"Deadwing" CD by Porcupine Tree

With "In Absentia", the band around mastermind Steven Wilson stood at the threshold. After in 15 years having become a cult act among psychedelic and prog fans they dared the step to the industry and the confrontation with the mass audience who might have known them by name. And they couldn't have done better! Because Porcupine Tree have long outgrown their niche and have long become a topic for the charts, too. A development however, that never had an effect on the musical qualities of the quartet. Because also after 18 years, the British rockers are a guarantee for sophisticated art rock. The ten songs of the new album are absolutely spherical, surprise by their dramatic arrangements, take their time up to ten minutes and splendidly change from metal to pop and psychedelic. Interesting are also the electronic elements in TripHop-like compositions, such as "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here", "Mellotron Scratch" or "The Start Of Something Beautiful". Still, Porcupine Tree are at their best when they really let it rock, like in "Open Car", and are supported by guests, like Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) or Adrian Belew (King Crimson). (Marcel Anders - April 2005)