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Steven Wilson Talks Upcoming Mikael Akerfeldt Collaboration Project

Band Photo: Opeth (?)

Metal Injection caught up with Porcupine Tree frontman and solo artist Steve Wilson at the New York stop of his solo tour. During the 10-minute video interview available below, Wilson discussed his new solo album, "Grace For Drowning," his day job in Porcupine Tree and Wilson also goes into depth about his forthcoming collaboration with Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt.

Here is what he had to say about the collaboration:

"Well the only stuff I've collaborated with Mikael on in the past has been working on his records. This is obviously a collaboration, so it's a different approach. We sat in a room together and wrote music together, rather than taking his music that he'd already written and working it into a record. We actually started from the very basics, composition and arranging. If you'd ask me three months ago, I would have said expect the last thing you would've expected. But actually, now that [Opeth's new record] Heritage has come out, and [Steve Wilson's solo album] Grace of Drowning has come out, I don't think it's going to be that much of a shock to people because it's almost like a third part of the trilogy in a way."

Wilson continued, "If anything, it's even more orchestral, more stripped down, even more dark, twisted and melancholy… but it certainly feels like it comes from the same place as Heritage and Grace For Drowning, which indeed it does because it was written during the same period. We were, in a way, egging each other on to do those particular records but also at the same time coming up with the music that's now going to be on Storm Corrosion. So it's a very orchestral record, as you'd expect, the songs are quite long and develop in unusual ways. I'm realistic about it, that half the people are going to hate it and half the people are going to fall in love with it. I'd be happy with that anyway."