| 5.0 classic |
| 25 Ta Life Strength Integrity Brotherhood |
| Aborym Generator |
| Alcest Écailles De Lune |
| Carach Angren Death Came Through a Phantom Ship |
| Coroner Grin |
| Daft Punk Alive 2007 |
| Dissection Storm of the Light's Bane |
| dredg Catch Without Arms |
| Engel Threnody |
| Equilibrium Sagas |
| Garden of Shadows Oracle Moon |
| Grayceon Grayceon |
| In Mourning Shrouded Divine |
| Katatonia Night Is the New Day |
| Le Grand Guignol The Great Maddening |
| Lo-Ruhamah The Glory of God |
| Mirrorthrone Gangrene |
| Nobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy VIII: Original Soundtrack |
| Opeth Damnation |
| Porcupine Tree Fear of a Blank Planet |
| Owning and listening to Porcupine Tree's two previous releases, "Deadwing" and "In Absentia", I wasn't quite sure what to expect from their upcoming album. Hearing small clips of songs like "Fear Of A Blanket Planet" and "Anesthetize" didn't really give me solid proof of what this album sounded like so rather than waiting around to hear reviews from others and then tossing back and forth the idea of buying it, I bit the bullet and went to Newbury Comics on release day. Before I even decided to put the disk in my cd player, (hey, im still old-school I don't own an i-pod and i plan on keeping it that way as long as humanly possible), I checked out who, if any, musicians were featured as special guests. I'll admit I wasn't expecting to see Robert Fripp's name included and enjoying King Crimson albums such as "Red", I was enthusiastic about the prospects for this cd. All I can say each and every song on "Fear of a Blank Planet" is a gem and rather than skipping from track to track, the only fair way to listen to such a masterful piece is to set a side an hour or so of your life and simply immerse yourself in this amazing piece of art. Steve Wilson's lyrical content on "Fear..." really struck a chord with me on many levels and I heard my own personal views being voiced,(or rather, sung) back to me. Porcupine Tree has for many years now been seen at the forefront of progressive rock/metal but I couldn't believe the metallic edge that has seeped into their sound; don't get me wrong there are no blastbeats or dehydrated vocals but the cruncher guitar tone and rock solid rhythm section certainly have done wonders for their overall sound. My personal stand-out songs on this record are "Anesthetize" and "Sleep Together". The former being a nearly 18 minute epic dealing with the disillusionment of today's youth and their utter lack of motivation to get off their couches and do something meaningful with their lives. The later is very reminicent of Depeche Mode-styled electronics with a biting commentary on how rather than face the challenges people deal with daily, finding solace in someone's bed to escape a reality that is too ugly to confront head-on. Though these are my personal favorite songs, I stress that I can't skip through the rest of songs to get to these tracks; the album is meant to be listened to as a whole narrative and for anyone jaded by pompous modern prog rock/metal, listen to this album and you'll know that there still are quality bands with a message that resonates with a little piece of everyone. |
| Red Harvest Internal Punishment Programs |
| Shining (SWE) V - Halmstad |
| Sun of the Blind Skullreader |
| Trespassers William Different Stars |
