"The Incident" is the latest album from the British prog. Rockers Porcupine Tree. The band has signed with Roadrunner Records after being signed with Atlantic and Lava. A great decision, because Roadrunner is one of the big ones when it comes to progressive music. So, hopefully more people will pay attention to this band, I recently discovered and I must say that I have become very fond of their music. This is a band that fans of
Pink Floyd will love and even fans of
Opeth will enjoy this band and this release.
The Incident is one continuous piece of music with many experimental elements to explore. It's about incidents that in some way are life changing. The song has a quite obscure and serious vibe. It starts out with
Occam's Razor which is mysterious and haunting - it's even more haunting when you hear it in your headphones.
The next fraction,
The Blind House, is one of the heavier parts of the song. It has a great buildup with a contrast between the heavy and the light elements. It works very well. The riff sometimes reminds me of
Opeth; it could have been something they would come up with.
The next two parts are some of my favorite parts of the song and also some of the shortest ones. However, they really are highlights
. I simply adore
Great Expectations and
the way it begins with:
"A summerday..." it's perfect and later the:
"Hey there's you with placid eyes". Steve Wilson really delivers these lines amazingly and they just get me every single time. He manages to sound very honest, clear and filled with emotion. After this part we slip into
Kneel And Disconnect and
the timing is perfect, just right after Great Expectations. The somber piano fits very well and creates a sad mood along with the acoustic guitar. Once again I'm impressed by Steve Wilson.
The "whispering" vocals in
Drawing The Line stands as a contrast to the chorus, which isn't as thrilling as the verses. They are defiantly more interesting lyrically. It's a memorable chorus, however, it gets a bit too "poppy" and it doesn't go well with the rest.
The Incident has a
creepy vibe, Steve sings it in a very treacherous way. However, this part it's a bit too monotonous for my taste.
The instrumental
The Yellow Windows Of The Evening Train is a very peaceful part and a very clever choice to put it in between
Your unpleasant family and
Times Flies. It's very
relaxing and stands as a good contrast to the beginning of
Time Flies, which is the longest part of the song and very
Pink Floydish but with a cool modern touch - the PT touch.
Time Flies starts with some acoustic guitar which adds a warm feeling and builds up a continuous charming mood. However, these chords, on the acoustic guitar, remind me too much of the beginning of the song "Dogs" from the album "Animals" by
Pink Floyd. It's almost, no, exactly the same. When I look besides this it's a very diverse song and it is composed in a very harmonizing way. There's a great variation between the peaceful, relaxing and the more psychedelic tones in the midsection. The restless guitar in the midsection it's very sourish and candy for my prog. orientated ears.
One thing that really captures me are the opening lines, they get me every time:
"I was born in 67, The year of Sergeant Pepper and Are you Experienced?" One of my favorite Beatles albums and my first and favorite Jimi Hendrix album. How can you resist singing along when it starts in this brilliant way? I can't! It's impossible.
Circle Of Manias is quite technically experimental and the title of the part really captures the feeling you get from every respective instrument.
The guitar solo in the end of
I Drive the Hearse fits just right in to the mood, which makes this a very good choice as the closing part of the song, it's lovely melancholic. The part is containing a chorus with some great lyric:
"And silence is another way of saying what I want to say. And lying is another way of hoping it will go away..." what a great ending part.
Disc 2 never really manages to impress me. I think this album would do much better if
Remember Me Lover was on disc 1 and
Bonnie the Cat, Flicker and
Black Dahlia wasn't included in the release. The 3 songs are just ok, and they get a bit tiresome with time. And I don't know if they fit well into the theme of this release as well. So in all, disc 2 drags this down quite a bit and it's a shame because there are many interesting elements on disc 1 to be discovered.
A very good release that demands time to evolve, not just technically but also the special mood needs time. However, PT just has to know when to stop, so the standard holds throughout the album. It seems as if they have been a bit too ambitious instead of keeping it to the point. But still highly recommended, there's much good stuff to be explored, both lyrically and technically.
Personal highlights: The blind House, Great Expectations, Kneel and Disconnect, Time Flies, I drive The Hearse. Written by
Sandra Friday, January 22, 2010
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