PORCUPINE TREE — In Absentia (review)

PORCUPINE TREE — In Absentia album cover Album · 2002 · Metal Related Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Warthur
Porcupine Tree's In Absentia certainly caused a stir when it came out - some prog-heads even going so far as to suggest the time Steven Wilson spent with Opeth had rubbed off on him - but listened to in the context of their whole discography it's clear that it's an evolution of their sound, not a reinvention of it. You can still just about hear the spacey psychedelic prog foundations of the band (which they'd never really given up) and you can also still hear the Radiohead-inspired indie rock/prog rock crossover of the triptych of Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, and Recordings.

On top of this, there's an injection of a heap of hard rock, heavy metal, and heavy prog (a la King Crimson - see, for instance, the opening of The Creator Has a Mastertape) influences which add a third new layer of musical genetic material into the rich mixture Porcupine Tree habitually offer. And to be honest, this isn't even the most prominent feature of the album - sure, there's a big dose in the lead track, but there's also several gentler songs which wouldn't have sounded out of place on Lightbulb Sun.

And come to think of it, the title track of that one had some fairly hard riffing on it too, didn't it? Just like I said: evoltuion, not revolution. But what an evolution!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed