THE PERFECT ELEMENT - PART 1

Pain of Salvation(PoS) is really a fantastic band in terms of creativity and amibition. After seeing a countless number of five stars on almost all of their albums, I decided to truly give them a chance. Even though my initial view of PoS was that it was not my bag.

This album contains so much; Great vocal harmonies, heavy riffs, soaring melodies, rap(?!), falsetto screams and a truckload of fantastic musical moments. If you even slightly like PoS I truly recommend you to lay your hands on this cd and get ready to be pleased. For those of us who aren't initialy(or even after ten listens) attracted by this band, I still say that it's worth giving a shot, since it's in my oppinion the best album they've yet recorded.

BUT(did you see it coming?) even the sun has spots and however impressive PoS from time to time are, I can't shake the feeling that they sometimes are trying too hard. Daniel and the rest of the band want so much from their music and are all in their own aspect brilliant, but I sense a bit of desperation when Daniel and the boys lay down that hundreth solo/wail/scream. However much I may enjoy brilliant chops I don't really see the reason to overuse them, perhaps it's just that they are TOO good? Who can tell?

All in all, a fantastic album. With slightly less virtuoso and a bit more tastefulness this band would pretty much destroy their competition. But until that day, I am not convinced.

3/5