PORCUPINE TREE — In Absentia (review)

PORCUPINE TREE — In Absentia album cover Album · 2002 · Metal Related Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Phonebook Eater
9/10

"In Absentia" has a new, explosive, change of sound for Steven Wilson and his band!

"In Absentia" was most definitely the heaviest PT record at the time, and certainly completely different from all the previous albums. In an interview, now available as an eleven minute track in the EP "Futile", Steven Wilson, PT leader, explains that during this period he was listening to some Extreme prog metal bands such as Opeth and Meshuggah, and that they were his main influence for writing all the heavier songs. The style of the album is, other than having some new, heavy moods, has. Like many previous albums, some pop, prog, jazz at times, ambience and psych. It is, stylistically speaking, PT's most eclectic album to date. The structure of the album is kind of different: no short songs ,as well as no excessively long songs (not longer than seven minutes), and there twelve songs, even though this amount of tracks isn't new for the band. In this way, you can't really feel the album as a journey that you must listen to all the way through, but more like a collection of songs, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, like in this album.

"Blackest Eyes", "Trains", "Sound Of Muzak" are three very big hits for a prog band, mainly because they're very melodic, catchy, and at times exquisitely heavy. " Lips Of Ashes" finds itself in the middle of these three hits, and it's probably the weakest song here. "Gravity Eyelids", however, is a masterpiece, seven minutes of an increasing climax, and before you know it the song explodes from a calm keyboard driven mood into a fantastic heavy riff. "Wedding Nails" is a great instrumental piece, almost all of it guitar driven, unlike other PT instrumentals. "Prodigal" is a beautiful song, very underrated, a lot of soft and dreamy moods. "3." Is a spacey, keyboard driven song, almost all instrumental, but with many great moments. "The Creator Has A Mastertape" is kind of odd, with a heavy bass driven verse, and has generally speaking kind of an energetic feel to it. "Heartattack In A Lay By" is a soft, beautiful song, with a very melancholic and sad sounding melody. "Strip The Soul" is another heavy masterpiece, with plenty of great moments that you won't forget. The last song "Collapse Light In the Earth" is another calm song, but very beautiful, with a heartbreaking melody that warms you up everytime you listen to it.

In conclusion, "In Absentia" is an album that is essential if you like progressive rock music, since it did go down in prog history as one of PT's best and most complete albums.
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