Thursday 29 January 2009

Steven Wilson - Insurgentes


The first thing that amazed me about prog rock legend Steve Wilson's Insurgentes, was that it was actually his first solo album. He has had his fingers in many a progressive pie before now, apart from the amazing Porcupine Tree he has worked with Opeth, Marillion, Andrew Liles to name a few. So how does this compare to his already vast career?
Very well in fact. There is a real variety of songs here, from the detuned, heavy, groove ridden riffs of songs such as Harmony Korine and Veneno Para Las Hadas giving way to well produced ambiance, jazzy freak outs and classical arrangements. The guitar solos, frantic, reminiscent of early Mars Volta. The tracks interlace nicely into each other, the highlight being track 3 'Salvaging' building up the whole way through before track 4 'Veneno Para Las Hadas' kicks in with huge drums and a string section going as mental as a string section can get.
There will always be that Porcupine Tree essence with Wilson's very distinctive vocal harmonies but this album strays away from what you have come to expect from them. There are some real gems on this album, the production is first class. The album is out via KScope on the 9th of March. This is well worth checking out.

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