Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Storm Corrosion
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release: 2012
Length: 47:24
Rating: 4.5/5
Storm Corrosion is what happens when two forces join up: the versatile English guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No-Man) and the superb Swedish guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth). The result is a total esoteric apocalypse of monumental ambient proportions, where their many musical influences cross paths and fuse into one seamless whole. Without looking back much at their own musical past with their main bands, they actually manage to create something new and interesting. The two old buddies, who have already worked together successfully several times since 2001, when Wilson produced the Opeth album »Blackwater Park«, decided to start a joint project as a reflection of their love for the legacy of experimental music legends, especially some cult acts and masters of (dark) ambient like King Crimson, Comus, Popol Vuh and Talk Talk.
There’s not a trace of the prog metal usually associated with their main bands (Opeth especially) on »Storm Corrosion«. Most metalheads who expected a record in the style of the Opeth classic »Damnation« (2003) will surely not be too thrilled, but that’s their problem if it’s so hard, from time to time, to pry open the narrow genre boundaries staked out in their heads. Instead of ‘sawing’ electric guitar phrases and drum cataclysm assaults, »Storm Corrosion« is ruled throughout by ambient, folk, psychedelia and, of course, progressive rock with a pinch of jazz. The two prog rock greats split the vocal duties well between them. This time, with the help of a London session orchestra, Wilson devoted himself entirely to synths and arrangements, while Åkerfeldt played all the guitar parts.
Through waves of complex and mighty ambient curtains, Åkerfeldt’s Nordic gloom of long winters and Wilson’s Celtic melancholy of ancient stone circles blend together hypnotically across »Storm Corrosion«. The end result is so intense that the album, with its ethereal magic, ‘sucks’ the listener in within moments. The post-apocalyptic opener »Drag Ropes«, ruled by Åkerfeldt’s melancholic vocals, literally drowns under the weight of dark orchestral ambient curtains. It all sounds a bit like King Crimson from the period between 1969 and 1971. The atmosphere keeps growing in intensity, mostly thanks to the mighty backing vocal harmonies, Åkerfeldt’s patient weaving of acoustic guitar chords and fractured percussion courtesy of the legendary drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson). The chaotic vocal harmonies in the middle section sound like they were pulled from the ninth circle of Dante’s Hell, while the minimalist guitar improvisations, together with the swelling waves of mellotron, come across like shreds of faded hope in the middle of bloody underground rivers. Wilson’s orchestral arrangements are the very picture of infectious ambient grandeur throughout the album.
The title track, where Wilson’s trademark ‘mourning’ vocal takes the lead and, with its storytelling power over acoustic guitar, keeps the drama building, is likewise made up of layered ambient nuances at the expense of teasing pastoral-orchestral arrangements. Ethereal vocalizations conjure up the rustic mood of some distant, ancient time, when altars were built in honor of gods forgotten for centuries. All that’s left for the listener is to give in to the orchestral waves, which in the second half of the track suddenly carry you into the heart of chaotic improvisations, until beautiful, mystical ambient takes over again at the close.
»Hag« ties in perfectly with its title and lyrics thanks to its gloomy and, at moments, downright creepy vibe, where it’s easy to picture a lonely old crone or witch in a shack in the middle of the woods, a kind of Slavic Baba Yaga. Short piano interludes cut through the dark orchestral intensity, while Wilson can’t help being the narrator of heart-wrenching dirges. In the second half of the track, like thunder from a cloudy sky, a raging guitar riff strikes, joined by an avalanche of chaotic drum improvisations from the master Harrison. Despite its title, »Happy« is no happier than the rest of the album; an utterly melancholic melody slowly builds over delicate acoustic guitar chords and ethereal vocal meanders, while in the background the drama keeps swelling in intensity at the expense of orchestral curtains.
»Lock Howl« is one of the better ambient experiments on an otherwise very well-balanced album, which in places even smells of a concept record, though supposedly there’s no official concept. Once again, mighty orchestral curtains mix with a pastoral acoustic guitar melody, while the intense mood keeps swelling and takes the listener off to the far north, into foggy forests. In the second half, an utterly dark and eerie motif takes over, once again recalling the golden days of King Crimson and Comus, after which, with the help of unpredictable guitar and percussion improvisations, the tense atmosphere slowly staggers out of the gloomy hollows and soars up toward the sky.
The closing epic »Ljudet Innan«, the top candidate for the most intense ambient piece on the album, brings the final triumph of gorgeous ethereal vocalizations, until eventually hypnotic orchestral arrangements take the lead and shake the listener with their mystical beauty. Åkerfeldt’s piercing guitar bits are like seasoning in the middle of symphonic, pastoral-tinged ambient magic.
»Storm Corrosion« is a post-apocalyptic ambient requiem, born from the ashes of pagan bacchanalia, the kind only two musicians of the caliber of Messrs. Wilson and Åkerfeldt could conjure up together. Plenty of metalheads, especially traditional Opeth devotees, as well as those Porcupine Tree fans who swear by that cult band’s ‘prog metal’ phase, will turn up their noses at the not-so-predictable sound, but the fact is that these two eclectic buddies have made a shamelessly infectious ambient album, one that only gets more intense with every new listen, and with which they’ve proven they can adventurously explore musical territories they hadn’t yet ventured into, all while delivering excellent results.
Lineup
Mikael Åkerfeldt – guitar and vocals
Steven Wilson – keyboards and vocals
Gavin Harrison – drums
Ben Castle – woodwinds
London Session Orchestra – orchestral arrangements
Production
Mikael Åkerfeldt and Steven Wilson
Tracklist
1. Drag Ropes (9:52)
2. Storm Corrosion (10:12)
3. Hag (6:28)
4. Happy (4:53)
5. Lock Howl (6:09)
6. Ljudet Innan (10:20)
