BE

And the first thought was "I Am". The first step of your journey is to witness the birth of a God. In the midst of the still and dark a mind stirs; a conscience awakens, slowly. Creation is formed from confusion, as this new being tries to understand belief.

This is the beginning of the story. I was raised a metalhead as a mid-late teen. I played in a thrash metal band. I have always, as a musician/art lover, been humbled by musicians with extraordinary talent. Whether they are playing the flute, destroying the drums, giving a vocal performance or writing something that makes you really think I have a high regard for time spent and effort put in to create things that push the boundaries of what you love. If you think this album is "crap," then you need to rethink why you like music. Progressive means pushing the boundaries and creating new styles with mixtures of previous days.

Pain of Salvation is the one of the VERY FEW truly progressive metal bands out there. To be able to thrash like Meshuggah in track 8 (Nihil Morari), sing the blues with the very spirit of New Orleans past (track 7 - Dae Pecuniae), and perform in perfect folk style (track 3 - Imago) ....AND....create an interesting story that complex can't describe to get us thinking about something requires great vision and a very solid work ethic. They do their own thing and don't care if some will consider it weak. It's not JUST metal. It transcends metal. All non-tunnel vision people can appreciate ANY form of music when it's treated as the reason for existence instead of a mediocre album of rehashed riffs, hardcore vocals, and angry boy lyrics.

The style of the songs alone will catch you, if you focus solely on the musical aspect of it. Try to place yourself as a musician in that level of performance at your game...a prodigy. The leader of this band, Dan Gildenlow would be described by many to be a true prodigy to be compared with the likes of many great historical artistic figures that were ignored by mainstream in their time. His thought provoking methods of writing give us something for which to use our minds...think...do more than just absorb mindless banter (as much as it can be good at times).

True art should progress. This is the best example of pushing metal in a VERY different direction.

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