BE

One word: Beautiful.

Once again, PAIN OF SALVATION manage to create some of the most moving and beautiful music I've heard in while. In fact, the last time I heard something that good was their album 'The Perfect Element', which still remains my favourite album even though this is a very very good album.

It is once again a concept piece, I understand it's about creation and nature. The music fits this perfectly, and PAIN OF SALVATION display a much more folky side, which they pull off wonderfully. But of course, there's a heavier side to the album that again sounds brilliant, suiting the mood of the album perfectly. In fact, the riff on Breaching the Core sends chills down my spine. But anyway, POS take this sound and again make it their own, sounding like no one else. I also have to hand it to the Orchestra of Eternity for contribution - it adds a whole new depth to the album, which makes it sound even better.

Although this album is very good and recommended to anyone with good musical taste, I still think THE PERFECT ELEMENT, PART I is the better album - I just prefer that heavy/emotional mix. But still, highly recommended, and yet another great album by POS. Buy it now!

One word: Crap. For all of you totally abstract border line hioppies this might appeal to you, but PoS is so far from what the used to be I can't stomach it anymore. This cd starts out like it could have some sweet crunching riffs and what happens... they bust out in some lightly mixed folk song. Oh wait... is that a guitar... oh i think i hear some guitar... oops just Daniel screaching.

I've been losing interest in this band over the last few albums and now it's pretty obvious that they aren't interested in rocking out anymore. They would be better off renaming themselves and playing as a Broadway musical band. This serious is the biggest waste of money ever for a metal fan. There's about 30 seconds of riffing in a couple of tracks and the rest is just "oh look how pretty and beautiful we can play."

Definitely pass if you're looking for the old Entropia/OHBTCL Pain of Salvation. You're just going to get an hour of ambient noise. Totally suckful and disappointing from someone who used to hold my highest respect. Metal is dead to them.

Animae Partus ("I Am")

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.

When I first reviewed this album I was just a newbie as a Prog reviewer and my writing skills were still very much limited. Now as I read my former short but praising review again I wasn't happy at all with it. Therefore I decided to write a new one. Well meanwhile two years after its release plenty has been written already about this exceptional work and actually I hate repeating what others have mentioned already. Nevertheless I'll try it, so here we go:

BE was causing lots of irritation after it came out, especially in metal circles where POS have been well-known as one of the best if not the best at all progressive metal bands ever, being proggy AND very heavy at the same time without exhibiting the usual pomp and self-indulgence but instead some extraordinary talents and skills. Understandably some fans of the band expecting TPE Pt.II were quite disappointed when they did a first rough scrolling through this album. Narrations - folk - gospel - classical piano - symphonic orchestra - sections bringing Broadway into mind - finally there's a metal riff, but what's that again? - Oh no, BE is not the type of album suitable for a hunter for snappy heavy metal riffs, although they are there definitely, beautifully woven into a gossamer made of haunting music emanating from most divers genres with an extremely ambitious and broad theme behind it, that is just LIFE and GOD. BE cannot be compared with other pompous rock/metal operas done already by numerous power/symphonic metal bands (i.e. Ayreon,Aina). Those records are nice in their own way and maybe great for someone who needs pomp in his Prog. Here there isn't such a thing, lots of emotion, yes certainly but never pretentious kitsch at any moment. I won't get into details about the individual tracks because this had been done already perfectly by other reviewers and especially I won't write about the lyrics and the concept since this would exceed the given frame here. Speaking about the compositions for sure there isn't much new to be be found on here for POS fans knowing very well their previous records but though I really admire this band and consider them as the very best one in that genre I've to admit I listened to their other albums by far not that often than to this one. Thus I was absolutely amazed and fascinated by this work right from the very first listen just because the way it has been done is that much different from their previous ones. As far as I know this magnum opus was a kind of experiment by Daniel Gildenlow and actually they presented it live already before the release of this album to test its acceptance. This performance has been released in the meantime as a DVD that I watched already as well a couple of times of course. As said musically there isn't that much new material on here. In fact I did not compare the individual tracks on here that squeamishly with some of their older ones as some people did but it's true many of them are sounding quite familiar. So I guess they were re-working some old material, fitting it into the concept and adding up some new stuff. But who likes to play God and blame them for doing this if the result looks and sounds like this? Just BE human and enjoy - I AM!

Coming to an end of my review I just can tell those people still wondering whether BE has to be considered the worst or very best work by this band: If you love heavy metal and you're new to this band don't buy this one but go for any of their first four studio outputs. Each of them is a perfectly done Progmetal album and more or less a masterpiece in this sub-genre on its own. BE on the other hand is their first real Prog album (generally spoken not in terms of metal) and that's why it HAS to be considered an exceptional masterpiece of PROGRESSIVE MUSIC. I think any prog lover will have great pleasure with this one even after 100's of repeated spins just because it's a piece of art you'll fall in love with if you just allow to get captivated by it.

Edited 8/4/2006

This Cd grows and grows and grows and grows. It really gets better everytime you hear it. There's so much going on on each track. And every song is almost in a different style. Its folk, classical, Gospel, metal, prog-rock, jazz, musical all on one cd. All those different influences on one cd could be a little difficult for some people, but thos who really give it the attention it deserves will find out this is just a great musical experiance. Just don't expect a heavy metal album cause PoS has grown past that. So please don't listen to it just one time and say its crap, give it time and you will love it (like me)

The first time I heard this album I was a little dissapointed with some of the tracks. I enjoyed the previous POS albums, all of which have been heavy throughout except for the previous album which was an acustic version of previous songs. But then I found myself humming the tunes and realising that, as usual, Pain of Salvation have produced an album of brilliant, new and totally enjoyable music with yet another message which I'll let you try to figure out for yourself. As another reviewer already stated, there are so many different styles in this album, some of which are revisited and brought together in the most incredible way. Whether it's a folk tune or a brilliant guitar riff, the whole thing just works so well and the addition of a small orchestra is less an 'addition' and more a complete integration into the band. In some of the tracks the strings or woodwind take the lead, leaving the guitars and drums behind, while in others the band plays strongly, simply being highlighted by the orchestra. Will POS keep this style? Personally, I don't think so, although I wouldn't mind if they did. I think that the message of the album, which involves the creation of the universe, god and humankinds population explosion and perhaps eventual downfall, simply required a more diverse range of styles and instruments to be accomplished to how the band wanted. If you're a POS fan then I don't need to tell you get this album because you'll already have it. If you're not sure about POS then remember one thing - don't let your initial reactions put you off. Try one of their albums and listen to it two or three times before deciding if they're for you. I say this because Pain of Salvation's music can be so different (and sometimes intense) that it simply requires time to digest and enjoy it at first, hence why I wasn't sure if I liked BE at first. Remember, before you judge, this is not Metal, it's PROGRESSIVE Metal - trust me that makes all the difference.

I've been a huge fan of the band for quite some time now, and whilst I admire them a lot, I was VERY disappointed with Be... I was expecting the album of my life, the best album ever done to man... and it just came as a good album, but there are few genious touches on it... and this makes it less special than the others, since no one would be able to create musics like the past 4 studio albums, but this one could easily be composed by any talented musician. This is more a musical album than a band album.

The performances are top-notch, as usual, even though Daniel Gildenlöw is "hiding" his skills on this one, on both guitar and vocals. I was hoping to get more vocal melodies and less "chord progression" instrumental... this one lacks riffing (the same amount as Entropia had it exceeded, which means A LOT). It does have a lot of feeling, specially Iter Impius and Vocari Dei...

Deception (-1)!

Well, the other taken star is cause I can't hear originality in this album as I hear in all of their other albums. When I hear VOcari Dei I can't stop thinking it's a Dryad Of The Woods ripoff. When I hear Imago I can't stop thinking it's a Chain Sling ripoff, but with less emotional impact, therefore, worse. Pluvius Aestivus is just the X-Files theme with an orchestra (hehe). Dea Pecuniae is just Pink Floyd, only a little gay. Nauticus is just Pilgrim sang with a very low voice (which didn't appeal to me at first, but ended up having an interesting effect).

But calm down, they have geniousity in here as well, as stated before ("but there are few genious touches on it..."). Deus Nova, Lilium Cruentus, Iter Impius, Nihil Morari and Martius/Nauticus II are absolutelly brilliant, masterpieces. These are the ones I hope they try to play live, even though it will miss some of the "classical" feel from the orchestra. (I'll never have the privilege of seeing them, cause I don't live in Europe nor USA nor Japan).

Lack of originality (-1)!

Well, the last taken point comes from the concept. It's just... silly! Any usual power metal or prog metal band could come up with something like it. I won't comment on lyrics, cause I haven't red them yet, but they sound repetitive (lots of "forests" and "oceans", as well as some other words...)... They missed the spot with this one. Their concepts have always been very intimate, while this one is the opposite way, it's just too broad! And I can't stop thinking on the Ayreon saga on this one, specially the Universal Migrator storyline... too similar? Hmm... I don't think that was a smart move, but either way, it was interesting, even though it took the third star out of it.

Broad and not so original concept (-1)!

Now... I must tell you that I REALLY like this album. Only it's the worst piece of music done by them so far... which means it still is far superior from most of the bands out there! But it also was the biggest let down for me, ever, on the musical scene, since they're one of my favorite bands ever (now one step down the ladder)...

That's it! A GREAT album, shadowed by their past releases, which are purely brilliant...

Oh, and before you guys come bashing me, I love all the influences (folk and stuff) brought up to this album, I just didn't like the way they were put. Now I just hope Daniel doesn't mess up with TPE2...

I've pretty much listened to BE for three weeks straight without hearing anything else, and I've finally reached the peak of interest. After the first time I listened to the album in full my basic reaction was "what the ***?" It was just so different, and I didn't really get it, it didn't sound much like their old stuff. After listening to it over and over again, I finally started picking out the songs that are amazing. Lilium Cruentus, Dae Pecuniae, Breaching the Core, and Iter Impius are all great songs. Breaching the Core (Diffidentia if you prefer) has a hint of the harder PoS songs, and is probably my favorite on my album. My other favorite thing about the song is the orchestral section in the middle, it's just so unique! Enough about the songs specifically.

This album is obviously a lot softer in general than some previous albums, but I don't think that the band's next CD will necessarily stay this relaxed. The music fits perfectly with the theme, so there's no reason to complain. The Perfect Element 2 will most likely have more of the old harder tracks that some fans are used to, but also a lot of this more gentile music mixed in. Personally my favorite PoS albums are Remedy Lane and The Perfect Element. The only reason I didn't give BE five stars, is because I like those two albums better. But don't get me wrong, BE is an amazing CD, definitely worth buying. I can't wait till the next one. *thinking way too far in advance for my own good*

"Be" is a conceptual piece mainly based around existential lyrical content. The guys from Eskilstuna really achieved a concept that maintained a certain focus and maturity that they hadn't yet attained (this maturity, of course, being in their standards, which are amazing). The artwork really accentuates the music quite well also. Daniel's lyrics are poignant and as meaningful as ever.

One of the characters (Mr. Money), is a business man who spends all his assets on Cryobiology (the science of studying the effects of very low temperature on life). He is cryogenically frozen and not revived until he is made immortal. Once awaken from his cryogenic slumber he comes to the realization that there are no other beings left, and that no one else chose immortality because of the state the world was in (the world being so decimated and sterilized by man's quest to understand life and profit monetarily from it). The story is much more capacious than what I've described. Daniel gives us some info about the concept in the booklet and leaves the remnants for further investigation.

"Imago" is a tremendous folk-inspired song. "Pluvius Aestivus" executes the amalgamation of a sting section with the group exquitistely well; touching. Uncharted territory is trespassed on "Nauticus" with its sullenly soulful and bluesy performance. "Dea Pecunia" is the album's emotional zenith and masterpiece. The song's sardonic lyrics are superb and the incorporation of a female co-singer and choir make the song as a whole magnificent. The end of this song is one of the most exciting in the band's impeccable repertoire. "Vocari Dei" is an affectionate song musically and subject matter wise. This track is very moving and I wish not to go any further into it, for its sake of catching you off guard, thus, giving it more emotive potency. "Omni" is mostly organ-based with a desperate vocal performance by Daniel. "Iter Impius" is also another very powerful song where the album seems to peak again. Great string work and dynamics.

The album has recurring themes if you pay close attention. This is a very focused album that maintains a somewhat dark ambiance throughout. "Be" is a classic, just as all of their works to date. It presents the musical world with another dynamic and a very different album than any of their previous conceptual works. PAIN OF SALVATION's musical trajectory is a vast and magical forest that has the ability to present the "aware" eye with many hue's and season's, for whatever it wills on the senses, it succeeds.

The first time I head Pluvius Aestivus, I cried. It's an instrumental. Folks, this is an incredible CD. And it's not even a CD, really, although that's its medium. It's not a bunch of songs on a disc. It's more of a movie without the picture. It's an experience. Don't put this CD in for a 15 minute trip to the grocery store. It deserves to be listened to all the way through every time. And for crying out loud, please give it 5, 10, 15 spins before you make up your mind about it. It WILL grow on you, and like me, you won't be able to live without it.

Frontman/genius Daniel Gildenlow has come up with another masterpiece. I don't think he is capable of putting out anything else. If some of you out there don't get it, then it's not the lyrics, it's not the music, it's not Gildenow, it's you. Look, if the next Pain of Salvation album is full of farts and birdcalls, then I wouldn't think "hey, Gildenlow's really gone off the deep end." I would wonder about myself because I wasn't getting it. Genius is genius. It doesn't go away. Open your mind and let it in. Embrace it. Accept it. EXPERIENCE IT!

First, I read some of the review of this album before receiving and listening to it. So, I knew this was going to be different than POS previous works. And, it is. It's a progression in the talent and diversity of POS as musicians and of Daniels Gildenlow as a song writer.

This is a fabulous musical endevour and there's no need to listen to it more than once to realize this. It is beautiful and inspiring and there are some of the traditional heavier elements from POS. It is a masterpiece and will be an album upon which others are measured.

I've never written a review before, but felt I should for this one. My suggestion for those who are disappointed that Be is different than previous POS works. Put one of the older CDs in the player and enjoy. For anyone else who wants to expand their musical horizon, this is a must have.

"BE" appears to be something special. Not only is it yet again another concept piece just like all other Pain of Salvation albums it also seems to be the most controversial. On the one hand reviewers and fans love it but there's a lot of scolding lashing down on it in equal measure. Well, to be honest, I also had a lot of problems with it in the beginning because the album is so different from their other releases. I think the main problem are the many sound samples Daniel used, it's not everybody's cup of tea. The album features evidently less metal without sounding totally different from the established POS sound. People liking the band only because they're playing metal may be disappointed, though. The album contains a lot of mellow songs using orchestra as a stylistic device. I think the band can take credit for using the orchestra in such a wise way. Different from most albums featuring orchestra it definitely is an inherent part of the music, not just some orchestral music for the background. Another point leading to the general uncertainty may be the concept itself. It is very extensive and intransparent. At least it is more comlplicated than former concepts by Daniel. The main point of the concept is, if I didn't misinterpret, that the world is an instrument of self-knowledge for God and some day transforms to a God itself. Another point is that you can find patterns in the multiplicity of beings and that there's a meaning in everything, a unity in the multiplicity so to speak. Maybe Daniel noticed the complexity and amended it with the story of the personalized money (called Mr. Money) wich victoriously subdues everything untill it stands alone.

This concept is presented in a 76 minute long Rock Opera containing many different styles and influences. It's not only lyrically but also musically very complex.

