Year: 2012
Country: United Kingdom / Sweden
Running time: 9 mins. 47 secs.
Spotify link
YouTube link
Now that we have the long prog masterpieces top 20 out of the way, let's start checking out some other prog songs and compositions well worth the fans' attention. I am starting a new article series where I recommend individual songs or entire albums that I think are worth any prog fan's while, be they actual prog or somehow related to the genre. I will let you know in the article itself, whether I think the song or album in question can be labelled as "genuine" progressive rock or if not, but is worth checking out anyway.
Recommendations come in three classes. Recommendation means that the piece of music getting written about is definitely worth a listen, should an opportunity to do so present itself. Strong recommendation, as is the case here, means that you should actively seek to hear the piece of music in question, as soon as it is convenient, instead of passively waiting for a chance to hear it. Very strong recommendation indicates that you should drop everything that you are doing right there and then, and start listening immediately after completing the reading of the article. This is usually helped by Spotify and/or YouTube links at the top of the page.
Drag Ropes, by Storm Corrosion is the only truly awesome new track I have happened to come across this year. It proves once again that imaginative and endlessly creative progressive rock is alive and well still today. Listening to it for the first time, via Prog'opolis podcast was a genuinely jaw-dropping experience.
Looking back, I think my astonishent was largely due to false expectations, although that doesn't make the track any less astounding. Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson had displayed a growing interest towards metal oriented prog for a while already, so when I heard about his collaboration with the frontman of the Swedish progressive metal group Opeth, Mikael Åkerfeldt, I naturally assumed that this was Wilson's chance to go really metal. And for this reason, I wasn't really looking forward to the album, not being a big fan of prog metal.
The resulting album Storm Corrosion however defied those expectations. It is a very interesting and complex, if slightly uneven prog rock album far removed from actual metal. Drag Ropes is its opening track, and it is easily the strongest song on the entire album. Only the closing track Ljudet Innan comes even close. But while the other songs between these are not quite on par with them, that doesn't mean that they aren't worth listening to. This is quality music by artists still in the height of their creativity and, in my opinion, a vast improvement to Wilson's last year's ambitious but hermetically sealed solo album Grace for Drowning, which was an ultimately disappointing listening experience.
The best thing about Drag Ropes is that, when listening to it, you are completely unable to second-guess the next direction it's going to take. This is prog rock at its very best: unstructured, unexpected and therefore all the more satisfying. I guess the biggest reason for my jaw dropping at the end was that I had been expecting the metal riffs to explode to the front, but even knowing that they won't be there, this is a difficult tune to start whistling afterwards.
Behind the YouTube link above there is a really nice video made to accompany the song, be sure to check it out. And if you hear of another prog rock track made in 2012 and sounding this good, or even better, be sure to let me know about it. I would be truly amazed to discover such a masterpiece.
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