Album Review: Porcupine Tree - The Incident

Porcupine Tree's latest album, The Incident, is now out!

Their latest offering is an epic concept album with the first half dedicated entirely to the title track. The second half comprises 4 songs. This album is probably PT's heaviest work to date. I also hear influences from Steven Wilson's solo album Insurgentes.

Disc 1: The Incident

I. "Occam's Razor"
II. "The Blind House"
III. "Great Expectations"
IV. "Kneel and Disconnect"
V. "Drawing the Line"
VI. "The Incident"
VII. "Your Unpleasant Family"
VIII. "The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train"
IX. "Time Flies"
X. "Degree Zero of Liberty"
XI. "Octane Twisted"
XII. "The Séance"
XIII. "Circle of Manias"

XIV. "I Drive the Hearse"

Each song on the 14-song title track depicts true-to-life 'incidents' that Steven Wilson found interesting to write about. It starts off hard and brutal with Occam's Razor then fluidly continues to The Blind House with PT's trademark heavy riffs + relaxed stanzas combination. Next is the quick track Great Expectations with a great chorus, and is sort of a crossover for the next track, Kneel And Disconnect. This track continues the acoustic part of the previous track, then continues with atmospheric pads and dark pianos on Drawing The Line. This track doesn't really do much for me. The intro is nice but i find the chorus 'common' and it doesn't seem to fit the song. But this is compensated on one of the biggest tracks, The Incident. The intro reminds me of Sleep Together from Fear Of A Blank Planet. The eerie deep drone-like sequence gives me the goosebumps every time. Then there is the heavy riffs before going into the chorus. This is one of the best tracks in this album.

Next up is the short 'Your Unpleasant Family', which a lot of people could probably relate to. Yellow Windows of the Evening Train is Richard Barbieri's synth-time. Next is another strong track, Time Flies, with acoustic guitars and Steven Wilson's favorite 6/8 time signature. The song goes dark in the middle with an eerie guitar solo.

Degree Zero of Liberty goes back to the startling intro, then moves on to Octane Twisted. Soft intro then great heavy 5/4 riff at the middle. Next is a favorite combination of mine, The Seance then going into Circle Of Manias. I like the transition from soft calm to hard pounding riffs and drums. I like the blend that they use on the distorted guitars. Last is I Drive the Hearse. The title of this is song is really cool, and the song is as soft and slow as a hearse as well.

Disc 2

1. "Flicker"
2. "Bonnie The Cat"
3. "Black Dahlia"
4. "Remember Me Lover"

The second disc has 4 separate tracks. It starts with Flicker, which reminds me of Anesthetize. It has a good acoustic riff and great vocals by Steven Wilson. Next track is a personal favorite, Bonnie The Cat. Very catchy drum and bass riff and spoken word blending. Then there's the very heavy second part of the song and probably one of the heaviest riffs they ever made. Black Dahlia is credited to both Wilson and Barbieri which explains the atmospheric feel of the song. The last song is Remember Me Lover starts off slow but will leave you with an ending that will definitely make you remember.

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This album is definitely a masterpiece, and may take some time to grow on you if you're used to the straight forward In Absentia or Deadwing albums. You need to listen to it..now!