Steven Wilson slates Progressive Metal bands but is a fan of the genre!

**Rufus** · 12-23-2015

He says some artists in overcrowded genre lack freshness and originality

Steven Wilson has taken aim at the state of progressive metal, saying some bands lack originality.

And he insists there are currently too may groups representing a genre he refers to as limited.

Wilson tells Metal Wani: “I feel that progressive metal is, right now, one of the most overused musical vocabularies there is. There are too many progressive metal bands. There doesn’t seem to be a week that goes by without another 10 groups coming along.”

He states he’s a fan of the genre and namechecks Meshuggah and Opeth as two of his favourites, but adds: “Those bands have been around for a long time now and I think the problem is that there comes a point where it’s difficult to make a sound using such a limited musical vocabulary which has any degree of freshness or originality to it.

“The sound of metal music now is so familiar to everyone that I think it’s lost a lot of its power and I think that’s a reason to sometimes try other things.”

Wilson will release his “interim” album 4½ on January 22 and says he’s started to give some thought to his next full-length record.

He continues: “I’ve got vague ideas that I want to do something perhaps even more contemporary – bring in some more electronic sounds, maybe some heavy guitars – and maybe focus a lot more on melody. But those are very vague and abstract ideas right now.”

As for future material under the Porcupine Tree banner, Wilson reports: “There may come a day when we get back together and make at least one more record. I’ve never ruled that out completely.”

**Yves** · 12-23-2015

Sounds to me like his next full album will be very much in line with the Porcupine Tree sound, no matter what name it's released under.

**Sordel** · 12-23-2015

I'm something of a booster for SW but I'm sorry to see him playing the media game of attacking something else. Takes me back to the days when he smashed up iPods as a publicity stunt ... he should be past this now.

**bob_32_116** · 12-23-2015

Steven says what I think. If you read the quote in full, there is no contradiction, as the thread subject heading seems to imply. He likes the genre in general, but thinks that some bands are not very good at it. That's not much different from saying, for example, that you're a fan of science fiction, but certain SF authors aren't very good. And it's not as if he named names.

**JJ88** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Sordel

I'm something of a booster for SW but I'm sorry to see him playing the media game of attacking something else. Takes me back to the days when he smashed up iPods as a publicity stunt ... he should be past this now.

He's slated other prog bands in the past- he had harsh words for later Yes and Dream Theater, for instance.

**Yves** · 12-23-2015

Steven Wilson ruined Porcupine Tree

**Paulrus** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Steven Wilson

“I’ve got vague ideas that I want to do something perhaps even more contemporary – bring in some more electronic sounds, maybe some heavy guitars – and maybe focus a lot more on melody. But those are very vague and abstract ideas right now.”

If this holds true it looks like he's moving more in the Radiohead-type direction next time. I've enjoyed his takes on that kind of stuff in the past, though he hasn't always batted 100%. I'm sure some here will bemoan this since it means he's likely moving further away from the retro prog sound of Raven.

Originally Posted by Steven Wilson

As for future material under the Porcupine Tree banner, Wilson reports: “There may come a day when we get back together and make at least one more record. I’ve never ruled that out completely.”

That's just about the most positive statement regarding a PT reunion I've seen to date.

**bob_32_116** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Paulrus

If this holds true it looks like he's moving more in the Radiohead-type direction next time. I've enjoyed his takes on that kind of stuff in the past, though he hasn't always batted 100%. I'm sure some here will bemoan this since it means he's likely moving further away from the retro prog sound of Raven.

Leaving aside the fact that I don't think Raven is all that retro, except for the obvious Genesis homage on track 5, I have no problem with "focus a lot more on melody".

As for "heavy guitars", well that could work, though for me a little of that goes a long way. It also seems at odds with his criticism of the prog metal genre as "limited".

My only minor criticism of H.C.E. is that on some tracks there seems to be too much loud staccato drumming. It's not the fact that the drumming is there that I mind, but it's as though the microphone was too close to the drum kit or something. I'm not sure whoses fault that is: Steven's (as producer) or the drummer. I never noticed that problem with any PT work featuring Chris Maitland or Gavin Harrison.

Originally Posted by Paulrus

That's just about the most positive statement regarding a PT reunion I've seen to date.

Well, it's basically what he has said in every interview I have seen or heard. That, no doubt, is because it's the same question constantly being asked. Indeed, it must be a challenge for Steven to answer with slightly different phrasing each time so that it does not sound like cut-and-paste, and to avoid rolling his eyes. I have long come to terms with the fact that if another PT record happens, it happens. There are bands much older than Porcupine Tree that have never officially been disbanded; The Swinging Blue Jeans, for example.

**Scrotum Scissor** · 12-23-2015

Perhaps some folks just need to 'get out' more and actually hear and experience a somewhat wider palette of music. It's a completely wild and over-the-top idea, of course - but on occasion it helps quite a bit.

