Porcupine Tree
Buy? Yes
At this point, you know what you're going to get from Porcupine Tree. The band has been around for over 15 years and has evolved quite a bit over time. But things haven't changed too much for the band since 2003's In Absentia. The Incident is yet another high-quality release from the band, which remain at or at least very near the top of their game. There are moments of pristine beauty here and punishing heavy passages too. But the album's main conceit, that the title track is a single 55-minute work, seems to be mostly hype. In reality, It is a loosely connected concept piece that comprises 14 separate tracks. “The Incident” was inspired when Wilson was stuck in a traffic jam and noticed caution tape that read “POLICE-INCIDENT” around an accident.
Besides being the lead single, “Time Flies” is also one of the highlights of the disc. It's essentially a bright-sounding, catchy rock song that chugs along for four minutes before backing off into a minor key section dominated by a simple acoustic guitar riff and Gavin Harrison's ace drumming. The album opens with a crashing guitar chord repeated three times on “Occam's Razor” which also sets the dark mood of the album. It's bracing and heavy, and it becomes even more effective when this theme returns later on in “Degree Zero of Liberty”, which kicks off the album's most guitar-dominated section. The album as a whole, though, is very strong. For all his prog-rock and metal leanings, Steven Wilson knows that it all really comes down to the song-writing. And he is a very good songwriter, which keeps Porcupine Tree afloat even when they aren't really pushing the envelope.
SRIKRISHNA NATESAN, drummer for Blind Image