The first tune features voices inducting you into the concept. I think it is a simple but effective way to conduct in a concept album. The rocking part of the second tune called "Deus Nova" is framed by voices untill the introducing voices appear again. The third tune "Imago" can be described as folk. Never before POS did something similar, but the result is more than impressing. A great song with nice melodies. It ends with rain and thunder causing the mood for the next tune which is a mellow piano solo with rain drops played by the orchestra. This tune alone shows why "BE" could be a disappointment for many prog metal fans. And to be honest, who expected POS to record such a song? Nevertheless, I like the song as well as the fact that POS breaks new ground. "Lithium Cruentus" is my favorite song of the album. It also became one of my favorite Pain of Salvation songs in general. It features great bass playing by Kristoffer Gildenlöw and yet again, superb vocals by his brother Daniel. I really like the different melodies as well as the "rap" parts.indeed, you're right, I said rap.this song simply has to be heard. The reason for substracting one star follows shortly after: "Nauticus" is a horrible song, horrible enough to substract a whole star for 5 minutes. The whole song is one large cant and moaning and forces me to skip it. It is boring and totally out of place. But it fortunately is an exception and the only bad song. Without it, I may have given five stars. "Dea Pecuniae" , a great song with, yet again, great vocals. No Metal here as well but a truly great presentation of the caracter "Mr. Money". What follows is a beautiful, very mellow and quiet instrumental framed by God's answering machine. The next songs "Diffidentia(Breaching the Score)" and "Nihil Morani" should eventually satisfy all the prog metal fans out there. Again, very good songs featuring the orchestra as well as heavy riffing, nice mixture. Some reprises can be heard in "Nihil Morani". "Latericius Valete" is a short instrumental piece containing a lot of piano and orchestra, it rises in the end, gets heavier and leads to the bombastic "church organ ballad" (that's how I call it) "Omni", clear and brief. With "Iter Impus" follwos what became one of my favorite Pain of Salvation ballads (and they have a lot of good ones). Daniel's voice causes goose bumps here, simply beautiful, listen to this one very loud and I'm sure it will get you as well. "Martius/Nauticus II" is another highlight. It consists of many different parts featuring many different influences and some reprises, among other things the folk part appears again, of course somewhat modified. "Animae Partus II" is an outro, the introducing voice again and some muted heartbeat, over.

"BE" is everything but a letdown, far from it. An unfulfilled expectation doesn't make a bad album. That's the crux of the matter for me. Many people expected "The perfect Element Pt. II" and with it another heavy prog metal output. Now having listened to the album they seem to be disappointed. I think that it is not fair to goof on "BE" just because it is not what they expected. I also loved "The Perfect Element Pt. I" and want it to be continued but I don't see what this has to do with "BE". It is a teriffic and very complex album which stays interesting for a very long time. It is very exertive and pines for concentration and attention, though. This album could also be interesting for people not liking (prog)metal, even if still some metal is featured. Pain of Salvation strengthen their position as my favorite prog metal band. Get this album, ignore the moaning of crestfallen prog metal fans.

When I listened to BE for the first time, I was totally shattered. Not by the music itself, but by the impression and the feeling it left in my soul. Because BE is not simply music, it is not just an album. Therefore I listen to it not only with my ears, but mostly with my inner senses, mind and heart. I cannot compare this work with any other styles and bands, nor I can compare it with other Pain of Salvation albums. Pain of Salvation are unique, BE is unique, Daniel Gildenlow is a genius. This is the best description I can give and I think it is quite enough. I smell music and deep emotions even in the narrations, neglected by many other reviewers. BE is just a phenomenon.

Be, just be. A tribute, a concept album about philosophical thoughts, questions without response, ethical concerns, God and death itself. A concept in which God is seen as a omnipresence force who created the world, at his "own image", fusing his own "doubts and hopes", ending to be the union of every human "Together they became Me". A declining God, as the album evolutes painfully to the cathartic end of Mankind, where God vanishes himself. Very controversial message indeed, but it is emotionally dramatic the way it's used to criticize the worst of Men, since his own genesis to our days.

The album surely is strongly different from PoS previous releases, ending to be almost a majestic opera rock, perhaps influenced by the latest AYREON releases, particularly "Into the Electric Castle". It continued to keep the band's main characteristics, their somewhat unique progressive metal, while incorporating haunting symphonic elements and tribal patterns which assented like a glove in the album's concept atmosphere. The album starts truly with "Deus Nova", a crescendo track laded with its sinister piano and percussion, haphazard drumming rhythm and nervous organ as a disturbing narration reveals, date by date, the terrifying growth of Human population till our days and the fore come future. But then, Humankind history is told, tribal rhythms and flutes recreating the joyful ingenuous happiness of Humankind genesis in "Imago", revealing in a very funny way the crescendo egoism in our thought, the main refrain starting with "Take me to." at the beginning of the track, progressing to "Teach me of." in the middle, culminating with "Give me of" then "Give me all" at the end. Then the trebled instrumental "Pluvius Aestivus" with its classically emotive piano and percussion starting to construct the bridge to the present, culminated with "Lilium Cruentrus", which presents us the beautiful main motif of the album, repeated in the end of the album. Present is personified in "Dae Pecuniae", a beautiful track with a very catchy guitar solo and melody, ending in the Floydian gospel singing of "Dark Side of the Moon". Here, another critic to Humankind prototype, exemplified by Money character itself "I Could have bought a Third World country" showing all our hypocrisy and insensibility.

The disturbing cinematic narrations of screaming pain on "Vocari Dei" lead to the heavy "Diffentia", with its tense piano and strong guitar arrangements. Some more tracks follow representing the Present and opening the way to the dramatic "In Iter Impius" where Mankind has all been vanished except for Mr. Money who can now control the whole world - mountains of dust and ruins. Ironic. The album ends with the retrospective "Martius/Nauticus II", one of the best, which joins magnificently several arrangements showed around the album.

A stunning album. One of the best works of 2004. Varied, original, well played, with a dramatic, very controversial and metaphysical concept.

PAIN OF SALVATION's new album, "BE" is a really fascinating work of art. The music is fairly complicated and extremely well written, some of the most ingenious piece of music that the band has written in years. Daniel Gildenlow and co. has really outdone themselves this time around. It's definitely not recommended listening to this album without giving it your full concentration and attention, as the music and instrumentation are truly spellbinding and complex at every degree. Believe me, I have tried listening to this album while working and surely I did not get much out of it. After five spins I knew I had to really focus my attention if I wanted to enjoy the album and really appreciate the music. This is certainly not an album you would use as background music as you work or tend to other things. PAIN OF SALVATION has crafted another masterpiece of an album, binding an intricate story-line (another deep concept story of course) with musical ideas that are so cunning and thought-provoking...sometimes you begin to wonder...where do they come up with some of these stuff? On some tracks the band still utilize their Progressive Metal approach, while in this mode, bringing the heavy guitars and staccato riffing to the forefront. While on most of the other tracks they opt for a more diversified and less metal approach, these broad musical drifts and experimentation are really amazing and truly a pleasure to listen to. On some of the songs PAIN OF SALVATION have even gone completely left field; the Swedes inject a lot of flavor by blending so many diverse musical styles. There are heavy progressive sounds, symphonic movements, hard rock nuances, mellow acoustic pieces, folk music, rhythmic tribal pieces, and a lot more. It will take a lot of listening hours to digest all the material presented on this album, but once you have invested enough time with this disk, it will be time invested well. Although I must confess that I haven't spent enough time with this album myself. So I guess I should write another - more detailed - review in a few months time after I've given "BE" a lot more spin-time in my CD player. * DD - Paradigma Records/Star 105.5 FM (Surabaya, Indonesia) *

When I first heard about this album, I was concerned that it would be sacreligious, and I didn't want to compromise my Christian beliefs. but I bought it anyway, and I saw no reason to believe that this was an anti-God concept album. I mean, people wanting to know why God allows horrible things to happen is perfectly justifiable.

my favorite track is seven, and I believe one of the female singers in the background is the same lady from Shakespeare's Sister, a band I really liked in the '80s.

There is a lot of beauty to this album. Half of it is a radical departure from typical Pain of Salvation songs, but why would we want all their stuff to sound the same? They would be boring after a while, and they would cease to be one of my favorite bands.

Daniel Gildenlow is the greatest rock voice since Freddy, and he really dominates with his voice.

This is a great album. Enough said!

This is an amazing concept album by a mature progressive metal (and not just) band! The more I listen to this album the more I enjoy it. What I can't stand any more is these one-track minded metal fans which can't stand anything but distortion in order to accept MUSIC. If MUSIC is good, no matter which is the style, then it is good. For me PoS continue from where Queesryche stopped. I like very much this melancholic feeling that their music creates. Rating: 5/5

Four stars and a half really BE..... a truly concept-charged word ...and a truly concept charged album. I have the last three PoS albums, and this is my favourite right now, behind is RL and then TPE. It seems they are getting better and better. I like they have come to be more versatile, touching more musical styles, specially in Be, where they have their usual riff metal, with some touches of rap(subtle) and hardcore vocals; they have folk music in two or threee songs, which is beutiful(which reminds me of kings arthur time or something), and they have some more experimental stuff, like in Dea Pecunia, which sounds much in the vein of Tomas Bodins "Rolling the dice" in UTF from the Flower Kings. A band which, in fact, I think has been an important influence on Daniel this time around, in the aspect of musical diversity. I think Daniel has learned from the FKs to dare to do things a metal band wouldnt dare doing. If its sounds good, who cares? The metal songs are amazingly rocking, and the others are either beutiful or magnificent. Fans of metal should love abuot four songs from here, more open minded poeple will love it all. I glad i bought this one, in fact i will put it on right now, yeah!! Man,This has tremendous quality

It's a TRUE PROGRESSIVE ACT .!

It takes me months to finally feel that I dare to put some words about this conceptual opus. What has made it so difficult? Well, I have to admit one thing: my ability to put the right (read: "appropriate") words about the listening experience that I have had with this album. Unlike most people and my prog mates that have claimed insofar that "BE" is very difficult to digest and understand as the music is a bit heavy, I personally could accept and enjoy the music at the very first time of the CD spin. In fact, it blew my mind in the context that "this is the kind of weird and strange music that I never heard it before" and NOT in the context that "I like it!" or "I don't like it". I dunno why, the first time I spun the CD at my stereo set there was nothing like whether or not I like the album. The context was purely more on "Yeah . this is something different!". And I have engrained myself with a philosophy that writing a musical review is not a matter of liking or not liking it, rather it must deal with how to craft and assemble appropriate words on the way I feel about the total concept of the music itself and of course the story behind the album, if it's possible. The chief objective is clear: to provide an objective and fair image of the album to the readers of this beloved website as to help them on purchase decision.

Looking back on the albums the band has ever produced, there has been a fundamental change in the forms and styles of this album with its preceding albums. Pain of Salvation has traditionally been pigeon-holed as progressive metal band. But with "Be" the band has made the categorizers get confused with their task on putting the right basket of this album. I am not saying that there is no prog metal elements at all but it's not the main thing anymore. This album revolves around crafting a music (be it rock, pop, prog, metal or whatever) that represents the exploration of humanistic values and the definition of and the search for God. Well, for me personally I can give you a straight forward advice: just read and understand the Koran; you will then find your search clearly! But of course, I fully aware that you may not accept this straight away as people have differing views. Definitely, this album has successfully fulfilled its role brilliantly to represent that humanistic issues. The result is an album with multi- dimensional music that blends many elements of styles and influences into one cohesive whole that has made Pain of Salvation as one of the most progressive bands in approaching their creation. This is truly a progressive act!

Animae Partus ("I am") (1:48)

This short track remarks the opening of the opus with an ambient dialogue about definition and corresponding aspirations of "self". Who "I am"? The sound produced here represents the appropriate context intended for the song itself. The actors clearly try to figure out "Who I Am".

Deus Nova (Fabricatio) (3:18)

This second track flows seamlessly from the opening track with another ambient sound of piano work backed up with great cello and violin sounds, accentuated with light orchestra and clavinet sound. The music suddenly turns into heavy riffs produced through the combination of guitar, bass and improvised keyboard solo sound. One thing unique about this passage is its weird time signatures whereby the drum beats do not seem fall in the right time. Magically, this unsynchronized thing produces excellent harmony.

Imago (Homines Partus) (5:11)

This track starts off with a musical loop followed with a stunning banjo-like guitar work that produces a complex yet nice music. The percussion sound enters the music and provides a middle-east musical nuance. The vocal line of Daniel Gildenlow is a masterpiece as he can present himself as he is really part of the story of the song. The form of this song reminds me to Arjen Lucassen's "The Looser" of Human Equation album. The composition is dominated by the percussion work and energetic singing style. In some segments of the music, the orchestration inserts its work featuring oboe and other woodwind instruments. It's a great song.

Pluvius Aestivus (Of Summer Rain [Homines Fabula Initium]) (5:00)

It begins with a rainy sound loop continued with a classical-influence piano solo that brings this solo relatively long and provides an ambient nuance. The orchestration at the back has enriched the musical textures of this song. I have never imagined before that Pain of Salvation would ever create this magnificent instrumental track in the vein that is totally different with what the band got used to do with its music.

Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) (On the Loss of Innocence) (5:28)

This is probably the track with some prog met influence. It opens wonderfully with a light orchestra featuring oboe and distant voice followed with energetic musical riffs and vocal line. It abruptly stops in a quiet passage to feature melodic lyrical part accompanied with nice orchestra. It again moves to an energetic part in an upbeat prog met tempo. The singing technique that Daniel demonstrates here is truly top notch! It's an excellent composition.

Nauticus (drifting) (4:58)

It explores the use of stunning acoustic guitar to feature the low register notes' voice line. The combination of chanting male voices and acoustic guitar in mellow style has made this track is enjoyable. The ending part is filled with narratives with some distant voice at the back that provides an excellent bridge to the next track. It's a drum-less composition.

Dea Pecuniae (10:10)

This track starts off with a dialogue that I mention above continued with a blues influence music with solid bass lines. I never imagine that an originally a progmet band is now playing this blues-based music. The vocal brings the music into a continuous flow with a background of light orchestra that does not seem in-sync with other electric instrument sounds but it produces stunning background music. The lead guitar solo is performed between two lyrical verses. The music turns into quieter passage featuring light orchestra and vocals, accentuated with piano. It's a wonderfully crafted song.

Vocari Dei (Sordes Aetas - Mess Age) (3:50)

Is this song related to Opus Dei like it's mentioned in the Da Vinci Code novel? I don't know and it doesn't matter really. This is truly a phone mail box playback voices, inserted with a beautiful classical influence music with some sounds of oboe and cellos / violin. Acoustic guitar work signifies the musical textures. Out of many narratives produced from the mail box, I enjoy those spoken in Japanese language that end up with a word "sayonara!".

Diffidentia (Breaching the Core) (Exitus - Drifting II) (7:37)

This song flows seamlessly from previous track in a faster tempo using musical riffs as the foundation of the song's rhythm. The simple piano touch has enriched the sound coupled with some higher register notes singing accompanied by piano sound. Again, it sounds simple but this song is rich with textures and unique singing style as well as composition. In some quieter passages, the orchestration palys its role wonderfully by featuring oboe or violin solo shortly.

Nihil Morari (Homines Fabula Finis) (6:22)

This tenth track opens with a very nice acoustic guitar work in an ambient style followed with floating voice line with violin work at the back. It's an interesting opening track. The music flows smoothly with soft drum beats and it moves to soft riffs with firm drum sounds. This time the vocal brings the music into a more complex composition and moves in crescendo into a faster tempo. Again I observe weird time signatures among instruments used especially between those who produce riffs (guitar and bass) with drum that produces beat. Wow! What a great harmony here! The keyboard solo enters in weird style and produces unique sound that does not seem to match with the beats. But . they all produce wonderful music! Oh my God ... What a great composition! It's so inventive and so inspiring that normal human being would never imagine that it can happen like this....

