Blackfield is the collaboration between Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame and Israeli rocker Aviv Geffen. Blackfield I was released in 2004 to much critical acclaim and now the men are back with the rather originally named Blackfield II. You can say much about these guys, but the titles of their albums are at least straight to the point.
Like their debut album, Blackfield II also gathered a reasonable amount of critical acclaim and I can see their reasoning, but I, as an individual, am not that impressed. The album moves too slowly, the songs drag on too much, and although the songs are clearly different, they all feel the same. This in itself does not make it a bad album, but it just sounds too melancholic for my own taste. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with melancholy every once in a while, but it starts to detract from an album when each song is melancholic. Of course, judging by the lyrics this was probably the case, as I quote "My Gift of Silence:"
Don't blame yourself / Don't change yourself / Just want to be over you / Save you love / Don't hate yourself.
Shortly put, Blackfield is no Porcupine Tree and I'm sure that Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen never intended it to be. Still, it makes one wonder why those two men had to draw their influences so heavily from Oasis, Radiohead and even Coldplay. In the end it just makes me wonder if they could not have recorded a different album. Then again, perhaps I'm just wishing for a second Porcupine Tree.
The verdict: If you're a fan of the older Brit-rock bands (and with 'older' I mean 'from the '90's of the previous century) then you should definitely try out Blackfield. If you're a fan of Porcupine Tree, then you might be disappointed, like I was.
