DEADWING

This is so far my favorite Porcupine Tree release! The album is a continuation of the themes that the band explored on their albums since Stupid Dream but this time the music has a slightly more Heavy Prog approach. The slow and beautiful melodies have been replaced by much heavier and shorter straightforward approach which fits Steve Wilson surprisingly well.

Shallow and Lazarusare taking a much more commercial approach but still manage to please the hardcore fans with songs like Deadwing and Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. The latter is particularly memorable for its continuous sampling pattern which beings the track and keeps going all the way to the track's very end. Arriving Somewhere But Not Here is the longest piece on the album and is considered to be the most progressive of the bunch. Personally this composition has never appealed to me as much as the shorter performances but it keeps up the atmosphere and works as a great transitional track to the second part of the album.

The second part of the album is much more atmospheric with a slight exception of Open Carwhich is another excellent rock performance. I will never forget seeing the band performance at the Sweden Rock Festival 2006 where they performed most of this album live. It was my first Porcupine Tree concert experience and although I've later see two more this is the one that I will remember the most. That's probably also why I'm slightly biased when it comes to this album.

Deadwing is an album without a single weak track/filler composition, just nice music for every occasion!

***** songs: Deadwing (9:46) Halo (4:38) Open Car (3:46)

**** songs: Shallow (4:17) Lazarus (4:18) Arriving Somewhere But Not Here (12:02) Mellotron Scratch (6:57) The Start Of Something Beautiful (7:39) Glass Arm Shattering (6:12)

Total Rating: 4,31