Latericius Valete (2:28)

This sort track begins with an exploration of double acoustic guitar fills producing repeated chords with each guitar is playing different chord. Combined with light orchestra and some solos of violin and oboe this track produces wonderful sound. When the vocal enters it turns into a more upbeat style by still emphasizing piano sounds.

Omni (Permanere?) (2:37)

This one opens with a church organ solo with a background of people's talks. The duo- vocal enters in mellow style and it goes with the same organ's notes. It's a nice exploration of organ sounds.

Iter Impius (Martigena, Son of Mars) (Obitus Diutinus) (6:21)

The soundscape that contains the sound of heavy wind opens this track accompanied with piano and light orchestra. The vocal enters in mellow style with powerful voice accentuation. At the end of each voice accentuation the piano solo inserts its sound beautifully. The music flows continuously with violin at the background augmented with piano work. In the middle of the track the music turns into a sort of classic rock music with stunning guitar solo. The voice line enters back into the music with guitar solo at the back. Beautiful song!

Martius/Nauticus II (6:41)

This track opens with acoustic guitar work continued with full music with drum work is performed in a marching style. The vocal line enters and the music flows flatly in the same rhythm. At the end of first lyrical part the music turns into faster tempo. It its transition, the acoustic guitar solo fills the music wonderfully with a middle-east nuance augmented with orchestration. The orchestra also features oboe and violin solo throughout the song. The composition demonstrates a very strong basis of traditional folk music. At the end of the track there is a segment that explores multi percussions played dynamically and provides a world music nuance. Very nice composition, rich with multiple styles.

Animae Partus II (4:09)

This concluding track tries to convey a message about the definition of one-self "I Am" as it was featured at the opening track. Out of 4 minutes duration most of it (more than 3 minutes) contains silent - basically it starts with a narrative "I Am" and it ends up with children's short narrative.

OVERALL SUMMARY

It's a different kind of music. I would say that this album is considered as prog in a sense that the approach that the band has taken is truly representing a "progressive" act. Of course, the music is complex and heavy which cause some people consider this album as inaccessible. Besides the conceptual story the band tries to convey, I find this album is brilliant. Enjoying this album should be in its entirety as when you listen from beginning to end, you can feel that you are in the journey of rediscovering human values. In addition, there are many prologues of some tracks that start with reverse digital duration; ie. starting with negative numbers prior to the main track. You definitely cannot access these prologues using skip function of your CD player. That's why, I recommend you to play it in its entirety. This album has been months with me and I still regularly play at my CD player because the composition is great. Highly recommended! Keep on proggin' .!!!

Yours progressively,

GW

The long-awaited album from Pain of Salvation, Be . . . It is interesting to say the least. I'll explain more afterwards.

The first two tracks were rather informative, setting you up for the story. Of course, being a concept album, you'd hope for a little background to what you were going to listen to. I am not saying that the tracks were a waste. They were fun to actually hear. Wonder how someone can come up with these thoughts. What drives someone to make an album on such an interesting subject? Track one, Anime Partus, asks in so many different ways, "What are we?" Track two; Deus Nova states how many people populated the world during certain years, with guitar backing it. It gets you interested.

The next track, Imago, was very folkish. I enjoy the folk from time to time, and this was one song I could enjoy. Gildenlow's vocals behind a lovely flute actually are appealing to me. (Maybe not you, but it is to me) It isn't really an aggressive song. It reminds you of prancing, naked women . . . once again, maybe it's just me. The outro is thunder . . . Ooh!

Pluvius Aestivus, has a soft piano introduction, which slowly builds up with violins in the background. It is a slow, melodic, and beautiful tune. No singing, just beauty. Ends abruptly though and suddenly, Nauticus is born.

Opening with guitar and Daniel's low vocals, the entire song gives a sad and solemn sound. Nothing much to say with it. It doesn't really go anywhere but samples. Really.

Dae Pecuniae is very funky. Sounds like something from Ark's, Burn the Sun album. Fretless bass sounds completely drive this song . . . though it might just be me, being a bass player, enjoying bass. Also, note the female orgasms in the background. Why? Because they are always interesting to hear. The song still keeps it's folkish theme from the previous tracks, but also keeps rocking. At parts, it reminds me of a gospel song. It's fun . . . even though I'm not into gospel music. I tried to find who did the backing vocals in the song (which was some woman) but alas, no success yet. Then again, with Gildenlow's extreme vocal range, maybe it was him? It was refreshing to hear though after all of the hymns and little chatting going on from the previous tracks.

Vocari Dei is a series of voices questioning God. Talking to God. On his answering machine. Yes. I said it. Asking, "Why should I pray?" and "Why did those towers have to fall?" It is all behind a lil' guitar solo. It's set up for you to saw "Awww" for four minutes.

Diffidentia first impression on me was, "At last, a heavy song . . . an actual song!" We hear the distorted guitar play the same chords over for four minutes, along with raspy vocals by Gildenlow. Not bad . . . quite repetitive though. It breaks into an interlude with that sexy fretless bass, and strings galore. It's very peaceful. The choir jumps in with Dan's crying vocals to give another look at 'gospel music.' Then bam, just when it got good, the songs over.

We get a dark guitar intro in Nihil Morari which is complete opposite of what we've heard the entire album. Violins in the background of course give it that 'epic' feel. Shortly after, the song picks up-tempo and you get into the album again. If you know your PoS, they started that "bridge" where there is the musical interlude and samples play behind it. It seems to be their trademark . . . that and perfection, but we can tackle that another day. Suddenly, you're taken back to track two. They are continuing where they left off in Deus Nova. A few more samples are played, and the song is done. The first four minutes were enjoyable, but then you're left with, "Now what the hell do I do?"

Latericius Valete. Ah. A sexy guitar/piano interlude . . . and they continue with courting the world's population.

Omni, started off with what sounded like a news report on cancer, and then the organ filled the song with Dan singing all high pitched. Gospel-like again. I'm starting to get a theme here . . .

The next song, Iter Impius, was actually like PoS' older songs. It was great to listen too. It was, shall I say, an actual song compared to the rest of their stuff. Very refreshing to hear. It was beautiful.

Another song to stand out! Martius / Nauticus II, was another great, brilliant song with reprises from previous tracks. This album just made a turn for the better. Oh wait, only one track left . . .

The final track, Animae Partus II, has the phrase "I am . . ." then a heartbeat carry on for four minutes to hear a girl say, "There's room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the mashed potatoes."

Well then. For my big conclusion:

How about I give you a quick glimpse on the story? It revolved around this man named Mr. Money, who spends all of his wealth on Cryobiology. He is frozen (cryogenically of course) and is not revived until he is made Immortal. When he awakens, he realizes no one is left in the world. Why? Because no one else chose immortality because of the state the world was in. (The world was being destroyed by man's quest to understand life and profit from it.)

Now that you know that, here's my final thought:

If you're looking for a metal album, another The Perfect Element, this is NOT it. This is completely a straight rock-orchestra. Very ambient. (But with WAY too many samples) At first I was really opposed to the album. It was nothing that I expected. At all. But for some reason, I continue to be drawn back to it. That is, to the tracks that are actually songs. Few songs are really amazing on this album (and I use that term loosely. PoS has WAY better music) but the tracks that are on there are addictive. I am going to give it a 7.5 out of 10 because of two reasons. There was very little actual music on the album. I want songs, not samples. I have the Internet for that information thank you. The second reason is because with what songs they did have, a lot of them went no-where. They were just little melodies. I know that they aren't that bad to have, but your Pain of Fucking Salvation, not Agalloch or Ambeon. Fix that.

Be definitely was not a disappointment, but it wasn't something I really am into. I'm talking about the album as a whole. When I listen to this again, I'll be pulling certain tracks to listen to, that's about it. I'm sticking with my One Hour By Concrete Lake and The Perfect Element.

Now we still wait for A Perfect Element II . . .

-Derek Smith (www.noofficialcapacity.net)

This is an incredibly well constructed album which oozes high-level musicianship and poetry. I (like many of you others out there) was a bit put back at the first listen, and thought "wow this is.... weird". After spinning it in my CD-player for 3 weeks have been made addicted to it. I think that this album contains no bad songs, but "nauticus" could in my opinion have been a tad shorter. Indeed "vocari dei" would have made just as great an impact if it had been a bit shorter too, and then I would perhaps stop skipping it every time. "Dea Pecuniae" was the first song I really got into on this album, because the intro made me say "hey, is this Pink Floyd or what??". That bass part must have been made with that effect in mind! I really enjoy Imago. Makes me happy in a way. Being very attached to lyrics in all music, I hope you read the lyrics to this one and try to understand it! The masterpiece song of this album (well, the one that I think stand out from all the other masterpieces anyway) is Iter Impius. Listen to it really loud in a dark room all alone and imagine how it would be to wake up "in a world devoid of forests and trees" Goosebumps!

The reason I am not mentioning all the song titles is that this is more of a whole than the earlier albums, even though they were also concept pieces. The Message (capital M on purpose) and overall impact of the album is more important than single songs in this album, evenmost some of the songs are extremely good. That is why a track like Nauticus never could become a hit, or even a standout track, but it works extraordinarily well in the context in which it is used (apart from being a tad on the lenghty side). It makes you think. At least it makes me think. The whole album has that effect. The theory of Creation as a cyclus of lonely people creating a similar world to try to understand themselves is a bit too.... "sought out" to me. but it really spotlights Man's interest and "need" to have something bigger, either a God or something else to trust because of the injustice we have experienced and are experiencing on earth. Being an atheist, I am naturally interested in religion and ethics and this confirmed some of my existing views and created some new as well! Daniel Gildenlöw is truly a genious! And his voice is one of the things that nearly makes me religious....

The reason I give "only" 4 out of 5 here is because there is no 4,99 rating and I believe that nothing can be perfect (perhaps apart from a few Steve Vai solos)

P.S. To all of you who has read this far: BUY THE LIVE "BE" DVD!!!!!!

If there is such a thing as a progressive metal bands hierarchy I would replace dark and pessimistic Fates Warning with POS in the "Holy Trinity" without any hesitation. Honestly how often do we listen to a prog metal album and the lyrics swirl around our heads months later?This is not an album for our ears only. It's a record for our heart and soul and dares to ask questions we keep in the very dark depths of our mind and never expect to receive an answer. I had the pleasure to attend POS show in Athens last November and I believe they have gained their position in the "creme de la creme" of this genre. Two thumbs up!

I started Pain of Salvation with "Remedy Lane", which was out of my love for "Beyond the Pale". I collected their entire discography (except for "12:5") and then, purchased "BE".

I admit, maybe listening to it very abstractly during bus trips or short periods of free time at home was not a very good idea. Therefore, my first reaction to the album was "What the hell!? Can PoS truly have made an album THIS bad!?".

Then, I finally got to listen to it, from the start to the end, inlay card in hand, and ultimate silence surrounding me as I heard "I am!" for the first time.

My analysis;

Instrumentally (and in the musical bounds);

The reason why, most probably, the enitre BE was played live was in Eskilstuna, was because of the immense orchestration. With "orchestration" I mean the classical music introduced to folkloric types of songs, or even used with the songs that pursue the metal style.

As for the band's usage of instruments, Daniel Gildenlöw pretty much has taken over the writing process. As usual, there are quite a few melodies repeated through various songs (similar to "Morning on Earth"/"Recoincilation", "Her Voices"/"Song for the Innocent", "Chain Sling / Beyond the Pale") for example, "Deus Nova"s main melody that carries out the population count is heard again, this time, with more additions to the keyboards, in "Nihil Morari". Ultimately, "Imago"s melody is returned at the end of "Martius / Nauticus II". There are quite a few catchy melodies that can get stuck in your head.

The music also contains quite a few folkloric elements, as the other PoS albums, but that comes along as a plus.

The only minus of the music is two songs; "Pluis Aestivius" for one. Daniel's 'interpretation' of the X-Files melody is quite amazing, and with extra instruments, it is interesting... in the beginning. After a while, it gets pretty much repetetive and boring. The second minus is "Nauticus". While the infamous "car scene" at the end of it brings your attention, the song is incredibly and unnecessarily slow.

Lyrically (and within the boundaries of the creational sawdust);

PoS had always carried quite simple lyrics that had great impact on the listener; mostly because of the intimate themes it contained. Lyrically, "BE" is not any different, though there are quite different themes and expressions that usually deal with the more realistic side of things; (though it adds to the story in an extreme level) the population count in "Deus Nova", "Nihil Morari", "Latericus Valete", the (fake) interviews that are heard in "Nihil Morari", "Omni", the spoken passages in "Nihil Morari", Mr.Money's speech in "Dea Pecuniae"... However, there are quite emotional songs that lyrically deal with those as well, "Lilium Cruentus", "Iter Impius", "Diffidentia", "Imago", "Martius/ Nauticus II". So far, the most complex lyrical content I have encountered rests with "Lilium Cruentus". Furthermore, though musically it may not be something I am very fond of, "Vocari Dei" attempts to(and to a certail level, manages to) display all of our visions towards God, and how we look at him; if we could speak to him, what we would say.

As for the story, it's intriguing, but not as much as Daniel claims it to be in his ending notes within the inlay card. The concept revolves around the existence of God, and how Man is associated with it; it also flirts with the concept of self-consciousness and the outcome of it. Daniel used "Mr.Money", a filthy rich asshole that invests all he has into cyrogenics; to be frozen and not to be waken up until he is made immortal. As the population of mankind increases ("The Year 2, 050 AD - 9, 104 Million people"), accordingly with the message of this album, mankind eventually breaks down nature with greed and it's everlasting desire to exploit for profit. Gradually, the population starts to decrease, ("Year 2, 060 AD - 1.2 Million people") and in the end, leaves Mr. Money alone ("Year 2, 070 AD - 1 person"?) in the face of a wasteland. That is when Mr.Money claims himself to be "all", "BE", "omni", "everything", "everywhere". And the end returns to the beginning; for the album starts with the first words, "I am!" and ends with the first words, "I am!". Though there is also a simple sentence left after the silence, "There's room for all God's creatures; right next to the mashed potatoes.".

And let us come to my conclusion after all that was mentioned above; this album is not easy to grasp or even like at first. For dedicated "metal" fans, this would either prove to be a complete waste of money, or a nudge to explore other genres more. For the less dedicated "metal" fans and fans of prog genre, this album is an excellent addition. For those who listen to and are fond of "music", this album is an excellent start at the wide world of prog music, or even many others as well. If you are fond of music, just a bit, this album is a great piece to broaden your horizons.

If you would just like to explore the deep waters of "This wierd band that everyone's talking about!" (or, Pain of Salvation for short), this album would be a suitable place to start your journey.

A concept album, as difficult to grasp as amazing...One of the deepest conceptual pieces of prog rock history. Here's what I've found :

"A quick summary of the most basic level of the concept.

Animae is born and calls himself God.

He created manking (Imago) to find out where he came from.

Eventually Imago starts going it's own way, destroying the planet and Animae becomes a slave of man. This is when we meet Mr Money who spends all his money trying to become immortal.

As the Earth is slowly being destroyed mankind creates a probe called Nauticus to investigate Mars as a possible place to move to. However before Nauticus arrives mankind dies out. Now Mr Money wakes up and he is immortal but there is no one else left.

