Storm Corrosion Storm Corrosion

• 1 Drag Ropes 09:53
• 2 Storm Corrosion 10:10
• 3 Hag 06:26
• 4 Happy 04:51
• 5 Lock Howl 06:11
• 6 Ljudet Innan 10:15
• Total Runtime 47:46

Info for Storm Corrosion

Picture: the main men of two of modern prog-metal’s overlords, Porcupine Tree and Opeth, drinking wine, eating chocolate, and making music together. A fanciful vision, perhaps; but that’s exactly how Storm Corrosion came to life. When old friends and long-time collaborators Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt finally sat down to make a record together, this magnificently retro album was the result.

Opener Drag Ropes is just shy of the 10-minute mark but not a second is wasted, with both men assuming vocal duties over a shady shimmer of strings, sporadically tinkled piano and unorthodox guitars.

There’s an eerie gloom about the music that harks back to the drug-fuelled experimental avant-gardism of the 70s. You have to immerse yourself completely before any understanding of what this collective mind is trying to relay can be achieved. That no drugs were used in its creation makes these arrangements all the more curious. One thing is clear immediately: Storm Corrosion is not a metal album. But the signs have been there. Swedish outfit Opeth are pioneers in the death metal scene, yet their sound progressed to the point where 2011’s Heritage surprised even hardcore fans with its clean vocals.

That album, along with Wilson’s gentle second solo album, Grace for Drowning – equally baffling to Porcupine Tree fans used to crunching riffs – were written during the same period that Storm Corrosion came together. All three collections carry the same sombre manifesto, declaring poignant moments of near silence and gentle crescendos that often ebb away before reaching any discernable climax. Restraint is the most tangible aspect to these records.

With the title track also being the name of this album and the band, it’s something of a distillation of the essence of this project. With placid flute, it floats along unapologetically without any pressure to add drama. If it seems too subtle for some listeners, soon enough they’ll be stirred from slumber by the track’s jarring, discordant ending. It’s a song of so many disparate pieces – pieces that initially don’t seem to fit. Given time, however, the music speaks another language. Bonkers and beautiful, Storm Corrosion leaves one wondering what this duo will come up with next. But such is its unexpected design that predictions should be dashed, as what comes next will be far from anything you could dream. (Raziq Rauf, BBC Music)

Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitars
Steven John Wilson, guitars & vocals
Gavin Harrison, drums & percussion
Ben Castle, woodwinds
Mat Collis, piano
The London Session Orchestra
Dave Stewart, conductor

Produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt, Steven John Wilson
Recorded between March 2010 - September 2011

STORM CORROSION is the long-discussed and highly anticipated collaboration between two of the current music scene's most innovative and multi-talented artists; Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. The pair have been friends since the early '00s, when Wilson co-produced Opeth's revered 'Blackwater Park' album.

Over the years, they'd often spoken of working on a project together, but it wasn't until recently that they managed to make something happen, when Mikael flew over to visit Steve in the UK and they ended up in Wilson's home studio throwing ideas around. That visit was the nascence of a whole self-titled album, written and produced by the pair and mixed by Wilson.

The sound of STORM CORROSION can best be described as enchanting, orchestral, ambient, epic (half the album's tracks clock in around the 10 minute mark) and nothing short of surprising to the new ear. However, the musicians' respective fanbases will be primed to appreciate the new output, with Wilson's recent solo album, 'Grace For Drowning' and Opeth's 'Heritage' having brought them to a logical place to understand STORM CORROSION.

This eponymous collection is almost viewed as one side of a musical triangle.

Says Wilson, “If you'd asked me three months ago about the music, I would have said, 'Expect the last thing you would expect.' But actually, now that Heritage and Grace for Drowning have come out, I don't think it's going to be that much of a shock to people, because it's almost like a third part of the trilogy, in a way. If anything, it's even more orchestral, even more stripped down, even more dark, twisted and melancholic…but it certainly feels like it comes from the same place as Heritage and Grace for Drowning, which indeed it does because it was written during the same period.”

“Some of the music on this record I think is the most beautiful music I have participated in ever,” adds Åkerfeldt. “There's some magical sections on there. Musically I think we've created something earthy, a bit frightening, exhausting, profound and rather intense. All at the same time. I can safely say I don't know any other band or artist that sounds anything like Storm Corrosion. I guess that was also one of our goals, so to speak.”

This album contains no booklet.