Marillion and Porcupine Tree Members Team Up For New Album

Not The Weapon But The Hand was completed in late 2011 and features occasional appearances from Danny Thompson on double bass, Arran Ahmun (John Martyn) and Chris Maitland (ex-Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield) on drums and guitar, as well as string arrangement contributions from Dave Gregory (XTC).

Hogarth is best known as the frontman of Marillion, the progressive rock legend that he joined in 1989, following spells in The Europeans and How We Live. In addition to the 12 albums Marillion has released in this time, he has also recorded and toured as a solo artist under the name, H.

In recent years Richard Barbieri has been a core member of Porcupine Tree, playing keyboards on all the band's albums since 1993, as well as releasing two solo albums, Things Buried and Stranger Inside. Prior to this, it was in the new-wave pioneers Japan that he originally came to prominence, helping to create the groundbreaking synthesizer sound that defined the band and influenced the likes of The Human League, Duran Duran, Gary Numan, Talk Talk, Kate Bush and a whole raft of artists to follow.

The band also influenced Hogarth, who was playing keyboards in The Europeans. "When I was in my mid-twenties, Japan's, Tin Drum, album was a firm favorite and truly a groundbreaking work. Japan were one of those rare bands where each musician seemed to have reinvented his instrument overnight. Central to this sound was the unmistakable synthesizer programming/playing of my now chum, Mr. B."