Nauticus arrives on Mars and has no one to report back to and becomes a new God (so the concept is like a big loop). "

I have just listened this album for the second time now and I really AM impressed.

Before listening the album I read the booklet, which contains details and explanations about the whole concept around "Be", and was already thinking "How is POS going to communicate this concept with music?"

A few minutes later, I gave the album a first listen... WOW. Each passage in the album tells you a clear message that fits very well in the overall story. The music, from my point of view, is simply beautiful. Different styles, instruments and progressive elements that guide you along this adventure.

I highly recommend this album for every prog fan out there. You will find this, I am quite sure, a unique and original masterpiece.

BE

I'm making a new way of reviewing, one that's far less biased than any other I've odne.

BE. Oh man...this was an interesting one. Starting with TPE, then Remedy Lane, I loved PoS. Everything about them, their emotion, great musicianship, interesting and new songs, great lyrics, it was all good. But people seemed to tell me to stay away from BE. Why? It was way different, got tangled up by the concept, they said. And I believe they were right.

Be has an exceptional concept revolving aorund population growth, god, the evolution and greed of man, the apocalypse, and a man named Mr. Money who cryogenically freezes himself to awaken in the future where everything is supposed to be perfect. Sound complicated? Good, because it is. It's very hard to swallow the first time you listen to it, which is why I'm reviewing this now when I got the album about two months ago. The concept itself is very good. The lyrics are great, the execution...well, good, but unfortunately, the execution of the concept is so good that the band kinda forgot about music. Yup, they forgot everythign about what made the mso great except for their concepts. Music takes priority over everything. Skill, concepts, lyrics, it doesn't matter if your music sucks. It's not that this music sucks, it's just that there's so little actual music to speak of that it just ends up feeling like the music sucks. I'm gonna be stealing the times and front labels from Gatot up there, so sorry and thanks. Let's break it down:

Animae Partus ("I am") (1:48)

Well, this beginning track doesn't contain any music really, just a bunch of creepy noises and a narrative talking about the existence of god. So...huh? Well, as an introduction, it works prett ywell, so long as no other song sounds like it.

Deus Nova (Fabricatio) (3:18)

Starts out with osme interesting orchestra work, then goes heavy. All throughout the song is a countdown (or countup, really) of human population growth, and how exponentially it grows, how rapidly. The unmbers are slightly disturbing to hear, but I never listen to this track. Nothing that interesting after the first couple listens. Ends with another narrative. Gah...please let that buy another kind of song that doesn't pop up too much.

Imago (Homines Partus) (5:11)

Oh, YES! Here's the creativity and instrumentals and singing I wanted! Finally! This track is kinda Blind Guardian-esque, sounds kinda folky. And that's the point, is it's about the creation and original freedom of man. Daniel plays the...banjo, I think...quite well, and adds great feeling to this track. Good lyrics that progress, great emotional singing, everything I could want. Keep it up, PoS! Please?

Pluvius Aestivus (Of Summer Rain [Homines Fabula Initium]) (5:00)

Well, this is odd. PoS making this kinda track...I never thought I'd hear it. It's a stirring piano and violin/orchestra composition that's nice if you're listening to this album in a dark room, totally into the music. Otherwise, useless. Pretty, but hat's it. Sorry. I liked it when I did totally focus on the music, but since I haven't been able to squeeze any enjoyment outta it.

Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) (On the Loss of Innocence) (5:28)

Good, good track! Basically like old PoS with an orchestra, which is excellent. I really love this track, it's got a great chorus, great heavy parts, equally as good soft parts, and talks about something quite serious. Awesome song, but will it get better?

Nauticus (drifting) (4:58)

Nope. Sorry, but this is another waste of time. It explores a sort of western/spiritual style that PoS hasn't ever touched before. It's four minutes of slow, non-changing spiritual singing about the lord and praying. Only reason you'd ever listen to this song is to get the full story, which is unfortunately the only reason you'd listen to many songs on this album.

Dea Pecuniae (10:10)

Like Gatot said, this is kinda blues-y with interesting lyrics and good singing. It kinda meanders along for 10 minutes though, and doesn't really do anything, just slightly builds on the original theme. No real excitement, emotion, nothing, just story and good male/female vocals and a good ending.

Vocari Dei (Sordes Aetas - Mess Age) (3:50)

"Awww..." SHUT UP. Useless song again. It's supposed to be moving, showing you how people pray and pray to god but nobody answers. It's OK for the story, but past that, useless. There's no good music here, just some light acoustic strumming and piano work. It's nice, but do I want to listen to it over other songs? Not unless I feel like listening to the whole album.

Diffidentia (Breaching the Core) (Exitus - Drifting II) (7:37) Hey, is this a good song? It starts promising enough, but it never chnages from the original riffs really, besides the "Help me, I'm starting to fade" section. It's better than the earlier stuff besides tracks 3 and 5 though.

Nihil Morari (Homines Fabula Finis) (6:22) Pretty good song, I like this one too. It starts with a good bass or whatever that is, I don't know my string instruments. The vocals here are EXCELLENT, and for awhile it's pretty good, but then it goes into the Deus Nova theme with narration and some singing too. It's layered very well and for once the concept doesn't limit things, and the music and concept intertwine seamlessly. Good job, PoS! It ends in a very powerful way, with the orchestra doing a great job. Bravo!

Latericius Valete (2:28)

I liike this song only because it builds so well to the "2060 AD..." part, and it actually does kinda take your breath away, which is why this album is best listened to all at the same time right in a row.

Omni (Permanere?) (2:37)

One word: useless plot filler. "We need you Nauticus!". Ok, where's the music! So far, I've heard way more plot concept stuff than good music!

Iter Impius (Martigena, Son of Mars) (Obitus Diutinus) (6:21)

Ahh...good song. It starts just good at best, but the chorus is excellent and very powerful, and the section at 4:05 is just breathtaking. Good ending again, and very powerful story about Mr. Money. Not much else to say, this is good like track 5 is good.

Martius/Nauticus II (6:41)

This begans with a weird twanging acoustic guitar speeding up with power riffs coming in, then the wole band busts out into the dramatic sorta march-tempo music. It's pretty good, but not amazing. It then goes into the Imago theme, which is always good, with mixed up lyrics. I like it, it's a good song, but it doesn't give us that much new material.

Animae Partus II (4:09)

Just like track 1. 1 minute of somewhat scary and jumpy noises and three noises of silence followed by a really creepy noise and a stupid child's narrative.

Blah. I wanted to like this album, I did, but to be honest, there's just not enough good music to like it.

Soft sections: 5/10 Heavy sections: 9/10 Lasting Appeal: 6/10 Musicianship: 9/10 Creativity/Originality: 10/10 (no question here) Animae Partus: 6/10 (because it's an introduction) Deus Nova: 6/10 Imago: 10/10 Pluvious Aestivus: 5/10 (it's pretty and nice once.) Lilium Cruentus: 10/10 Nauticus: 3/10 Dea Pecuniae: 5/10 (Why did the longest song have to be so drawn out and boring?) Vocari Dei: 5/10 Diffidentia: 7/10 Nihil Morari: 9/10 Latericius Valete: 8/10 Omni: 2/10 (There's no music here. Filler. I don't care if it has to do with the story) Iter Impius: 9/10 Martius/Nauticus II: 8/10 Animae Partus II: 6/10 (same as track 1)

5 + 9 + 6 + 9 + 10 + 6 + 6 + 10 + 5 + 10 + 3 + 5 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 8 + 2 + 9 + 8 + 6 = 138 138/200 = .69 = 69/100 = 34/50 = 3.4/5 Final rating: 3 stars out of 5. Stick to making prog metal, please, PoS.

I'd like to add something. After months and months of listening to this very occassionally, I've decided that this album is a BEAUTIFUL work of art. However, the art has absolutely destroyed the music PoS is so good at making. So, I do not change my rating. As a collection of songs, this album is a 2/5. As an album, it's a 4/5. As a concept, it's a 5/5. As good music it's a 2/5. You want a stirring concept that may cause you to think quite a bit more than usual? Get this. You want amazing music? Don't get this. It's just art, not great music. If that makes any sense.

Believe it or not, today I've listened for the very first time to a CD from Pain Of Salvation! This weekend I got the opportunity to buy many new progrock CD's for very low prices so I decided that it was time to discover this highly acclaimed band on Prog Archives.

My first impression was that they really sound progressive, to me it's an adventurous and often exciting mix of classic, symphonic, metal and folk. The eleven compositions delivering many shifting moods, ranging from mellow with sensitive classical piano or a twanging guitar to folky (with instruments like grandpa's mandola or the djembe) and bombastic progmetal featuring heavy metal riffs, double bass drums, biting electric guitar and orchestral keyboards. Very special are "Vocari dei" with messages from fans on the answering machine and "Omni" with a tv news voice, a sumptuous church organ sound and wailing vocals. I have to admit that Pain Of Salvation is not really my cup of tea but I'm impressed by their genuine progressive approach and great musical talents and compositorial skills.

ESSENTIAL!

Great spiritual album with a different concept as their previous albums. It is really an experience to listen to this one and I mean music and lyrics as well. This is one of those albums with a massage in it and that can't hurt I think. It is about God and the connection with the people on earth, don't get me wrong they were not sponsored by some church or mosk but it is more a kind of a cinical but serious massage to all of us on this planet. This album floats more on the moods and tensions then on the instruments if you compare it with "A Perfect element" for example. This fact is absolutely no problem here because they did something different as they did before and they did it very well I think! I give this album a fat four star rate.

Well, I really don't know what to whrite here. The first time I heard BE I had only listened to PoS for a short time, and I was still exploring their older albums with great intrest. I heard a couple of songs of it when my friend bought it, and I thought it sounded really wierd. Lot's of wierd talking, and stuff, that didn't make any sense to me at the time. Than I actually got to a place where I got to borrow the album from him, and I listened to it a couple of times, until I thought it was pretty good. So, I decided to get the album, and this is where it really turned. The more I listened to BE and the more I understood the concept, and the lyrics on the album, as well as beginning to know the songs the way I like to, I just started liking it more and more! And that is the way it has continued, and now I would say that BE is, if not THE, than at least not very far from the best album ever made, in my opinion. Now I listen to it practicly at least a couple of times a mounth, and it gets better for every time! TIP: Have time with BE, get to know it, cuz it's really worth it!

This record creates some strange effect on me. After first listening, I liked technical side of music, very good production and wide range of instruments. I also loved acoustic guitar parts, and nice and moody piano composition. But, album haven't caught my deeper intention in next listenings. First, because all songs have too much narrative parts and insufficiently singing, and also I didn't like back vocals. Album is conceptual and it sounds very inspirrative, but in my opinion, the theme of album is too much lightened, which lets listener to easily understand the message. To sum up, this piece has has its mystical and innovative background, very good instruments, nice folk influence, but also some weak moments, which might not be weak for some other listeners, so this album is honestly recommended too all prog rock fans. The end of album shows what a great drummer is in this band.

There is no arguing that this is a very progressive album. That being said, it isn't a good listen. I enjoy things that are complex and over the top but this album makes little effort to take the listener along, rather it attempts purposefully to lose you as much as possible. The album is progressive for the sake of it rather that just letting it come naturally. The previous album "Remedy Lane" is far superior and I thought the band was finally harnessing their potential...until this one came out. I had VERY high hopes for this one and it is now permanently shelved. Yes it got many many chances to grow, it didn't happen. This album is too overrated. Pick up either of the previous 2 albums.

3.5 Stars

I have given this album 2 stars in 2006, called it an overblown epic bordering on the ridiculous, almost as a parody on prog. I should have given this album more time. While still pretentious and having some distracting soundclips, It is musically adventurous and interesting, and I should at least admit that the lyrics are philosophical. The band really tried something different than what they were used to doing in the past here.

Sound Clips of a woman and a guy emotionless talking overwhelm the first five minutes of the album, with its only music being a metal tune with someone talking about human population numbers across time. A shame, it was instrumentally interesting. Luckily, "Imago" is the first good song in the album. An unusual blend of folk and world music. Of course, it might sound too serious for its own good, but you can't deny the wonderfully mysterious acoustic opening. You also can't deny the brilliant symphonic piano piece "Plivius" that comes next. Unfortunately, after a decent track, you have a duet of acoustic guitars and deep male chanting that is not too exciting and unfortunately is followed by some cheesy dialogue with terrible voice acting about a guy who wants to get his girl (or prostitute) to 'pleasure' him while driving. This is followed by a long bluesy/broadway-ish and repetitive track that is awfully out of place. This might sound like it would be a track I would love to skip, but it is actually a highlight of the album. The vocal performance is very good, the bass is groovy, the guitar performance is notable, the light orchestra and harmony vocals are effective, and I love how the track builds up near the end. Cheesy track for sure, which even includes moaning sound clips, but it is just very well arranged.

After this serious change of style in the album, it starts going back into a sound that fits the concept better with Vocari Dei , which is the most emotional and best moment in the album, not to mention the only part where the sound clips actually augment the impact of the music rather than become a distraction. Very fragile, layered music while individuals from different parts of the world send various types of messages to God. The instrumentation never fails to move me.

Diffidentia surprises you with a mix of slow-tempo metal, symphonic rock, and some rap. Strange song indeed. Nihiri Morari is a song that takes the music and ideas of the beginning of the album and improves on them. Pretty energetic and enjoyable, despite the somewhat distracting voices. The heaviness continues until "Omni", which is a short mellow tune which utilizes only sound vocals and the church organ as music. After a vocal-oriented song, Marticus/Nauticus starts with vocals and a marching rhythm and is interrupted by a great acoustic guitar showcase which you notice is dirently related to "Imago." The rest of the song is an "Imago" reprise. Its ending with the tribal drumming is enjoyable, but as an ending, it is anti-climatic since the last song is just silence.

I guess give it a chance if you want to hear something new, but this album is pretty flawed in my opinion and takes a while to get used to.

Highlights: Imago, Dea Pecuniae, Vocarei Dei, Omni, Iter Impius, Martius/Nauticus II

Let Downs: Anemae Partus I/II, Deus Nova, Nauticus,

"Be" is a real progressive metal masterpiece. The music is great and the lyrics are even better.

I think that musically, POS didn't change a lot since "Entropia"... And that's why "Be" will be enjoyed by any POS fan. Like in most POS albums, great melodies can be found from the beginning to the end, and some are repeated in a good way, without letting "Be" lose its prog "style". However, what I like most in "Be" is the concept. When you listen to "Be", you should concentrate at least once on the lyrics -and eventually read them. You will surely like the concept. I also liked the way humans are "counted" in "Deus Nova" and then in "Nihil Morari", and how their majority's death is announced in "Latericius Valete". This way, POS makes sure you understand what's happening to humans in their opinion.

"Be" is an album that all good music lovers should have in their collection, especially if they like progressive metal and albums that treat subjects that concern men and their problems.

A very good Progressive band mixing classical music, symphonic prog and metal, and Pos are very good at this, includes a mix of bassed up drums, metal guitars and orchestrated synths etc, screeming vocals the lot (what more could a prog metalhead want)!!!

"Animae Partus"

this song is a very short track, 3/5!!!

"Deus Nova"

opens up with ambient sound of a piano and cellos and violins, and sudden changes include very heavy riffs awesome music, and a personal favourite of mine, 5/5!!!

"Imago"

a loop sound with a banjo sounding guitar work that is complex, followed by percussion, good vocals, along with a mix of other sounds, 4/5!!!

"Pluvius Aestivus"

it opens with rains sound and a piano play and some ambient in it, again with orchestration, good piece, 5/5!!!

