Ég hef ákveðið að setja saman litla grein hérna um hljómsveitina Pain of salvation.

Ég kynntist henn í fyrra sumar eftir að hafa verið ráðlagt að hlusta á hana. Þá hafði ég bara heyrt lagið “Ashes” með þeim en leist ágætlega á og hafði heyrt mjög góða hluti. Ég var búinn að reyna að panta eitthvað frá heimasíðunni þeirra en það var ekki að ganga. Svo kom vinur minn auga á disk með þeim í Bókval og ég var fljótur að kaupa hann. Án þess að hafa heyrt neitt meira en eitt lag með þeim var ég samt viss um að ég ætti ekki eftir að sjá eftir þessum kaupum. Þessi diskur heitir “The Perfect Element; part 1. Ég settist svo upp í sófa með geislaspilarann og opnaði CD bookletið til að fylgjast með sögunni. Fyrsta hlustunin lofaði mjög góðu og féll ég strax fyrir einu lagi, ”In the Flesh“, sem er númer 2 á disknum. PLatan hefur bara vaxið á mig síðan þá og er alveg gífurlega góð. Allar plöturnar með þeim eru reyndar góðar og er maður mislengi að komast inn í þær. En sú tónlist sem að vex á manni er alltaf sú besta því hún verður alltaf betri og betri!

En Pain of Salvation er frá Svíðjóð og skipar:
Daniel Gildenlöw - söngur og gítar
Kristoffer Gildenlöw - bassa og bakraddir
Fredrik Hermansson - hljómborð
Johan Langell - trommur og bakraddir
Johan Hallgren - gítar og bakraddir

Mér finnst Daniel vera einn merkilegast tónlistarmaður samtímans. Vegna ótrúlegrar söngraddar og vegna gífurlegrar hæfni til að semja tónlist. Hann var t.d. búinn að semja alla ”Perfect Element“ plötuna áður en hann leyfði hinum hljómsveitarmeðlimunum að vera með.

Þeir hafa gefið út 4 plötur sem eru:
Entropia
One Hour by the Concrete Lake
The Perfect Element; part 1
Remedy Lane

Þetta eru allt mjög góðar plötur þó að þær tvær nýjustu séu tæknilega séð bestar.


Hérna eru tveir gagnrýnendur að gagnrýna ”Remedy Lane“.
Þetta fékk ég úr 12. fréttabréfinu frá Pain of Salvation!


Quote:
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Prog-Reviews (Swedish):

PAIN OF SALVATION - Remedy Lane
Country of Origin: Sweden
Record Label: InsideOut
Catalogue #: IOMCD092 / SPV 085-41972 CD
Year of Release: 28.01.2002
Rating: 10/10

The Swedish progressive metal band Pain Of Salvation is a band in constant progress and with a very personal approach to their music. They're becoming more and more complex and the compositions gets better and better with every new album. It's no exaggeration to say that they're marching in the forefront (together with Dream Theater), breaking new grounds and stretching the boundaries of progressive metal again and again. Their new concept album about a fractured relationship, titled ”Remedy Lane“ is no exception. Their previous album ”The Perfect Element Part I“ from 2000 was as good as a progressive metal album can ever get, so it's hard to say which is the better one of these two.

The musicians are surpassing themselves and that goes for the vocalist, guitarist and composer Daniel Gildenlöw too. Daniel is an outstanding composer. Just listen to masterpieces such as ”Fandango“, ”A Trace Of Blood“, ”Rope Ends“, ”Dryad Of The Woods“ and ”Beyond The Pale“ and you'll know what I mean. Music like that has to come from a real genius. There are lots of rhythm & mood changes, complex arrangements and lengthy intricate instrumental passages. It sounds as if every note is there for a reason, and not for the individual musician's need to show-off. This is far from easy listening, and it takes a lot of patience and time to fully understand and appreciate the music and the lyrics.

”Remedy Lane“ was released in January, but it's already obvious that it's
one of the highlights of 2002. Even though I'm a big Dream Theater fan and still consider them as the kings of progressive metal, I must confess that Pain Of Salvation is the worthiest successors to the progressive metal throne. I'm proud of being a Swede!

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Prog4You (www.prog4you.com)

After an extensive European tour with Dream Theater, Pain Of Salvation is back with a follow-up to ”The Perfect Element, Part 1“. I think a few people were disappointed ”Remedy Lane“ wasn't part 2 of their latest, but I think this is really unimportant.

Right off the bat, the album shows a much more mature, seasoned band in many ways. Compositionally, I think this is their most consistent work to date, as Gildenlow and the band have learned to weave their ideas into a smoother, more natural-sounding whole. Perhaps not as ”metronomically“ jagged as their previous efforts, and certainly not as heavy on the crunch, but to my ears it is simpler and more sophisticated, musically and emotionally speaking, than any of their previous efforts. When one thinks that these guys are responsible for some of the best and most innovative prog-metal albums of the last few years, this is not a trivial matter!

As before, the album is divided into sections, or in this case Chapters, and the lyrics explore the complex dynamics of discovery, growth and the ceaseless tug of war in relationships, ranging from the first sexual awakenings of the narrator in Budapest to the crushing loss of a natural abortion (the stunning ”Trace Of Blood“ in typical PoS 7/4 time, vaguely reminiscent of ”Inside“) and attempted suicide (”Rope Ends"). It is a detailed portrait of a songwriter learning to trust, and slowly lowering his defenses. There is a brutal sincerity in the raw singing and the songs themselves, which offer no answers and make no promises; they are just snapshots of conflicting emotions and occasional epiphanies in a storm of inner confusion. Given enough time, we all eventually learn that in life the score is always a zero-zero draw, and yet we plod on; in some sense, I think this is what Gildenlow has geared the band to illustrate, creating some of his best music in the process. But even if you are not the sort of person to pay attention to the lyrical aspects of an album, there are so many great musical themes and ideas here I suggest you give this disc a try.

Believe me, even if you are a chronic pessimist and totally against experimenting with new music, I can assure you there are thousands of worse ways in which you will probably end up spending the cash I mean it (and no, sadly I must report I get no commission!). This is easily one of the best albums of 2002, so please check it out. Let your own ears be the judge; I bet Inside Out has audio samples.
Nuff said!

Rating: 9.5 Keyboards.
Album of the Month May 2002
Reviewer: Luis Nasser
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Heimasíðan er: www.painofsalvation.com

Mæli stórlega með að þið kynnið ykkur þessa hljómsveit!

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