So the question is whether or not I should be excited or worried… To be totally frank I’m not the biggest Porcupine Tree fan and I really have strong distaste for Dream Theater, so the only guy in the band that I really seem to enjoy consistently is Akerfeldt. But, this could be really good because they’re all great at what they do. Or, it could be really, really bad. In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, Steve Wilson just said in an interview that was posted on the 3rd of May from Chordstruck Magazine that he’s started writing with Akerfeldt and Portnoy.
If he’s not touring with Porcupine Tree, he’s off working on solo material, producing other bands or doing one of his side projects like Blackfield, Bass Communion and No-Man. Recently, Wilson has collaborated with Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth and Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater.
“I started writing with Mikael [Akerfeldt] last month, finally. It’s still in the very early days. We wrote about 15 minutes of music last month in my studio near London and we’re very excited about it. I think people are going to be very surprised by the direction. If they’re expecting some kind of death-metal-progressive rock, they’re going to be surprised [because] it’s not like that, Wilson continues.
So, is this good? Bad? Are we worried? Happy? I really, really don’t know. What I do know is that I’ve decided to call the project Ã…WP (pronounced OHWP for you English speakers out there.. but add a little bit more w like in the word “row” as in “row, row, row your boat”.) because it sounds like a fun made up word. It’s fun to say. You’ll impress your friends with your knowledgeness and it’ll be generally awesome. It also kinda sounds like the sound an alien in a cartoon would make when it owped along. Ã…wp. Ã…wp. Ã…wp. … *cough*
What I can say is this: usually, supergroups are bad (though Barren Earth certainly kicks a lot of ass). They’re just not consistent. There are too many strong wills pulling in every direction. I could maybe see something working between Wilson and Akerfeldt because of their history together, but Portnoy? I dunno. He seems like the odd man out in that group and the one who’ll make it suck (this might be part of my anti-Dream Theater bias). However, anyone who gets word of this in one direction or another should let me know so I can keep the fans updated. And worried.