"Lilium Cruentus"

quite prog, an orchestra featuring an oboe and voice opens up the track, followed by some riffs, an is prog arranged and quite melodic, a great prog opus!!! 5/5!!!.

"Nauticus"

an acoustic guitar is played in a mellow way, and the composion is not drummed!!, a average track, sorry 2/5!!!

"Dea Pecuniae"

good bass line and a very bluesy track, included with an orchestra in the background music, then follows a guitar solo,the song is well produced and is one of my favourites, I play over and over!!! 5/5!!!

"Vocari Dei"

this track is weird with answerphone playback messages with classical influenced music, an acoustic guitar follows, there are also Japanese sounding voices too, 4/5!!!

"Diffidentia"

flowing from the previous track but a little faster with riffs, a well composed track with an orchestra, 4/5!!!

"Nihil Morari"

this tracks opens up with a acoustic guitar that is played like an ambient style and also features violin works, the drum beats are not aggressive and the riffs ain't much either, but the tempo speed increases, a weird keyboard then plays!!!, a great track, 4/5!!!

"Latericius Valete"

opens up with acoustic guitars and the chords repeat with two guitars playing differnt chords, includes an orchestra and some violin and a piano is also featured in this track, very progressive track 3/5!!!.

"Omni"

an organ solo with talking opens up the song, and a double vocal enters in, nice organ playing, but not exacly a favourite, 3/5!!!

"Iter Impius"

a heavy wind sound opens the track alongside a piano and orchestra, flowing along with violin situated in the background, later on appears good guitar solos throughout the song, one of my favourite tracks, well composed, 5/5!!!

"Martius/Nauticus II"

an acoustic guitar opens up this track work and has a military like drum work, vocal and music in the same pathway, after the first lyric the tempo speed increases, and followed on by a acoustic solo with a hint of arabia sound, follows on with an orchestra with violin solo etc during the track, and has multi music style, now that is progressive, 4/5!!!

"Animae Partus II"

A conclusion from the previous "APII" it has a narrative story called "I Am" and has children narrating a story too, 3/5!!!.

Excellent Prog metal music!!! and 98% recommended, 9/10!!!

first of all i would like to mention that 'be' is for few people.i mean that if you are open minded you will love the concept you will understand the album better and you will love the music.but if you are not you will find the music bad and the album a useless waste of money.

so if you are one of the open minded:buy this album.the concept is about man and god(i say nothing more,just listen to it)and the music is brilliant.you can listen folk,metal,atmospheric music,blues and more.oh also there is a lot of piano. well pos may loose lots of older fans but will surely win lots of new ones,those who are clever and dare to buy it enter be...

This is one of POS most accessible albuns, and I will tell you why. It has such a variety of styles that it can be listenable by any human on earth, anybody will like at least one track of this album. While there is the tradicional pain of salvation on very few songs like "Deus Nova" and "Nihil Morari", you'll be listening to a whole new sound to the band standards, and I can assure you, this was one very big step Mr. Gildenlöw made here. Folk songs like "Imago" and "Martius/Nauticus II"; rap influenced songs like "Lilium Cruentus" and "Diffidentia"; beautiful mellow songs like "Omni" and "Iter Impius"(This one has one of the best vocal performances I've ever seen); very different songs like "Nauticus" and "Vocari Dei"(Very touchy song, I almost cried first time I heard it); and for the end, I must mention one marvellous mindblowing epic: Dea Pecuniae, a mix of Jazz and Soul, a really, really beautiful song. Ok, I'm finished with the songs, now let me tell about the genious concept this album presents. It is the result of almost ten years of "research" by Daniel. It mixes many different and philosophical themes, like God and Existence itself, the egoism of mankind (this one was already explored on the second album by the band 'One Hour by the Concrete Lake' but Daniel wasn't satisfied with it, so he explored it in a new way) . This album takes you on a journey and it really makes you think about the themes it presents. That's all I can say, Be captivated me since my first listen and still continues to amaze me everytime I listen to it. Just one little piece of advise: Do not just listen to it, do it reading the lyrics, I can assure you will enjoy it even more. I can't give it less than 5 stars.

"We were stuck in this world of change Expecting it to remain Now nothing is left unstained"

When I bought this just accidentally when it came out, it was my first getting-to-know with PoS. I was there standing in de cd store, listening, totally unprepared for what was to come! It totally blew me away, damn what was I excited after a long period of musical deceptions! Finally, a band with this musical Vision!!! ...Still, over a year later, listening to it, I get into this album every time! This album is another proof of the greatness of this band, and what better proof can be given! Just. Listen. To their totally open-minded way of music-making!

Okey this one is pretty tough review...I've The DVD also...i just cant see this as an "musical album"...I think daniel went way to for the artistic side, and concept, its has too much focus on information, lyrics, messages that it misses dynamics from a ideal point of view(concerning dynamics for sound its pretty much dynamic)...

This is like a Future Encyclopedia with soundtrack or something...though i find it pretty interesting and an amazing idea, i dont think i can reach "obsession" with this one... i find it awesome but not inspiring in any aspect...not like TPE part 1...

I think the low point on this one is that is not as "open" for ideas from listeners..i find it more solid...like trying to teach you something... not actually telling you about a history or emotion...

Stay Classy

Well i purchased this one around christmas time and feel myself finally competent enough to write a review of this amazing album. PoS clearly went off in a completely new dirrection and it worked, for the most part. there are a few spots where it feels forced and a few songs that i cant get into. Wow, those are feelings ive never had before with any of there work. still, for the majority of the record, i felt sucked into the concept and the music completely. theres no need to do a cong-by song analysis here (see Gatots ;)) but ill lend u a few of the highlights IMO. Imago/Pluvius Aestivus: the folky bits in imago threw me off at first, but then i fot into the groove of the music and find it stunning and extremely origional. the lyrics here are also superb and showcase Danial's talent. Imago feeds nicely into Pluvius Aestivus which is THE song on the disc for me. Breathtaking. I feel myself on the verge of tears listening to the beauty someone mannaged to capture and put through my speakers. absoluty gorgeous. the final highlight for me was (now this song barly beat out Dea Pecuniae) Diffidentia (Breaching the Core). THis is a more typical song for Pain of salvation and brought back memories of their earlier albums. Iter Impius also stands out as a fine moment in this, I'll call it an experience, it's not just a "CD". I strongly recomend any fan of progressive music to buy this album immidietly. it hardly fits in the category of prog "metal" so dont be put off by that if your not a fan of the genra. just experiece the music and ... BE wows thats corny... ENJOY!

Lets just put it this way:

I rarely spend my time reviewing much of anything. I just feel like I have better things I could be doing. This album, however, after all of the negative responses I have seen, deserves some clarification. To preface the review, I must say that before giving the album a final judgement, hop on Google and look up a few interviews with Daniel Gildenlow about this album, and you may be surprised at some of the band's motives behind its creation. Its a LOT more personal and philosophical than its previously been given credit for.

Now, on to the review.

In terms of being a concept album, its fantastic. I'm never a big one to buy into the concepts themselves, regardless of the band, be it Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, Pink Floyd, whatever. Honestly, I listen to concept albums because I know that they require a more extensive knowledge of musical devices such as motifs and allusions, etc. I am a music education major in college, so naturally I get a lot of exposure to things of that nature, so I look for it in the music I listen to as well. The motifs throughout this album are used magnificently, and really contribute to the album. For example, I love how the album draws to a close using the same theme as in Imago. It really ties the story together and serves as a nice ending to the album. The idea of God as a completely misunderstood and overlooked entity also brings about many philosophical questions. It causes one to reflect on his or her views on religion and its development. I recall, upon the first few listens, pondering the idea that God may truly have intentionally contributed to every religious ideal in the world, despite the background. Of course the thought was deeper than that, but this isn't the time or the place. My point is that the album makes you think, and since it is a concept album, I think that it deserves respect and praise.

Reviewing the music is difficult. I really don't know if the more effective mechanism would be to review song-by-song, or collectively. Ultimately, the music is ingenious. No, it isn't progressive metal. No, it isn't One Hour by the Concrete Lake. No, it isn't TPE or Remedy Lane or Entropia. Its BE, and that's all it needs to be. It is a completely different beast from any previous PoS release. Its heavy at times, bluesy at times, emotional at times, soft and melodic at times, celtic-sounding at times, even hilarious a couple of times. The band has really shown its talent and ability to create TRULY diverse and original music. Just a side note - a good friend of mine from college is Swedish and went to college with Frederik, the keyboardist. She was actually very good friends with him, and she told me that he was always into a very diverse range of musical styles, and she said that up until about 3 months before he moved to begin touring with PoS, he hardly listened to rock music at all, and that his major was in classical piano performance, so you can see that one of the primary composers in the band definitely draws his influences from places other than prog-metal bands of late. Anyway, I absolutely LOVE Dea Pecuniae. It feels SO good to listen to. I don't know how else to explain it. Its so slow, but driving that you feel each beat lead into the next, and you want it to last forever. Daniel's vocals are phenomenal on this track, and one particular moment around 5:50 just makes my stomach wrench because of the raw, sheer emotion that he expresses. Imago is another favorite of mine, combining elements of Celtic-Folk and middle-eastern theory, such as harmonic minor scales and modes and 3/4 time signatures subdivided to create a very sweeping, dancelike feel. Great melody as well. The rest of the album is too... fitting to describe. Its a mountain of rock and metal, then its a valley of reserved, contemplative instrumentals. Daniel's voice carries the album through all of its twists and turns flawlessly. You can definitely tell when PoS WANTED a song to stand out. Everything else just kind of seeps in the ears and pulls you everywhere that you are supposed to go emotionally. This album is an absolute masterpiece. Just buy it, listen, and "then you will understand everything".

This is the first (and the only so far, apart from some songs) record I've heard from Pain Of Salvation. I must admit that Im not very attracted to metal , so if it wasn't for a couple of friends recommendations I would never have heard this record. Thanks Animae I did: from the very first moment the album captivated me. I heard it all, without skipping a single track, without even moving from my seat, following the lyrics and loving all the song at first listen: I even cried in some parts, that are oustanding beautiful. The album is so varied, with a folk/celt song, classical moments, metal, gospel, bluesy and up-tempo songs...it's just incredible how them all fit nicely into the concept.

I make an outstanding ovation to Pain Of Salvation: they took a risk that not many bands in history would have taken. And it's a shame to see the worst consequences of this change through a more innovative and richer way in the reviews of people that bashes the band for not "rocking" during all the album. I say it's a shame because they are unable to appreciate this record in it's full extent as I believe that this is proggresive is about. It's not only about time signatures changes, extreme virtuosism and speed: it's about experimenting, about taking risks, pushing boundaries...but I guess that the people that bashes the band for not being enough metal is because they are 90% metal and 10% proggresive fans and not pretty open-minded. Don't missunderstand me, im not saying this to all the metal fans, just to the ones that can't open a bit to new musical experiences. Finally,for me, this is a masterpiece.

Gildenlöw's masterpiece or not? Very variable album, that isn't so easy to listen. It takes more than several times to "learn" to listen this album. There's many truely magnificient song. I Don't like latin-named songs, because it's kind of "anatomic".

Deus Nova: Chaotic guitar riff and mad pianolead. I like very much. 9/10

Imago: Tribe-song from Survivors... So what,it kicks ass! 8/10

Pluvius-Aestivus: Maybe the best song of the album. Very sad and rainful melody. 10/10

Nihil Morari: Deus Nova's guitar riff and piano. Not so good than Deus Nova, but still good. 8/10

Martius/Nauticus II: True prog song with elements from The Flower Kings. Not so big surprise. 8/10

This album, was better than I remembered, But it's not the best PoS-album. I can't say what is, but I know it isn't "Be".

Very few bands have the ability to record an album that is philosophical and intimate, especially one like this. Pain of Salvation's fifth studio release Be is just that. Be isn't just music, it's a philosophical and espistomological experience. Be attempts to surround the concept who we are, what we are about, and what we will become with music. That being said the music supports the concept. This album isn't about the music, it's about supporting a concept, which for some may be somewhat difficult to grasp.

Be has a small cast of characters, Imago and Mr. Money are the two most prominent. Ms. Mediocrity makes a cameo along with a character who is somewhat unknown who grieves his loss, and god. Imago represents the altruistic spirit of man, or maybe man at the beginning. Imago is on a quest for knowledge and exploration, Imago wants to know more about himself. Mr. Money is as the name suggest all about the money. He steps on anyone and anything to get to the top. Mr. Money is representative of humanity's greed and lack of consideration for the consequences. Mr. Money has an initmate performance in "Iter Impius" is his expression of the consequences for his own actions. His greed and lack of concern cause an enviromental disaster leaving him nothing but the rocks and dust to rule. Mr. Money has it all, but at the end of the album, that isn't much.

Not only is the concept of this album wonderful, but the supporting music is as well. This is not simply a metal album, but a variant musical experience supported by the properly dubbed Orchestra of Eternity who add an essential orchestral element for this album vital to it's success. The Orchestra of Eternity is actually more important to the musical success of this album than the lead band Pain of Salvation. Along with great orchestration Be offers bluesy, metal, and even jazzy elements to this album.

There are some moments where listeners may feel lost in the concept with songs like "Vocari Dei", "Imago", and "Omni". Others may find these musically exceptional and creative. What's most important is their support nd expression of the concept that this album is built on. There is no filler here, it's an imtimate musical experience that is meant to bring the listener consistently closer to the concept of existence and knowledge. Every song has a meaning, and every meaning is subjective.

I've already spoken of how important the Orchestra of Eternity is to this album, so now I will speak of the albums composer and author Daniel Gildenlow. Gildenlow's lyrics and concept for this album are genius. It would have been impossible for him to create a more philosophical and intimate concept. Gildenlow's vocal performance is his best to date. His performance on "Omni" is dramatic and operatic, and his performance on "Iter Impius" is the perfect expression of agony and greed. Gildenlow has an amazing ability to become the characters he performs. Gildenlow doens't do as much guitar playing on this album, but his solo in "Dea Pecuniae" is an excellent bluesy guitar lead as one of the prominent guitar leads on the album.

Fredrick Hermannson ditches his usual rack of keyboards for a piano (including an organ on "Omni" and a harpischord on "Martius"). Hermannson's piano concerto like piece "Pluvius Aestivus" is among one of the best composed original classical pieces in the progressive genre, and features no lead band influence. It's purely orchestral with Hermannson as the lead pianist.

Kristoffer Gildenlow lays down some great rythymnic bass lines. The man has a variety of skills playing finger, pick, slap, and tapping styles. He also uses a variety of basses with six string freted and fretless along with a four string upright bass. Gildenlow's tapping interlude on "Nihil Morari" is an excellent example of the lead skills he rarely uses in Pain of Salvation, Gildenlow is a monster player in a controlled sense.

Johan Hallgren is the primary lead guitarist. He uses both acoustic and electric guitars throughout the album. His solos are quite improvised with the most touching performance on "Iter Impius". he also shows off adept technical skill in "Nihil Morari".

Johan Langell is on drums as usual. His performance would actually be better called that of a percussionist. Langell doesn't simply drum, but uses his entire set to use drums and cymbals the way that an orchestral percussionist would, which obviously fits the focus of this album. Langell's cymbal use is one of the most unique and creative in the genre. His playing isn't potent, but it perfectly supports the songs.

This album is all a listener could ask for. It's intellectually stimulating with a variety of musical styles that ends with an epic finish. This isn't just an album, it's an emotional experience.

