The albums Grace For Drowning from Steven Wilson and Heritage by Opeth are both part of an unofficial trilogy, both of which were released in September of 2011. The final album in this trilogy is titled Storm Corrosion, which is a collaboration between Steven Wilson (most notable of Porcupine Tree) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (of Opeth) which was released in April. Both the first two albums of the trilogy play tribute to 70's progressive rock, such as bands like King Crimson and Jethro Tull. This is especially true with songs such as "Raidar II", that have obvious influence from Crimson. Even lyrically, Heritage and Grace For Drowning have a darker tone than the albums preceding them (Watershed and Insurgentes, that were both released in 2008). The album covers for the three albums were done by Travis Smith, Lasse Hoile, and Hans Arnold, respective to the order of each release.
While the instrumentation used in Heritage isn't much different from their other albums, how they arranged and mixed it provided an obvious difference in their sound. The album presents itself as being less heavy than Opeth's previous albums, but somehow more melancholic. The track "Famine" draws many similarities to Jethro Tull with the use of flutter tonging in the flute, with a similar style to what Ian Anderson would use.
Grace For Drowning is a double album, disc one is titled Deform to Form a Star and disc two is Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye (as well as a third disc, The Map,
included in the deluxe edition). Aside from the deluxe edition having a
third disc and a blu-ray, it also has an amazing 120 page book of photographer Lasse
Hoile's workThe songs go through a variety of styles, from a 20-minute epic that pays tribute to 70's prog, to the more electronic and modern. This track is of course "Raider II", which I have seen on tumblr described as;
“Raider II” just kinda reminds me of if King Crimson took too much acid and accidentally locked themselves in a dark room with Porcupine Tree’s The Incident playing on repeat in 5.1 surround sound // in other words it’s amazingWhich I have to agree with, because that song does have many references to King Crimson, particularly their album Lizard and it's opening song "Cirkus". Knowing Wilson's appreciation of Crimson, as well as his work on remastering their catalog for the 40th anniversary editions, this was done intentionally. The influence of Crimson, 70's prog, and jazz is very noticeable on the album, and even more so in live performance.
Now to the final piece of the trilogy, Storm Corrosion, which itself is different from Wilson's and Åkerfeldt's other works. Though going based on what they were discussing about the album before it's release, nothing to really completely shock people with. Overall the whole album is simply a beautiful, solemn, piece of work. The album actually has very little percussion in it, but what it does have is performed by Porcupine Tree's drummer Gavin Harrison.
As mentioned earlier, the cover art for this album is a painting by Swedish artist Hans Arnold. This was not created for the album as it was painted in 1969, but chosen by Åkerfeldt and Wilson to be the cover. I think taking this piece adds to telling how they are paying tribute to the progressive and avant-garde music, most notable of the 1970's.
Storm Corrosion while different in style, really unites Heritage and Grace For Drowning. Throughout the album, you hear partial quotes from different parts of the other two albums.
"The album title came from reading stories and accounts of people who have had near-death experiences with drowning. They all say the same thing: They got a point where they stopped struggling where they reached a point of calm, of grace. I like Grace for Drowning as a metaphor for my life. I don’t really care anymore if I’m successful or if I’m going to be more successful than I am already. I’d still like to share my music with more people. But I’m not stressed about it. I’m making the best music I’ve ever made now because I feel totally liberated from trying to please anyone." ~ Steven WilsonThis quote more than anything really describes all three albums, being where Wilson (and Åkerfeldt) just go solely with what they want to create. Not having to to stress about how people may react to it, just making the music for themselves. With that sort of approach, you get the artists full heart and soul put into the work. Once you create a piece of art that you put 100% of your emotions and efforts into, typically you are going to end up with something truly beautiful. For me, that is the case with these three albums, each one amazing in their own way. There is also the great experience of just listening through each album, one after the other with no interruptions. Through that you can really notice the similarities between the albums, with quotes and attributes to take note of the others, and really notice more details than you would otherwise.
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| The complete trilogy. |
