From the first time Mike Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson got together we were expecting a collaboration of some sort from these two great minds of music. After several contributions to each other’s bands and a long friendship, Steven Wilson and Mike Akerfeldt released their long awaited first album.
The musicians named their project “Storm Corrosion”. The album of the same name was recorded during the course of 2010 and 2011. Mike Portnoy was scheduled to participate in the album at first, but Wilson and Akerfeldt decided that there wasn’t enough space for drums inside the project. Truthfully the resulting sound of the album was more minimalistic and cinematic with the drums playing a small role. The little drums that we do hear are played by Gavin Harrison.
The sound of the album is unlike anything these two men have ever done before. There is nothing metal about it. The whole album is built around a great and dark atmosphere which gives a nice vibe of a soundtrack album. The video clip for the opening track “Drag Ropes” helps intensify that vibe. Both of the musicians have been associated with great technicality but Storm Corrosion does not favor that. It favors the simplicity of music with great guitar arrangements, a great sound from the Hammond and some impressing vocal performances.
The fact that there is nothing in common between Storm Corrosion and Porcupine Tree or Opeth is a great advantage for the album. Keeping in mind that the whole album could be used as a movie soundtrack you can say that it is probably influenced by stuff like krautrock, avant-garde, jazz and anything that these two musicians could not implement in their own bands. The progression of the songs is nothing like a common rock or metal song. It is a journey to the unknown with strange sounds and mixes from around the world. A soundtrack to a peaceful and at some points scary dream.
This album really completes the trilogy that commenced the previous year. Steven Wilsons “Grace for Drowning”, Opeths “Heritage” and “Storm Corrosion” make a complete but weird trilogy. So if you enjoyed the first two, my prediction is you are going to love Storm Corrosion. It needs a lot of listens to comprehend all of the music and surely a great deal of tranquility.