If you are looking for an album that asks for all of your attention, then look no further than BE. Possibly one of the most ambitious and demanding albums you will have in your catalogue. BE is a in depth look into religion and the human nature. Very precocious, very mind expanding, and a very serious album. This album is about its message before its music. Unlike most albums discussing religion, which focus on the music before the message, here you will find that the message and the journey is put before the actual music.

BE is quite the musical journey, one that unfairly is put in the "metal" category. There is very little metal here. One part reminds you of a Broadway musical, yes, the sounds are that varied. As ambitious as this project is, I've never been completely captivated with it. Is the scope of it remarkable? Yes. Maybe with time and more listens, the album will click with me more, but while I do appreciate the art here, I'm not amazed by it. Thus, my 4-star rating to an otherwise very essential and interesting piece of work.

I do love progressive metal! I do love bands such as dreamtheater, Evergrey AND Pain of Salvation. I've spent countless hours listening to the albums Be, One hour by the concrete lake, The perfect element and Remedy Lane.

As I see it the PoS saga really took off with the OHBTCL album, but it was a bit to pretentious. After the very nice works on TPE-part 1 the band turned to a moore folk- music influenced genre with teh RL album. I must confess that it took me quite some time to really appreciate that album, but now I really do.

Of course, I bought the BE album as soon as it hit the stores... I'm sorry, i do not like it! I listen to it a number of times, put it away for a month or so, start over again and so forth. But part from some songs and passages on the album I simply don't like it.

Why? Well, just like with the OHBTCL album it's just overly pretentious. I can't help to feel that the theme has been predecided and much of the lyrics have been written sort of "outside" the music.

Daniel Gildenlöw is a great musician, songwriter and singer, no doubt. But I lack the feeling of a band playing music. It feels almost like a soloalbum with wery little influences from the other bandmembers. Daniel says in the convolute that he has written on this album on and off since 1996, and it shows ;-)

I'm guessing now, but something tells me that there has not been much "jamming" in the making of this album.

If one should categorize albums in to three categories: music with lyrics, music and lyrics and lyrics with music I must say that this album belongs to the latter.

Of all the conceptual pieces I've heard, I do believe that Be is the most contrived, silly, and most cryptic album I've ever heard conceptually. Pain of Salvation, led by the notorious Daniel Gildenlow, strides more firmly into symphonic territory with this album, as there are little to no metal parts (save for a few moments and pieces) and most of it is dominated by acoustic pieces with the vocals being the most prominent part. Now if you can get past the concept of the piece you'll probably find a lot to like (a lot more than me). I will say, though, that the pieces here are a run of the mill of emotions and different feelings all together, from dramatic piano solos to celtic inspired rhythms it is all here. Now, I'm going to get the overall concept of this piece out of the way so you can judge it from the first paragraph.Essentially, Gildenlow was thinking one day about what if God was just as confused and unsure of his/herself as any human being? So God decided to create man in his/her image in hopes that it would help find out what he/she is meant to be. That's to put it shortly, though.Throughout the album you'll hear essentially be given a brief history of the world and of spirituality.

Alright, time to discuss select pieces and some overall feelings I get from listening to this album. Beginning with the dialogue of Animae Partus and the repetition of the words I Am and essentially a backdrop to the entire foundation to the story as well. From the get go you can feel a different Pain of Salvation at work. Coupled with Deus Nova is begins the long journey that is this album. And although Deus Nova (Fabricatio) brings in a metal theme to the album, it doesn't really last long and the riff (although pretty nice) is pretty repetetive at the same time. In the background the vocals discuss the progression in population of human beings as time continues forward. The next piece, Pulvius Aestivus, also brings in a celtic influence to the piece, but the main problem I have with it is the preposterous lyrics, "take me to the breathe and be"... eh? Then comes in the next piece, Pluvius Aestivus, which is essentially an overly long classically tinged piano piece (all it is is piano and the backing Orchestra of Eternity) that seems more familiar to the them of The X-Files than anything else.

Following those pieces run a gauntlet of various themed songs that help further the ridiculous concept (at least the music is of a vastly higher quality). I like the guitar work in Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova), which has a nice modulated feel to it and is rather heavy despite having a sharp and clean sound as well as a pretty dynamic bass line from Kristoffer Gildenlow. Nauticus (Drifting) has an interesting acoustic motif and some hymnal chants from Gildenlow, who gives a great vocal performance here (probably my favorite on the album). Dea Pecuniae is the longest piece of the album, clocking in at a bit over 10 minutes. I'm quite fond of the ending section I Raise My Glass because of it's catchy nature and the well performed background music, but the parts leading up to it are very good as well, with fantastic bass work and lead guitar. Vocari Dei is essentially phone messages to God (with an eclectic bunch of people phoning in their questions, prayers, and thoughts), the music in the background is quite stunning as well. Diffidentia (Breaching the Core) begins with a crushing metal riff with a droning piano motif that ranges between about two or three different chords and some questioning vocals from Gildenlow (who begins at this point of the album to really come out of the conceptual shell and reach out to the listener). Probably my favorite piece on the album along with Dea Pecuniae.

Nihil Morari is essentially a slight reprisal of the Lilium Cruentus (although a bit different it has the same mood and sounds very similar) in my opinion. It really seems that the metal that Pain of Salvation play comes in towards the end of the album, and the metal sections are certainly the best of the album. A reprisal of the theme from Deus Nova. Latericius Valete and Omni are two shorter pieces, and mainly act as filler (or interlude pieces, however you look at it) as far as I'm concerned. They aren't really that bad, but they just don't really sit well with me for some reason. Iter Impius has one of Gildenlow's most emotional vocal performances, and the accompanying piano is also quite pretty, playing a nice arpeggio based motif. Martius/Nauticus II follows, but the album isn't done yet. It's a bit of a piece that is all over the place musically, bringing up references to past songs as well as standing as a piece that has an original edge to it. It doesn't really do anything for me at the end of the day. The album ends with Animae Partus II, a reprisal of the first part of the album with the repeating "I Am" lines, it gives the album a continous feel as well as a circular feel as a closer.

In the end, it all comes down to if you can stand bizarre concepts with BE. Although musically it contains many brilliant moments, lyrically this album falls apart quickly (this is simply opinion, though, as I know how much work Gildenlow put into this album). For me, I liked this album, but there were a few definite flaws that keep me from giving this album full marks. Recommended, but with a bit of a warning in the obtuse concept. And if you're looking for metal on this album, you'll find that not a lot of this album is metal at all. 3.5/5.

When listening to Be, you need one thing: to read the lyrics and understand the concept. They build a body with the music. Be is a story about a God creating humans according to his image in order to understand better his own self. Metaphysic spoken words in a strange vortex, then the multiplication of the humans, then their story, beginning with a tribal atmosphere. But the humans get burnt with ambition and madness, it's time to cry: the rain is its symbol (Pluvius Aestivus). Beautiful piece of music. Then we have the core of the album, with ambitious lyrics and an astonishing work of Gildenlöw, a lot of different vocals are used here; the music has jazzy, rock and metal touches. And finally we reach the end of the album with 2 splendid songs: Iter Impius and Martius/Nauticus II. If you've read the long decadence of humanity, you can be nothing else than deeply touched by these melancholic parts. This album is a unique experience and the best concept album ever, to my humble opinion.

Pain Of Salvation has created a masterpiece with BE is a penetrating and stimulating apparatus for the senses as much from the global concept from the album, to all the existenciales and literary connections that are evoked in the entrails of their texts. "Be" is a compendium of wisdom and crafts for the attendance of universal reflections that consider, to synthesize, the old questions of those who and as we are and where we go. "Be" is amazing and intense like few discs nowadays. Elegance in the compositions and substitutes instrumental developments make of Pain Of Salvation an intense mouthful for ears tanned in thousand battles. "Be", the seventh album of the Swedish quinteto, is a history to be listened to without haste, having the time necessary to pay attention to the surprises that the narration hides. The structural development of the album is épico, complex and exciting. Little by little you fall in a well bottomless while you deal with agarrarte to the walls in search of the light. There is in the world no a progressive metal band that is resembled Pain Of Salvation. Its identity is safeguard thanks to the beauty that offer. Its talent demolishes, disc to disc, absurd prejudices. Daniel Gildenlöw has had these ideas on the basis of which all we have inside without mattering of that we speak or on which we speak, the doubt always exists and that is what it has done to us that we are the primitive civilization that we are at the present time, distant to include/understand the realities of the life, the death and the divinity of God.

I hardly know where to begin on this album. I had heard a few strains of PoS's previous albums prior to hearing Be, and as a result, I had tagged the band as "just another Dream Theater clone." As it turns out, I would have had a hard time being more wrong. A friend sent me the .mp3 files of this album, so I gave them a play. Initially, I was only minorly impressed, but that quickly gave way to a sense of absolute awe.

Anime Partus gets the album off to a decent start. There's not much to it besides some sampled voices, but it does an excellent job of telling the listener, "This is a concept album."

As the previous track fades out, Deus Nova begins with a bit of string and keyboard work. This lays down a nice dark feel, which is something I definitely enjoy in an album. After about a minute, the guitar enters. The guitar here never really impressed me that much; sure there's a few decent riffs going on here, even some really tasty solo-ish work, but who doesn't have that now? At this point in the album, I was amused, but not blown away.

So remember that part about not being blown away? All of that was shattered at the opening notes of Imago. The tune is simply phenomenal in every way. There are no downsides to this track. The instrumental play sets up a delightful medieval-esque feel, despite maintaining a driving, pulsing intensity. The vocals are wonderful, and the lyrics are nice. This little balad instantly blew any preconceptions I had about the band out of the water.

Next up comes Pluvius Aestivus of Summer Rain. This track is the reason that in addition to being a masterpiece of prog, this album also makes an excellent soporific. If I'm having trouble dozing off, I can throw this album on, and as soon as this track hits, I'm out. If you make the effort to stay awake, though, you will find a lovely little instrumental, primarily driven by a piano track. The quick runs set up a dense background for the extremely simple melody.

Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) On the Loss of Innocence begins with some swirling picking before kicking into an intense but brief metal portion. Once the song settles down a bit, the vocals start with a spoken intro, detailing the death of a loved one. I love the lyrics to this tune, how it manages to encapsulate the feelings of loss experienced over a death. All in all, an excellent tune.

Nauticus is a decent interlude, but I find that if Pluvius Aestivus hasn't put me to sleep, Nauticus finishes the job. The guitar is actually nice, but I usually find myself ignoring it. I'm reminded of the "You've Got to Go" tune out of the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

If Nauticus was a bit of a low, Dea Pecuniae is definitely a perfect foil to it. The longest track on the album, Dea Pecuniae also makes a decent bid for the best track on the album. It's an extremely bluesy tune with excellent and extremely ambitious vocal work throughout.

Vocari Dei sordes aestes is another interlude-style tune. The band gave out a phone number prior to recording this album, where their fans could leave "letters to God". They then played several of these over a light instrumental track. The effect is rather interesting.

Breaching the Core is rage given voice. Opening with the line, "I will never submit to all the things that you said, God," the tune then drops in a harshly dissonant piano over distorted guitar. The mood is effectively set for this raging track. After about 2 minutes, you get the first break from the intensity, which lasts long enough to set up the next run of intensity.

Nihil Morari is a nasty little tune, going to the edge of complete chaos and back on a couple of occasions. If you ask me, this is also one of the better tracks on the album.

Latericus Valete is another instrumental, mostly a sweet little number, until at the end, when a more edgy tone breaks in. It also echoes the countdown that began the album.

Omni Permanere is a curious track. An organ comes in, followed by a very choral-esque vocal part. there's not much besides those elements and a little sampling.

Iter Impius Martignea, Son of Mars Obitus Diutinus is a tune I had never really noticed until recently. Musically, it failed to stand out from some of the other tracks, save for the gorgeous solo in it. Then, I started paying attention to the album's lyrics. This song is downright heartbreaking.

Martius/Nauticus II begins with an off-kilter run, before normalizing it into a form of march. I love this tune, as it echoes Imago beautifully. It serves to tie things together at the end nicely.

Animae Partus II has no reason to exist. It consists of 3 minutes of near silence, followed by a child's voice saying one sentence. Martius/Nauticus II is 10 times the ending of this. Seriously, never listen to this.....ever.

Okay, so all told, this album instantly hit my top 10 and hasn't left there. Buy it....now.

