Honorable Mention: Porcupine Tree
Steven Wilson’s musical palette is eclectic to say the least. His works range from prog rock to trip hop to metal, dipping into different styles and always keeping his listeners guessing. However, the world best knows him for his work in Porcupine Tree, which has changed in style over the years though has always been put under the progressive umbrella for the sake of categorization. Early on, Porcupine Tree possessed elements of classic prog rock, psychedelic rock, space rock, and other experimental sounds that gave Porcupine Tree a unique edge. But when the band took on a progressive metal sound on 2002’s In Absentia, they skyrocketed in popularity and grabbed the attention of metal fans who might not have looked into the band otherwise. The albums that followed, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident all followed a similar path and have been held in the highest regard among progressive rock/metal fans. The band has since been on hiatus and Wilson has steered away from metal in his other projects, so whenever Porcupine Tree gets started up again it’s anyone’s guess as to what they’ll sound like.
