PORCUPINE TREE — Closure/Continuation (review)

PORCUPINE TREE — Closure/Continuation album cover

Album · 2022 · Metal Related

4/5 · 2023-01-01
siLLy puPPy

While it may have been assumed that PORCUPINE TREE called it quits after the lackluster response to their 2009 album “The Incident” and the robust solo career of Steven Wilson (and other projects) that launched soon thereafter, it was indeed the case that Wilson, Gavin Harrison and Richard Barbieri had been planning the next chapter of PORCUPINE TREE all along only kept the project under lock and key leaving the fans to wonder if such a thing would ever materialize. Everyone had to wait until 2022 some 13 years later but finally it has become a reality that PT has indeed decided to carry on by releasing the band’s 11th studio album with the rather clumsy title CLOSURE / CONTINUATION.

Unfortunately bassist Colin Edwin didn’t participate in this reunion so the band carried on as a trio with Wilson picking up the bass part as well as handing guitars, vocals, mixing and role as band leader. Despite Wilson projecting his new dedication to his solo career, Blackfield, No-Man, Bass Communion, God and Storm Corrosion (does the guy ever sleep?), PORCUPINE TREE had been working behind the scenes on this album for the last decade whenever everyone had a free moment. The results of all this behind the scenes resulted in a rather standard PORCUPINE TREE affair that sounds as if the band never went away and that the ensuing 13 years were a mere two or three.

The band launched the single “Harridan” early as far back as December 2021 and whetted the appetite for rapid PT fans in hopes of another “In Absentia,” “Deadwing” or “Fear of a Blank Planet.” The hype was heavy but when the album finally was released in June 2022 the enthusiasm sort of fizzled out with complaints about the lack of growth that was deemed necessary to launch PT into the next chapter and well let’s face it, the fact CLOSURE / CONTINUATION sounds more like the solo material of Wilson than PT at their peak. The album features the typical rockers and ballads all in atmospheric space prog form however the crossover metal aspects of the band’s early 2000’s have been tamped down considerably and replaced by some of the electronic wizardry of Wilson’s solo efforts.

“Harridan” was an excellent teaser single with jittery firm bass groove that offers everything a PORCUPINE TREE fan could hope for. Lengthy prog workouts that revolve around Wilson’s subdued vocal style accompanied by just enough rock heft to craft the proper contrast, the song featured strong hooks and was instantly likable with only the occasional complaints of overtly too complex for its own good keeping it from greatness. Actually it was those very complexities that made it more attractive as PT has been decidedly and often too accessible for its own good at least for the tastes of true prog stalwarts who love the entire arsenal of proggy tricks and trinkets to be implemented. The fans would have to sample a series of singles before the actual release with “Of The New Day” and “Herd Culling” pacifying the fans before the actual album hit the scene.

CLOSURE / CONTINUATION features seven tracks with the deluxe edition featuring three extra. In all honesty i can see why many feel let down by this album as it sounds like business as usual without any significant developments in the band’s overall sound. The extra layers of complexity make it a bit more alienating and more difficult to get into upon first listen unlike past glories. The hype raised expectations and the album sort of hums along just like any old PT album of the 21st century. The usual suspects of mopey ambient drenched slow parts followed by heavier rocking upbeat moments is by now the PT playbook. There just aren’t enough surprises or magic moments to be found on this one but at the same time this one is much more engaging than the nadir of the band’s career “The Incident.”

I think it’s agreed that CLOSURE / CONTINUATION will probably not go down as anyone’s favorite PT album but after several attentive listens i’m actually quite enthralled with this album and its subtle intricacies. Perhaps it’s the sappiness of the second track “Of The New Day” that derails the momentum early on for many (as it did me at first) but beginning with “Rat’s Return” this album is successful in delivering ample doses of everything PT is known for and in good form. Certainly no instantly sing-along songs here with repetitive motifs but this is by no means as inaccessible as anything in the rock in opposition camp. This is simply PT stretching its boundaries and putting its feelers out as to ascertain a new path to forge in the 2020’s. Personally i’m loving this album even if i agree that it doesn’t live up to the hype or compare with the greatest albums of the past. After all even a weaker PT album is light years ahead of what many lesser bands can conjure up. BTW the three bonus tracks are excellent and actually better than some of the material on the official album.