sonically identical to their past two albums, so their isn't much to discuss regarding the style. Instead the interest is in the individual songs.

Is the metal anthem of the album, much as 'Deadwing' was for the previous. It contains a steady, rocking, and powerful drum groove with a driving bass and heavy guitar riffs. By now this is a standard Porcupine Tree tune, but is engaging from beginning to end. 'My Ashes,' 'Sentimental,' and to a lesser extent 'Way Out of Here' are the weaker tracks of the album, though such a word is hardly applicable. The first has a strong Pink Floyd flavor, the second I guess has a pretty sentimental tone to it similar to In Absentia's 'Collapse the Light Into Earth', and the third has a dark and mysterious atmosphere.

The real treat here is the epic 17-minute 'Anesthetize.' The song is very structurally diverse and the parts are quite different from each other, yet as a whole mesh so wonderfuly. You get the tense, dark opening, an Alex Lifeson guitar solo, a Pink Floyd-esque jam-like section, a heavy, Metal riff oriented middle, and the beautifully flowing ending atmosphere all in one song.

The album concludes with the very dark and ominous 'Sleep Together,' which is probably one of the most unique and interesting songs the band has done. The build-up is pretty good in this one, with the climax being a dramatic strings melody. Overall, I would say this is just as strong as the band's last two releases, and is probably the proggiest one at that. Despite the few weaker tracks, this is a solid listen from beginning to end.

8/10