Ok, this is the first album I ever feel the need to submit a review of. I was, at first, very curious about this release, having heard about the complexity of the concept and of the variety of actual genres within the same CD. Having listened only to Remedy Lane among Pain of Salvation's pearls before approaching this record, I just felt I had to give it a try. Furthermore, I got to see how BE has seemingly let down many people and even at times divided the fans in two branches, and this added to my curiosity. At first listen, I was surely blown off by the remarkable variety of tunes, sounds and rhythms within the same concept. It either took me two or three listens, to appreciate it a lot. It took me watching the Original Stage production DVD to become addicted to it. The concept is very fascinating, dealing with such themes as creation, evolution, death, exploitation (very frequent theme in PoS), faith, and so on. You may already know what it is about: Animae, God's representation, is wondering about the moment when he first started to be, not recalling how or when, or even where the transition from non-existence to existence occurred. To gain the knowledge he is longing for, he spawns fragments of his essence, also known as mankind, also known (in this concept) as Imago. In the beginning Imago is joyfully voted to a search for knowledge of the world surrounding him, pushed further by his curiosity. Gradually, as his knowledge adds up, his thoughts and way of living change, distorting his innocence into something different, like greed, for example. This brings mankind to a slow but inexorable downfall, until the exploited planet can't contain Imago anymore, Animae's task fails, and the deity itself fades away, dying. Meanwhile, just as Animae has put his knowledge into the construction of Imago, Imago has used his acquired knowledge to develop things, like Nauticus, sent to Mars to help its creators save themselves from the inevitable extinction. Nauticus reaches Mars, and the cycle closes to start right where it began, as a new God is born. A story within the story is represented by Mr. Money's deeds, which I will talk about later on. In detail, this is what is present in the album overall. The first track is Animae Partus, Animae's birth. This is a spoken passage, so there's not much else to add to what Animae itself says. The music kicks in at the following track, Deus Nova. A suggestive ambient melody abruptly turns into a quite sudden succession of pretty heavy riffs, accompanying the count of population's exponential growth. When the count-up reaches modern days, another spoken part leads us to a surreal- feeling trip back in old times, with percussions and a folk-sounding string instrument (mandola I guess), giving an ancient feel to this beautiful song, Imago. Of course, this is far from being a metal song in a metal album, and it is nowhere near being considered a self rip-off of Remedy Lane's Chain Sling. The progression of the lyrics (where forests and oceans start to appear, then returning to the lyrics of many other songs as a lyrical leitmotif), in which Imago's thinking evolves (wanting to see all, then wanting to know all, finally wanting to possess all) is incredibly effective. Musically, the energy given by this song is a good reward to the listener, and the effect made by the mandola (again, I guess) adds up to the rustic feel of the song. Pluvius Aestivus brings the story to nowadays, with a very simple keyboards pattern, which eventually brings the idea of light rain drops, incorporated to the song's title "Of Summer Rain". The rain ends up with bass lines that lead to Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova), unquestionably amongst the best lyrical efforts ever made by Daniel Gildenlöw. Dealing with the feelings of Imago (and of mankind in its entirety, indeed) towards death, impotence in front of it, and the need of "someone to blame for the pain felt when death takes its toll". The music is closer to the prog metal genre, the one PoS have tended to be labeled within, and the one which made them best known. The pathos grows, as we reach Nauticus. Simply a low-pitched "Pilgrim"? No. Spiritual? Yes, I guess. The guitar work is pretty enjoyable, if you manage to pay attention to it, but it is not very easy, as the extremely low-pitched voices, sounding at the same moment tormented and full of hope, literally steal the show, either in a good or a bad way. After a quite hilarious spoken intermission, introducing Mr. Money's character, Nauticus literally drifts into the probably most controversial song in the album, Dea Pecuniae. Many find it a masterpiece, other consider it overlong and dull. To me, it is not the best effort Daniel's group has ever done, but it's surely not to underestimate. I did honestly find it quite forgettable at first, an overlong song, with a not-so-catchy feel and a quite nice solo, but after watching the DVD I completely changed my views on it. Mr. Money's character is portrayed in all that greed has turned Imago into: carelessness, selfishness, ignorance, arrogance, overconfidence. Mr. Money's wealth has given him the chance to acquire immortality through cryogenetics, in his wish to own more than he has (which is. well. a lot) and become the king of kings, the new ruler of all. Lyrically it is nearly perfect, with Mr. Money's words reflecting his vices and the sides of his wicked personality. The climax is reached when he "raises his glass to all those who suck it up and pay his debts, saluting the poor bastards who just nod when he sits at their table", and, quite ironically, he wishes that nothing will be left for others at the moment of his awakening. the song has a very nice clean solo by Daniel, and some very nice guitar work, most times going unnoticed, by Johan Hallgren, in the final part of the song. Then Vocari Dei comes, giving a sweet background music to the thoughts and feelings of people (the real life Imago) towards divinity. after those, Diffidentia breaks through, hard hitting with the piano sound and the crunching guitar part adding to the feeling of anger transmitted by the first part of the song, in which Imago questions Animae and points the finger at it for everything, even threatening the divinity of taking all away from it. A different mood, actually a Nauticus reprise, kicks in at the part immediately following the heavier and anger led one: Animae is slowly dying. He observes what his creation has become, and has no choice but admitting failure and vanishing, leaving mankind to their destiny. This song may sound a bit dragged at times, but it builds up well to its purpose within the story, with Animae's downfall and death. As Animae has died, we enter the last part of the Machinageddon, with Nihil Morari. Tool-reminiscent bass and vocals bring us to a world where the exploitation of Earth has become intolerable, and there's nothing left to men to use, break, or literally rape. Nothing remains, indeed. The last part is purely definable as prog metal, with the Deus Nova reprise, in both the music and the population count-up, reaching unreal figures by 2050 AD. Imago has started a downwards spiral, unable to fix what he has done wrong in his past. Very interesting song for prog metal lovers. Everyone will disagree eventually, but Latericius Valete, to me, is the highest pathos peak reached in the whole story. Sweet turns to bitter, mellow turns to harsh, all after just a simple sentence. The speaker continues Nihil Morari's people count, with a tragic info: within ten years billions and billions of people have quickly died. This is the most thrilling moment to my senses, and it's one of the very few songs (along with Tool's 10,000 Days and few others) that never fail to send chills down my spine at any listening. It all follows with Omni, a brief prayer with church organ and choir style, with a Imago's hope for Nauticus to come back with the solution to his problems. a thing that will never happen. All have died on Earth, minus one. The one who achieved immortality, Mr. Money. It's very funny how Mr. Money wished nothing to be left, in Dea Pecuniae, and in the end really nothing was left, for him. Other emotional peak, the song builds up so well to the end with ever-growing emotions transmitted, of Mr. Money's anger for having become nothing else than a ruler of ruins. Very intense song, neat solo, outstanding vocal performance by Daniel, perfect lyrics by Fredrik. It's either this song is "the one" or what comes just after. You must give it at least a listen, even if it's best coming near the end of the concept. Martius/Nauticus II is almost the end, narrating when Nauticus has reached the line that Mr. Money will never cross. As for the actual music, this part is really enjoyable. It's characterized by two parts: the first one has a similar cadence to a march, if you notice it's a reprise of a part from Pluvius Aestivus; the second one is more easily recognizable, as a Imago reprise. Nauticus is now every forest, every tree, and all, omni. A new Animae has come to existence, as Nauticus repeats the first "I am", showing the cyclic nature of becoming. Animae has developed Imago, who has developed Nauticus, which will develop something else. There's nothing else to say about this, as words can't really explain perfectly all that this album is about. So if you don't own this release I suggest. get it as soon as you can, and just BE.

This concept album is an absolute masterpiece and I have listened to it during hard and good times, thus it has a memorable nostalgia for me. - This is probrably one of the greatest concept albums ever written (behind Dream Theater's "Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory").

While this album does not top some of Pain of Salvation's other work, notable "Remedy Lane" it stands as an example of their trade sound and the amazing imagination of front man Daniel Gildenlow. The man is capable of writing songs that have melodic properties that instantly hook inside your mind, while keeping it progressive and interesting reaching new musical grounds not touched before.

You'll hear alot of influences in the sound, most notably I feel alot of parts of Pain of Salvation's sound routes from Faith No More, and Mike Pattons style of singing. Daniel builds on this base and takes flight and does wonders with it.

Stand out tracks for me are- "Lilium Cruentus", which was instantly my favorite track off the album, with an amazingly atmospheric and memorable intro. - "Dea Pecuniae" which is the best example of a "Rock Opera" style vocal delivary as various characters deliver lyrical lines and Daniel sings them magnificently so you are able to distinguish which is which. and also the highly notable epic - "Iter Impius" which has beautiful piano work and a very catchy melodic chorus and extremely beautiful lyrics. - Also on the live DVD is the most crucial and emotional moment of the performance.

I cannot recommend this album enough to fans of prog and conceptual works of art!!

Pain of Salvation has to be in my top ten bands of all time- but NOT because of this album. While I appreciate the thematic approach, I just don't feel it works. I am a huge fan of Dream Theater's concept album 'Scenes from a Memory" for one main reason- not the murder mystery, but the MUSIC. And I feel that when you pop in a CD- that's what you want to hear, MUSIC. Not talking, not the population of the world- or listening to some couple talk about who knows what. The Music on BE is seperated- and choppy throughout the album. BE obviously does have some great moments- but when you think its heading in a great musical direction, it slows down again- or you come to another boring 2/3 minute instrumental track that seems to be just filler. Some of you may be saying- "How many times have you listened to the album Kevin?" a handful of times- at 1st- yes, I was intreagued, but after a few more listens I have come to believe that this is a funky album by a GREAT band. Do not start here with POS. 2.5 stars.

Be is quite simply one of the most adventures albums ever attempted, trying to fuse Pain of Salvation's own brand of Progressive Metal with classical, jazz and folk by effectively adding a nine piece orchestra to the line-up. On top of that, Daniel Gildenlow created a concept to encompass the creation of the world and its people, and to explore the possibility that God could be just as insecure as any person. As you can imagine, this was always going to be a tall order just to get the separate parts to work together here, and to a large extent, they pulled it off very well.

The first thing that you think of when you here that a metal band have added an orchestra is "oh no, their doing a Metalica" i.e. this is going to sound like a heavy metal band playing with an orchestra supporting, with no real mix between the two entities. This is most definitely not the case here, Pain of Salvation have successfully integrated themselves into the "Orchestra of Eternity" with the result being the feeling that you are listening to a large, fourteen piece, band. This is the most impressive aspect of the album, that each instrument interacts to create a whole that is as cohesive as any of the previous four albums, perhaps even more so than Entropia. Though the fusion of all fourteen musicians is probably the most impressive aspect of this album, it is not the most immediate one, that goes to the diverse range of styles that are played to perfection here. The first real song of the album is a metal track in the standard sound of Pain Of Salvation (if there's such a thing) with the orchestra being barley noticeable, but this quickly moves into a song that can only be described as folk. From here on out, folk, metal, jazz and classical based songs, and others that are a blend of two or more of these styles, jump out at you to show you how diverse this album is. In-fact this works so well to the effect that it isn't really a metal album at all anymore, though to those that feel they must pin down a genre to it, all I can say is good luck, because I cant.

The musicianship of Pain of Salvation has now been at the highest level, and used brilliantly, for the past three albums without a single dip. They hold true to that maintaining such a high standard almost effortlessly, though this time its stretched encompassing multiple styles. A big difference here to the previous albums is that the concept is more transparent than in previous works, it wouldn't take much use of the grey matter of any listener to gain an understanding of what the concept is and where its going, something that is very different from Gildenlow's previous style of having elaborate and cryptic concepts that required a fair bit of study and thought to understand fully. What hasn't changed is the well thought out, and above all performed, lyrics that still convey their meaning with plenty of imagery, charisma and finesse.

Now that I've stopped gushing about how good this album is, I'll explain why it isn't a masterpiece, despite the fact that it really should have been with only a few changes. The main problem is that the concept gets in the way of the damned impressive music all too often. The album opens with a two minute spoken word piece with only the sound of a heart beat to add, and such spoken sections happen frequently, especially in the second half of the album. To put it simply, they're very annoying after a couple of listens and become very much surplus to requirement, some being very much unnecessary, even to the concept. The one song that really gets on my nerves, though, is Vocari Dei. This song is a beautiful piece of music ruined with a horde of "messages to God" from fans from all over the world (ones even in Japanese). Now I wouldn't be to aggrieved with a few messages considering that God is a key part of the concept, but it just gets all a bit too much for me, someone that tries to avoid any theological position. I also have great distaste for the practice of having a song with large sections of silence, sections that last for a minute or more. Unfortunately this is how the album ends, a spoken word piece that has large gaps of silence between two pieces, a disappointing end to say the least.

This is a great album with some of the most impressively conceived and executed musical ideas that I have come across, but it's a flawed piece of genius where the concept gets in the way far too much and can even put some people off. A great album that I will always hold in esteem and fully deserving of its four stars, but could have been so much more with a little extra care. Not for the musically unadventurous or those that are trying to get into Pain of Salvation, but a must have for everyone else. Now, who said pretentious..

M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E!!!

To think that 3 years ago I considered this album pure crap and back in those days I could have made a Zero star review (I'm no kidding) but that's now history...

What we have here is the product of almost eight years of maturation on Daniel Gildenlöw's mind and the result is one of the most (if not the most) original concept albums in Prog History (pardon if I am exaggerating).

Animae Partus ("I Am"): Opens with breathing, heart beats and various voices speaking throughout the song.

Deus Nova (Fabricatio): Begins with piano, strings and flute Courtesy of The Orchestra of Eternity, at 0:56 a heavy guitar plays a weird riff accompanied by drums, piano and subtle orchestra, then there is a guitar lead while the music gets more chaotic (this section is very interesting), then the random voices from the previous song appears again accompanied by "sea sounds" and fades into the next.

Imago (Homines Partus): This begins with exotic percussion, acompanied by mandola, flute, piano and voice melodies. This exotic percussion and mandola remains througout, maintaining the spirit of the song. As the song fades out, the sound of rain can be heard.

Pluvius Aestivus Of Summer Rain (Homines Fabula Initium): This is a beautiful passage of music, only piano and strings are listened here, played over the sound of rain. Beautiful.

Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) On the Loss of Innocence: This begins with distant voice accompanied by a riff that reminds (Californication by RHCP?) Then enters fretless bass, flute and soft drums, interrupted by a brief heavy section this structure repeats once, and after the second heavy section comes what seems to be a chorus, again heavy section / soft section, now chorus / heavy section and song ends with flute and someone whispering "My Love".

Nauticus (Drifting): This song is only choral performance accompanied by nice acoustic guitar. Towards the end of the song, people can be heard mounting in a car and we hear a man doing a indecent proposal to a girl (Note: this narrative is brilliant!!!) while car radio plays in the background.

Dea Pecuniae: This one begins with a muscle car moving away fast.There is a bluesy feeling througout the song. Here the orchestra enhances the music with and gentle but awesome support. The singing is top notch on this one and gives a "real opera" sensation. Near the ending there is a very well developed crescendo which climax is remarked by a broken glass This is one of the strongest songs on this album.

Vocari Dei Sordes Aetas - Mess Age: This song is pure random voice mailbox samples from people talking to god, playing over a soft and beautiful guitar, piano and drums. This is a really beautiful and moving song.

Diffidentia (Breaching the Core) Exitus - Drifting II: This begins with a repetitive pattern played on piano, accompanied by drums and distorted guitar that repeats througout. Later the song becomes only piano, gentle strings and drums and layers of voices. Very well constructed layers of voices.

Nihil Morari (Homines Fabula Finis): This starts with a Tool-ish riff supported by subtle strings and cymbals, becoming slowly into a metal song. Then there is a slightly slower reprise of the weird section of Deus Nova (Fabricatio), this time accompannied by various news reports. Then the Tool-ish riff appears again as the song fades out with the orchestra... Brilliant Song!!!

Latericius Valete: This song is another musical passage with acoustic guitar, piano supported by the orchestra. Then we hear: 2,060 AD: 1.2 Million people... And drums and distorted guitar appears briefly until the end of the song.

Omni Permanere?: This begins with a background of various radio reports accompannied by church organs, then voice enters with a church-song style. As the song fades out into the next the breeze can be heard...

Iter Impius Martigena, son of Mars (Obitus Diutinus): Begins with breeze sound and very sad piano, Gildenlöw sings like he is lamenting something as the orchestra supports very delicately with strings. The there is a crescendo and the song turns into a metal ballad. Later comes a very emotive guitar solo and the guitar remains harmonizing with the voice (MAGICAL!!!) Then there is a soft interlude and a "marching snare" returns the song to the metal ballad. Towards the end of the song Gildenlöw just scream ad lib with rage (AWESOME).

Martius/Nauticus II: This song begins with harpsichord and "marching snare", ethereal singing. This is interrupted by chaotic drumming and piano that abrupt becomes into Imago (Homines Partus) reprise (BRILLIANT, This time the music reminds me the ending of The Twilight Is My Robe, there are similarities in the drumming ;-)). This reprise remains until the end of the song, which ends with STOMP-like percussion.

Animae Partus II: This begins with breathing and heart beats like the intro song, with the only words "I AM". After 3:17 minutes of silence then the only loss comes... Sorry Mr. Daniel Gildenlöw I did not understand your joke.

Pros: The music and the singing throughout the album: Deus Nova, Imago, Pluvius Aestivus, Lilium Cruentus, Dea Pecuniae, Vocari Dei, Nihil Morari, Iter Impius, Martius/Nauticus II. Are examples of great songwriting

Cons: Too much cryptic concept. The last ten seconds of the album

Verdict: What we have here is one of the most original releases in prog. The band and The Orchestra Of Eternity blends perfectly to create beautiful music. The vocal work on this release is top notch. Maybe is not the best album from Pain Of Salvation, but definately is the best work from Mr. Daniel Gildenlöw

P.S. Do not accept negative reviews from this piece of art.

Perhaps it would help the listener to realize that this is not an album of songs, but an album of one complete piece of music. Perhaps if fans of the band would have expected something this different it might have been more appreciated. Still, it gets a quite good overall rating here, so most people seem to like it.

For myself, I can't quite call it a masterpiece but I took to it pretty quickly. The thing that I realized right away is that there are no songs to grab on to on this album, other than the album as whole. If you consider it as one long track it works better I think. Though even that isn't quite the case, as the tracks don't flow into each other like on most album length songs I've heard.

Still, it's a great album and a great departure from "typical" (if there is such a thing) PoS material. The concept I related to right away, as I have had similar notions about humanity, religion and existence for some time (I've also read a number of the books Daniel listed as reference material). Not an easy concept to grasp to be sure, especially if you are just a casual listener and not familiar with any of the reference material. But still, I think the album is listenable regardless. My only complaints are with the spoken dialog, which can get old after repeated listenings, but I think it is necessary for the concept and is incorporated pretty well overall.

