CD Review: Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion

Written by Christopher Nosnibor Friday, 27 July 2012 08:01

Artist: Storm Corrosion
Title: Storm Corrosion
Genre: Alternative
Release Date: 4th May 2012
Label: Roadrunner Records

Album Review

STORM CORROSION is a project that’s likely to have piqued the interest of a fair number of music fans, being as it is a collaborative work between Steven Wilson of PORCUPINE TREE and OPETH’s Mikael Åkerfeldt. It’s testament to their musical capabilities and breadth of vision that this album doesn’t sound like either band, or an amalgamation of the two.

In fact, despite bearing extremely proggy tendencies – three of the six tracks sit around the 10-minute mark, and of the remainder, only one is shorter than six – the result is rather unexpected, and that’s a good thing. There’s an expansive, soundtrack quality to the instrumentation and cinematic arrangement of ‘Drag Ropes’, the first track on ‘Storm Corrosion’. The vocals, however, bear a tinge of folkiness that contrasts with the music, yet at the same time compliments it. The epic qualities of the title track are tempered by a sedate pace and delicate performance based around acoustic guitar and hand drums that gradually drift into more ominous territories and emerging in a space marked by a fragile serenity.

‘Hag’ begins with Åkerfeldt and Wilson amidst the type of terrain commonly associated with Pink Floyd, before fulfilling the threat of breaking out into a louder, heavier passage. ‘Storm Corrosion’ is most certainly not about noise, though, and nor it is about instant gratification. So if ‘Lock Howl’ doesn’t scream its way into the listener’s consciousness, then it’s no reason to be disappointed, and as ‘Ljudet Innan’ (which translates from the Swedish as “ancient music”) suggests, the music here has been intricately crafted to tap into an altogether deeper part of the psyche. Instead of assaulting the listener’s senses, It slowly laps at them, revealing new layers with each play. It’s an album that contains many soft hues, a gentle breeze in the leaves casting a dappled shade rather than stark contrasts of light and dark.


Tracklist

01. Drag Ropes
02. Storm Corrosion
03. Hag
04. Happy
05. Lock Howl
06. Ljudet Innan


Line-up

Steven Wilson
Mikael Åkerfeldt


Website

http://stormcorrosion.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/pages/Storm-Corrosion/187831801312141


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 8.5
Sound: 7.5
Total: 8 / 10