Storm Corrosion news

Got a chance to hear the entire album tonight and WOW...AMAZING record. It's a very unique album, hitting many different styles and textures yet always sounding like a unified whole. Each of the 6 tracks are very distinctive from each other, providing quite a varied journey.

Steven Wilson handles the majority of the vocals (Drag Ropes is Mikael's sole lead feature, along with an introductory section on Ljudet Innan). Mikael plays all the guitar solos, each one stunning, he's really become a master at Gilmour-esque solos, very melodic with an emphasis on tone and feel. Wilson sticks primarily to acoustic piano and mellotron, plus there are some strings and woodwinds added sparsely throughout.

There are some upbeat moments, especially on the driving instrumental "Lock Howl". There are also some truly creepy moments and sections where Wilson uses atonal string parts to create tension, it's wild and unearthly stuff. Gavin Harrison from Porcupine Tree contributes some percussion on some tracks.

Wilson's "Hag" is one of my favorite tracks, a simple descending piano part creates this eerie and sinister tone, with his ethereal vocals floating overtop the menace. Mikael adds some wordless vocals to the mid-section, doubling the guitar part with his voice. There is a very heavy "King Crimson-esque" breakdown section as well.

I could sit here and map out all the influences (everything from folk to Krautrock to prog to avant classical) but it would be best to just listen to the album and experience it for yourselves. It's not background music though, it's one of those "study in the headphones" type records.

Nice review! The mention of "Gilmour-esque" solos from Mikael has me very intrigued! I'm definitely looking forward to this.

Are the demos and instrumental tracks on the DVD?

Eyesore wrote:

Are the demos and instrumental tracks on the DVD?

It's not a DVD, it's a blu ray. (this much high resolution audio wouldn't fit on a DVD).

Here is the track listing for it.


Disc: 2
1. Drag Ropes (5.1 Mix)
2. Storm Corrosion (5.1 Mix)
3. Hag (5.1 Mix)
4. Happy (5.1 Mix)
5. Lock Howl (5.1 Mix)
6. Ljudet Innan (5.1 Mix)
7. Drag Ropes (Instrumental)
8. Storm Corrosion (Instrumental)
9. Hag (Instrumental)
10. Happy (Instrumental)
11. Lock Howl (Instrumental)
12. Ljudet Innan (Instrumental)
13. Drag Ropes (Demo)
14. Hag (Demo)

S.D. wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Are the demos and instrumental tracks on the DVD?

It's not a DVD, it's a blu ray. (this much high resolution audio wouldn't fit on a DVD).

Here is the track listing for it.


Disc: 2
1. Drag Ropes (5.1 Mix)
2. Storm Corrosion (5.1 Mix)
3. Hag (5.1 Mix)
4. Happy (5.1 Mix)
5. Lock Howl (5.1 Mix)
6. Ljudet Innan (5.1 Mix)
7. Drag Ropes (Instrumental)
8. Storm Corrosion (Instrumental)
9. Hag (Instrumental)
10. Happy (Instrumental)
11. Lock Howl (Instrumental)
12. Ljudet Innan (Instrumental)
13. Drag Ropes (Demo)
14. Hag (Demo)

I may have to pick that up just for the high resolution

DVD, Blu-ray, whatever. Haha.

I find it extremely annoying when bands put audio tracks on these things.

Eyesore wrote:

DVD, Blu-ray, whatever. Haha.

I find it extremely annoying when bands put audio tracks on these things.

For physical media blu ray makes the most sense. Much higher sample rates and far superior storage capability. There's a Tom Petty live box set that contains 5 CDs of the audio...or all that music on one blu-ray in 24/96 quality, superior sound and no changing discs required.

To me it's no harder to insert a disc into a blu ray player than a CD player.

Yeah, but I don't have a Blu-ray player in my truck or in my pocket at the gym. I want my music portable.

I can understand that, it's not a format that is geared for every listener or every situation.

Wilson is an audiophile, his goal is to release music in the highest quality possible. Mastering for blu ray isn't cheap (still very few production houses), but he's willing to spend the money because it achieves his goal of not having to compromise quality because of the limitations of a format (whether that's .mp3 or a CD).

An album like this which is so reliant on dynamics for it's presentation, it's the most logical medium for it.

Yeah, but that's catering to a small group of fans. I'm not an audiophile; I'm a fan of songs, you know.

Eyesore wrote:

Yeah, but that's catering to a small group of fans. I'm not an audiophile; I'm a fan of songs, you know.

Those two concepts are not mutually exclusive, I'm a fan of songs AND want to hear them in the highest possible quality. So I fit the target audience this special edition is aimed at.

I got a copy coming to me in the mail. Should be interesting, to say the least.

I ordered the Blu Ray, just waiting for it to get here

I'm totally addicted to this album, it's like taking a musical journey...a very unique listening experience. I'm sure it will be on my "best of list" at the end of the year.

I was listening to this album this morning while eating my bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats. My wife came down and said "What's with this moody music? It's creepy".

its on my list. Good stuff.

the 5.1 mix on Blu Ray sounds amazing! I listened to the 2 channel stereo mix too, but the 5.1 mix blows it away, kind of like the AM/FM sound quality difference. Eeverything sounds so clear

Used my points at Dimple and got the cd/blu ray edition for 10 bucks!!!! Score!!!!

Cool!

DAAAAAAAAMN!!!!! This is a KILLER album!!!!! I gotta hear this with headphones on.

chewie wrote:

DAAAAAAAAMN!!!!! This is a KILLER album!!!!! I gotta hear this with headphones on.

I am looking forward to getting this one!!

I'm really enjoying the album more that I expected. It's a bit outside of my normal listening habits, but I like it allot. It almost feels like I'm listening to a movie soundtrack or something like that. All of the songs flow together so nicely.

It does flow almost like a film score. I think the album is very refreshing because it doesn't sound like anything else that I've heard recently, yet at the same time it's instantly recognizable as being a product of Wilson & Akerfeldt.

S.D. wrote:

It does flow almost like a film score. I think the album is very refreshing because it doesn't sound like anything else that I've heard recently, yet at the same time it's instantly recognizable as being a product of Wilson & Akerfeldt.

I was trying to describe it to my brother-in-law (who introduced me to Porcupine Tree in the first place) and the best way I could explain it was a grim movie soundtrack. And even that's not 100% accurate. It's different, that's for sure. But in a good way.