SIGNIFY

The trail of cosmic dust left by "The Sky Moves Sideways" also permeates the sonic universe of Porcupine Tree's next album, "Signify", the fourth in their discography. Although there is a greater number of songs, this does not detract from the overall spirit of the work, immersed in experimental landscapes and developments on which Steven Wilson and his bandmates draw sensations that move between the peaceful and the somber, with a production that does not neglect details or leave anything to chance.

Instrumental themes such as the energized "Signify" and its uninhibited guitars, or the atmospheric Phase 2 of "Waiting" with Colin Edwin's persistent bass line and Chris Maitland's tribal-like percussion supporting Wilson's guitar dalliances, or the hypnotic trance of "Idiot Prayer", intertwine with Wilson's anguished voice in the powerful "The Sleep of No Dreaming" in one of the best moments of the album, the melancholic Phase 1 of "Waiting", the industrial airs of "Sever" and the narcotic and melodious "Every Home Is Wired" with Richard Barbieri and his mysterious and intriguing touch on the keyboards, all combined to conceive a work of great sonic amplitude, and that has a great ending with the growing "Dark Matter" and the excellent guitar solo again in the hands of Wilson towards the last part of the song.

While all the tracks on "Signify" are credited to the group, it seems obvious that the major compositional weight is held by Wilson, on an album that again marks the spacey vein that by then was the band's hallmark.

Very good.

3.5 stars