| CD REVIEW Pain Of Salvation |
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Band : Pain Of Salvation As mentioned in the review (posted 19/01/2007) of their previous studio album Scarsick, I fell in love with this Swedish band to the point of buying their complete back catalogue at the time! It’s therefore with great pleasure that I took upon myself the task to review their latest studio outing and give you an update on the band. Because indeed, there’s been some going-ons in the band! First though, I feel the need to mention that Scarsick (which was a continuation of 2000’s The Perfect Element, Part I in that it used similar themes touched on in that album)leaked onto the internet in December 2006. And you freaky music-thieves wonder why record companies go belly-up and bands start having more and more problems getting their albums out? I swear I turn it the first stupid asshole who’d tell me that (s)he didn’t need to buy this or that album, because (s)he was able to rip it from the Internet for free. And any acquaintances of mine (even “friends”) better know they’re not safe either! Ah well…back to POS! In order to tour for Scarsick (Europe, a couple of shows outside Europe including Egypt), the band hired Simon Andersson as a temporary bassist, whom was officially added to the band’s line-up on March 10, 2007. Not long after, on April 29, an official statement was issued that drummer Johan Langell was leaving the band to become a parent & husband. He however would stay with the band to finish the rest of touring duties and to teach some of the drum parts to his replacement, Léo Margarit. The band’s line-up troubles were not over yet though, as late in 2008 Andersson also left the band (to get more time for his own projects). As his replacement the band hired Per Schelander for touring duties. POS was to take part in Dream Theater’s Progressive Nation 2009 tour, which would see the band touring the USA for the first time since 2004 (when band mastermind Daniel Gildenlöw expressed his refusal to take part in the US policy of fingerprinting all non-US visitors, as well as his contempt for the Bush administration – info from the band’s page on Wikipedia). However, due to the failure of the SPV label both POS and Beardfish had to pull out due to insufficient financial backing. In an interview after the news on the failure of SPV broke, Gildenlöw had stated that a new album would be released in August of that year…but of course that wasn’t realistic. Since the album wasn’t finished yet, the failure of SPV obviously hindered the completion of the album. However, with Inside Out being picked up by Century Media, the job eventually got done. POS posted a first track from the new studio recordings (which they first announced would culminate in a double album…later that it would become two albums, both to be released in 2010) titled “Mortar Grind” on their website as far back as November 2008. Exactly one year later saw the birth of the EP Linoleum, a small forecast/ teaser of bigger things to come…and a release which was supported with a headlining tour through Europe and Russia, a run of support shows for Dream Theater in Australia, and a participation (with the song “Road Salt”) in the Swedish Melodifestivalen (the national competition for the European Song Contest). Although they didn’t qualify for the finals, the ballad (which sees Daniel’s voice supported only by a soft organ melody) got massive praise from all corners in Sweden, and the single shot up in the national charts to the #12 position (and that as a digital only release!). So now there’s the first part of Road Salt, with 12 songs (4 of which could already be found on the Linoleum EP), about which Gildenlöw has said: “Road Salt One is 12 tracks of sweaty gravel, asphalt buterfies, untrodden paths and brave decisions. It will not beg for your liking, it will not make excuses, it will not carry you safely across the dangerous waters. If you don’t pick up its pace it will leave you stranded on the curb of the road. Yes, Road Salt One might indeed be a harsh lover, but if you have the guts to follow it whole-heartedly and dare to surrender to its voice, it will take you places you need to visit.”…and of course the negativity in that statement directly relates to the way the 2007 album was treated to somewhat mixed reviews critizizing the band’s different approach to their music! Well, bully for you if you’re one of those weirdos pretending to be fans of Progressive Rock/ Metal, but won’t stand for change and experimentation…elements which after all are at the core of what being “progressive” is all about! Personally, I have never had any problem what so ever with that, and that’s probably why I like POS and other experimental/ daring bands in Progressive Rock/ Metal in general so much. For your introduction to the band’s latest material, they only posted the lively album opening “No Way” in the music player at myspace.com/painofsalvation, but in the videos down the page you’ll also find the video clip for “Linoleum”, and the band’s performance of “Road Salt” at the Melodifestivallen (as well as 3 older videos). Probably the band felt the habitual surfer doesn’t need more, because the album was again leaked, a mere week before the official release. If you need more material to base a buy on, check out the album’s page on Amazon.com (they usually give you 30-second samples of each track), and as you’ll discover there’s quite a weird moment on the album (take, for instance, the wackily cabaret-ish “Sleeping Under The Stars” with its nice multi-layered vocals). You know, I’m growing more and more convinced of the fact that the “leaker” is a member of the journalistic world. I hope they catch the bastard and fine his ass to the maximum punishment and fine! Just imagine…if more people had been forced to buy the album (in stead of being able to rip it off the Internet), maybe the album would’ve made an even higher place in the Swedish Album Charts, than the #12 position it now got?! If indeed they catch the perpetrator (shouldn’t that be easy enough, as long as a watermark procedure is put on the download promo copies?) before the release of Road Salt Two in October, there’s a good possibility thàt album will rank higher yet! Meanwhile, here’s another addition to my year-lists…and here’s me having ordered the limited edition digipak version of the album (contains extended versions of two of the songs plus a short bonus intro). 98/100 Tony. |
