Porcupine Tree is a Grammy-nominated English progressive rock band formed in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England by Steven Wilson. Their music is a combination of rock, psychedelia, and metal. Wilson once commented: "I like so many different types of things, and they all go into the melting pot, if you like, that produces the music of Porcupine Tree."
During the nineties they focused on psychedelic music although incorporated a wide variety of styles from electronic music, mostly from trance and krautrock due to Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri's liking for 1970s bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Can. Since the release of In Absentia (2002), the band has begun to explore the metal grounds.
For live shows, Porcupine Tree uses a screen where a different projection for each song is displayed. This visual element was introduced during the In Absentia tour, when they started to work with Danish photographer and filmmaker Lasse Hoile, and became a trademark for Porcupine Tree's live performances.
Despite being signed to Roadrunner and Atlantic, the band have their own record label, Transmission, set in 2003, which they use to launch some independent releases and special limited editions of their albums. Porcupine Tree also has its official online store on Burning Shed (also home for OSI, Chroma Key and Roger Eno among others).
In a poll made by members of Dutch Progressive Rock Page in 2007 for the tenth aniversary of the website, Porcupine Tree was the most voted band for "Best Albums Of The Decade" and "Best Tracks Of The Decade" (1997 - 2006).