**Sean** · 12-23-2015

Some would find irony in his statement, I'm sure.

**Paulrus** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor

Perhaps some folks just need to 'get out' more and actually hear and experience a somewhat wider palette of music. It's a completely wild and over-the-top idea, of course - but on occasion it helps quite a bit.

And a bah humbug to you too.

**Scrotum Scissor** · 12-23-2015

^ Okey dokey.

**TheLongshot** · 12-23-2015

Isn't this basically the same thing he said about Progressive Rock a few years ago?

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/fo....asp?TID=88744

"Jeff Nau (Explicitly Intense magazine): As far as progressive rock goes and
had gone,what do you feel about what's happening now? Dream Theater
is still doing very well, and now there's a new kind of
prog rising up with bands like the Mars Volta and even Radiohead -
but also with older-sounding groups like the Flower Kings and
Transatlantic. What do you think needs to happen for it to
survive?

Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree): Okay, I think that answer is very
simple: bands like the Mars Volta, Tool, and Radiohead - these bands
are the future of progressive music.

Bands like the Flower Kings and Transatlantic? The DEATH of
progressive music. These are the bands that reinforce every prejudice
people have about progressive rock: old-fashioned, pompous,
pretentious, hung-up on sci-fi concepts - that for me is rubbish. But
there's a new wave of bands that for me are being influenced just as
much by hip-hop as they are King Crimson or Godspeed You Black
Emperor and bands like us as well, I hope.

For me, Transatlantic and the Flower Kings - and I have heard these
bands, unfortunately - they're following the blueprint from 1972 so
closely; it's completely pointless and redundant. They're never going
to better the originals, anyway - why bother? Whatever's going around
should be part of their musical vocabulary.

I don't particularly dig generic music, whether it's hardcore metal
or hip-hop, even down to the prog bands you mentioned. They're
following a formula way too closely. For me,being progressive is
about taking the word at face value: it a band is going to try to be
progressive, they shouldn't be looking at the past - they should be
looking at everything that's going on around them now,
from hip-hop to trip-hop to death metal to trance. The
word 'progressive' is about the FUTURE."

**Nearfest2** · 12-23-2015

I completely agree with him regarding Progressive Metal.

**StevegSr** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Yves

Steven Wilson ruined Porcupine Tree

**chalkpie** · 12-23-2015

I admire SW but that is sort of a douche thing to say. There is a TON of diversity within this genre if you have the gall to get out there and listen. I had no idea until Kermanator opened my eyes years back and basically said that extreme metal is the new "progressive" rock. Sorry but Opeth and Meshuggah don't even scratch the surface (and I like both bands).

**Dedatolo** · 12-23-2015

"For me,being progressive is about taking the word at face value: it a band is going to try to be progressive, they shouldn't be looking at the past - they should be looking at everything that's going on around them now, from hip-hop to trip-hop to death metal to trance. The word 'progressive' is about the FUTURE." (SW)

Well, he'd forgot these words or "intentions" 'cos I hear the same old re-polished prog vocabulary in his latest stuff, even the bloody mellotron, can't hear anything new really....

**chalkpie** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor

Perhaps some folks just need to 'get out' more and actually hear and experience a somewhat wider palette of music. It's a completely wild and over-the-top idea, of course - but on occasion it helps quite a bit.

Haha - you gotta love the scrotum! Well, you know what I mean......

**chalkpie** · 12-23-2015

Originally Posted by Dedatolo

"For me,being progressive is about taking the word at face value: it a band is going to try to be progressive, they shouldn't be looking at the past - they should be looking at everything that's going on around them now, from hip-hop to trip-hop to death metal to trance. The word 'progressive' is about the FUTURE." (SW)

Well, he'd forgot these words or "intentions" 'cos I hear the same old re-polished prog vocabulary in his latest stuff, even the bloody mellotron, can't hear anything new really....

Exactly. Look who's calling the kettle black Mr Wilson.

**Scott Bails** · 12-23-2015

But, has Wilson ever aligned himself with the term "progressive?" Is he being hypocritical if he never set out to be a "progressive" artist?

**Scrotum Scissor** · 12-23-2015

I respect Steve Nilsen, and I enjoyed his stuff from the very start of his career with the cassettes and everything. Back in 1990, almost no one except for maybe his mum had ever heard anything of Willyson before. Then, a five or six years time down the line, many had finally got to hear of him. Nilsy made music Porky, I.E.M., Bass Communion, No-Man, Bowness/Barbieri, M. Karn, Aviv Geffen and with Anja Garbarek, and he mixes ol' sympho-lymphos to lite acclaim. However, those artists "[...] looking at everything that's going on around them now, from hip-hop to trip-hop to death metal to trance" and who take the "progressive" craft'n'creed at face value - they already exist. Who knows, perhaps he doesn't recognize them or their music for the sheer transcendence of it?