There is far less metal here, though still a good amount. The singing is quite good and more varied than any other PoS album. I happen to like that aspect, others probably don't. The piano gets a wider use on this album, which I quite like, and I can tell that Daniels time with The Flower Kings has give PoS a more symphonic leaning, especially on this album.

All in all, a very good album. I think in many ways it is Daniels masterpiece. But not mine. Still, a solid 4 stars and a great work of art.

I cannot imagine a more ambitious modern concept album than this existential labyrinth of music from PoS. For starters, it is a big departure from the band's more conventional metal as heard in their previous albums. "BE" is true prog-metal symphony, incorporating orchestral instrumentation and utilizing them smartly to achieve the grand, epic scope of the album's subject matter. Fans will likely be shocked, but I think "Be" will attract more than it will repel, and should be investigated by fans who don't normally listen to "metal". The band has crafted a precise piece of art here.

The lyrical content is straddles a fine line between the uplifting, abstract (such as dancing melodies of "Imago") and some VERY sociological statements about modern living. Daniel has a clear agenda, and it is not disguised in these lyrics. Although his deliveries are of the highest caliber, he comes off as sounding very pretentious (Latin song titles anyone?) and preachy as well.

That being said, the songwriting is of a very different tone and style than before, featuring few (but excellent) hard passages in favor of the textural and atmospheric-- melodies becoming hard to latch on to. There are vast tracts of "empty" space throughout, which feature delicate playing and uncharacteristic singing from the band-- lots of style changes. Regrettably, a heavy amount of voice-overs often spoil the effect of the music, and I regularly skip them to get to the good stuff. The finale of the album, starting with the intensely depressing combo of "Nihil Morari" and "Iter Impius" and ending with the uplifting "Martius/Nautics II".

So, while after many listens I have to say that "Be" is a mixed bag, but the good outweighs the bad, and is creative, emotive, and enjoyable enough for me to recommend this one to those open-minded enough to take on the challenge of its concept.

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 3 Style/Emotion/Replay: 4

5 stars for Iter Impius alone. I can say with confidence that this song is undoubtedly the most beautiful song ever created. I must have listened to it nearly 100 times and I can honestly say that it never gets old. It's just utter perfection in music, between Gildenlow's godly vocals, the soaring guitar solo, the orchestra, the textured piano, everything. Other than that masterpiece, every song is poignant and melodic. Between the crazy prog-metal of Nihil Mohari, to the powerful Lilium Cruentus, to the whimsical and folky Imago, to the power chords of Diffidentia, this album is a testament to the greatness of Pain of Salvation. Forget if people think this is pretentious, just listen to it for its music. Highly recommended.

This truly is a marvelous, ambitious work that may be unprecidented, and it's about as progressive as you can get. Yet I don't really like it. I can admire it, I just don't enjoy it. If you add up the words in the song titles alone it's over 100 ! Almost 76 minutes of music. Well that's not exactly true because of all the sampling and spoken words that make up a good portion of this record. I just think the music has been compromised big time for the sake of the concept. That has been a complaint of mine in the past, and this is without a doubt the best example i've heard, of the music taking a back seat to the concept. Of course there is some good music here but it pales to the previous 4 studio records they have put out.

"Animae Partus" is really different people offering their opinions on how they came to be. "Deus Nova" features more information that is spoken to us over a fairly heavy soundscape. Piano comes and goes. Take away the speaking and this is great. "Imago" is like a medieval folk song. "Pluvius Aestivus" opens with rain and thunder. It ends the same way. In between we get some beautiful piano melodies, and strings after 2 minutes. "Lilium Cruentus" has some nice pastoral passages with heavy sections that come and go. Great track. "Nauticus" features deep vocals and acoustic guitar. Pretty much a gospel song of repentance. "Dea Pecuniae" opens with a non-funny skit. The music to follow is very average. "Vocari Dei" features more spoken words that are directed to God and about God with light music in the background. "Diffidentia" has this slow, heavy rhythm, with vocals to match. It changes as spoken words come in(rapping ?). A pastoral passage after 2 minutes,before heaviness returns. Violins and a pastoral section returns to end it.

"Nihil Morari" is dark and restrained,it reminds me a little of FATES WARNING. It picks up the pace a notch. Nice. Unfortunately spoken words arrive. "Latericius Valete" opens with some beautiful sounding acoustic guitar before piano and violin joins in. Some heaviness before 2 minutes. Spoken words come in. Good song. "Omni" features lots of powerful organ runs and spoken words. Vocals a minute in. The wind is blowing as it ends. "Iter Impius" opens with piano. A full sound 2 minutes in. Some aggressive guitar(finally !) after 3 minutes. A nice heavy ending as well. "Martius / Nauticus II" has some marching style drumming with vocals early. A change arrives after 2 minutes as a mid-eastern sound comes in. It's heavier after 5 1/2 minutes, I like the drumming. "Animae Partus II" opens with some strange sounds coming and going before she says I am. There is then about 3 minutes of silence before a monsterous voice, and then a child saying something silly. Annoying.

I really think someone with a lot of time on their hands could really get a lot out of this. This is deep, and it almost needs to be studied. As for putting on some music for my listening pleasure ? This is not something i'm going to reach for.

Well ok so after two masterpieces The perfect Element and Remedy Lane comes Be. BE is definitely less accesible than the previous album maybe becaue the music flows around the concept here and not the other way around and the concept is quite profound and complex.

Now for me this is PoS best album and one of the biggest masterpieces ever in progressive rock.

So the album starts with a dialogue which is obviously crucial for the concept now this is exactly what some people don't like i mean they say that the album is too focused on the concept, i guess it's a matter of taste.

The first song is Imago (homines partus) and it's pure beauty, perfection, the orchestra of eternity does a superb job as does the band, Daniel Glidenlow vocals are once again perfect (ha) and the album moves on, every now and then stopping the music and you can hear a dialogue or someone reading some news but everything fits, it really does, I just love the different roles Daniel plays on the album particularly mr. Money on Dae Pecuniae which is one of the best PoS songs ever, a really good and fun song where the vocals are definitely the highlight.

Later on Daniel raps a little against god but it's amazing (lol).

Almost at the end of the album comes 2 songs that are just fantastic, Iter Impius which i consider to be the best song by PoS and Martius\Nauticus II. A Perfect ending for a perfect album.

This album is truly an amazing experience and in my opinion PoS highest point so far. One of the top progressive albums ever recorded but it's not easy to digest, as is often the case with albums and bands like this

Pain of Salvation - BE 4.9 stars

Honestly, so close to a damn masterpiece, this album contains such a tiny flaw that doesn't make me consider this to be an absolutely essential album.

The lineup on the album is still the same from 'One Hour by the Concrete Lake'. I can't even begin to type the instruments that each individual plays, but I can still refresh everyone on the members. Daniel Gildenlow, Kristoffer Gildenlow, Fredrik Hermansson, Johan Hallgren and Johan Langell. The album also features the 'Orchestra of Eternity' that features 2 violins, a viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet and tuba. Daniel was in near complete control of this album as far as orchestral arrangements, music and lyrics, with the exception of the music and orchestral arrangements in 'Iter Impius' by Fredrik Hermansson and orchestral arrangements in 'Imago', partial credit to Jan Levander.

This is about as great as a concept can get lyrically wise. They play such an important role that they pretty much drive the music in this album. Daniel states on the DVD for this album that he didn't want the orchestra to be thrown in the background, specifically, on some of Metallica's work. The orchestra is to be taken just as serious as a role in the album as any of the official band members themselves. The music in the album is extremely hard to describe that an attempt to do such might even make the reader more confused. It's the least heavy of the PoS albums and the instruments are extremely laid back, however, the vocals play a huge role in this album because Daniel singing represents several different characters. My only problem is that the album got a little boring in a very scarce few places. The chant in 'Lilium Cruentus' and the two tracks before the infamous 'Iter Impius'. Although everything in this album was put in for a reason, I am judging this on a listening experience, which these few things fail to deliver on. Other then that, this album is damn perfect.

I would highly recommend this so someone that appreciates effort and thoughtful concept. I myself like music with strings thrown in. This album has more then enough of that as well. The only thing that confused me was, why is pretentious a bad thing?

This is probably the most pretentious album in music since 'Tales from Topographic Oceans'. Very nice.

This is, if you've read the other reviews I've put up here, the third in a threesome of perfect albums from Pain of Salvation. And it, in my mind, completely blows the first two out of the water. This is, without a doubt, my favorite album out of all that I own or have listened to. There is just some almost intangible feel permeating the CD, a feel of desolation and destruction and birth and God and man and just everything. And that's exactly what the album is aiming for.

Spoken passages accentuate the concept (which, being about God and man and everything in between, happens to be the only concept that I feel boosts the quality of the music more than detracts from it), and musical interludes tie each song together in ways I could never have imagined. The actual songs themselves range from folk tunes to slave songs to Broadway performances to technical metal ditties to orchestral pieces. But all that just simply describes it, and the true power of this album sits beyond my power of actual description.

Special mention must be made of Vocari Dei, a track where fans called into a voice mail account and left messages for God. It gets me every time, pulling me as close to tears as I've been in ten years. Also, Iter Impius is about the catchiest, most appallingly explosive sleeper song, driven by godlike vocals from Daniel Gildenlow. And finally, the album's closing song, Martius / Nauticus II, rehashes some themes from throughout BE and then culminates in a thundering drumming outro that ends it better than about anything else ever could, as far as I can figure.

Yes. This album is amazing. Again, like all proper Pain of Salvation, completely unique. A bit hard to swallow at first, but definitely completely worth it. Maybe start with Remedy Lane, but this is what prog music should be. Just stunning.

A 4 compared to other bands, a 3 by PoS's standards. This album doesn't really capture what they do best, but certainly shows that they are prepared to step outside the box.

The quality of the product is excellent in all respects, it's just that it is spoilt by too much talking and scene setting, which I'm sure could have been turned into something more musical, rather, it detracts from the usual musicality their previous albums have.

That said, this is PoS's most musically diverse and varied work to date and it sits well with their previous body of work because of that. Less prog-metal and with a heavy use of classical instruments, each track has its own flavour.

There's a couple of scene setting intro tracks followed by a folk tinged track, the classical piano instrumental, the more traditional PoS metal, a southern tinged 'cotton farmers' lament, a bluesy rock- opera type track, a dull trudging nu-metal song that turns into a gentle piece, a progressive metal killer, a short instrumental, a church organ backed dirge, an killer power ballad and a closing tune which returns to the folky them, and a final 'nothing' track.

To say that their previous albums are more 'straight-ahead' isn't quite correct, but this album stretches the unique progressive metal base of their past albums, rather than repeating it.

PoS are growing in range and maturity, but I still think their strengths lie in the multi-layered vocals (& DG's range), powerful tasteful playing and climactic songwriting.

First of all, I would like to thank the ProgArchives community for bringing Pain of Salvation to my attention. I saw the high ratings and decided to try them out. I've purchased four albums so far: The Perfect Element Part I, Remedy Lane, Be, and 12:5 and have thoroughly enjoyed each one.

For me, Pain of Salvation bridges the gap between my Neo Prog (Marillion, Pendragon, Arena), Prog Metal (Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, Riverside), and Prog Related (Coheed and Cambria) tastes. PoS covers that entire range quite well and then some. Even their heaviest material maintains musical integrity without resorting to thrashing, machine-gun drums, vocal growling, or skill showboating (a reason why prog metal is often hit or miss for me). Their music has great harmonies, soaring emotion, violent rage, and gentle melodies. Add to that one of the best vocalists I've ever heard and this band clearly demonstrates that it is a rare find.

Be (4/5)

I can understand why this album has generated controversy. This is a very good album, but there does seem to be too much filler for my taste. While I can appreciate the complex concept approach, I don't have the time to really get into the story so I tend to focus more on the music than the story. The highlights are Iter Impius (which showcases Daniel Gildenlow's amazing vocal range) and Martius/Nauticus II (which showcases the album's best musical ideas).

Songs: Animae Partus (2/10), Deus Nova (2/10), Imago (9/10), Pluvius Aestivus (8/10), Lilium Cruentus (7/10), Nauticus (5/10), Dea Pecuniae (9/10), Vocari Dei (9/10), Diffidentia (8/10), Nihil Morari (7/10), Laterticius Valette (7/10), Omni (7/10), Iter Impius (10/10), Martius/Nauticus II (10/10), Animae Partus II (3/10)

BE. When I saw the album cover, I thought it may be a masterpiece. When I read the rewiews, I thought it's likely to be a masterpiece. When I heard the first sounds with the breathtaking, I thought it must BE a masterpiece! And it is, the astonishing kind of. Very different from the former PoS albums, lots of influences, including classical music - the opening part of Deus Nova, then Pluvius, Iter Impius and Omni, which could be played in a church. With the first dialogue we enter a thinking mind, this continues after Deus Nova, which contains a population census while rather complex and irrestible riffs.(Reprise in Nihil Morari!) Then Imago comes with full pastorale tunes, flute, banjo and electronic percussion. The vocals are quite different from earlier songs, very natural.

BUT as the album goes on, I had problems: with the rap parts of Lilinum Cruentus, and especially with the long rock opera mass scene of Mr Money, which I found out-of-place and too long, but after a couple of weeks I thought these parts are just all right, and they fit. Iter Impius is a cool song that leads to the bombastic conclusion with the drums again, but now much more powerful, it's even stronger then the ending of Perfect Element. Very memorable Mr Langell! And what about the long pause and nonsense last seconds? I said that in the rewiew of OHBTCL. So, this is one of my all-time favourites, probably in the top 10.

WHAT IS THIS ???

Usually, concept albums start with a short intro which is not always representative of the work and most of the time it is not great track. Don't worry: "Animae Partus" is such a track.

I do share more Zitro's feeling about this "work" than the majority of my fellow reviewers. But when I listen to "Deus Nova", the word that best describes my view is: crap. Some spoken words on a noisy background. That's basically it.

It takes an awful lot for this album to (moderately) start. One has to endure a heavy-tribal-folk tune ("Imago"), an atmospheric instrumental ("Pluvius"). At this time, you have to get up and look if this is really a POS album. Yes, it is! But it sounds as a "Gandalf" track. Spoken words are again available ("Lilium Cruentus"). This time, the music is almost getting to prog metal for a while. POS reverts to some Indian chant with "Nauticus". When this track is over, some twenty-six minutes have already passed since this pain started.

As far as I am concerned, this album startS with the long "Dea Pecuniae". It starts on a bluesy mood with strange vocals (with some Bowie accent at times). Orchestrations are a bit too much in here and the female vocal is somewhat gospel-oriented. It is just an average track. But bearing in mind what I had to suffer so far, I welcome it.

Spoken words again to start "Vocari Dei". This time out of telephone set. What a fantastic idea! Press next (it is the first time I recommend this, but there were already lots of opportunities to do it before).

The first good piece of music is IMHHO the metal "Diffidentia". There is finally a POS-related song. It is just a pity that the same spoken sickness stroke again. Fortunately there will be a fine and melodic vocal part as well; just to remind us that Daniel is a very good vocalist. The same is valid for "Iter Impus" later on. I consider it as the best song from "Be". One can listen to one of the very few great guitar break (maybe the only one).

It is also a great idea to get titles in Latin. Next time, they can ask "Deus Ex-Machina" to write the lyrics as well. It could be a nice come-back for this Italian band.

When "Nihil Morari" starts, I thought it was a joke: "See Me, Hear Me, Need Me".."Touch Me Heal Me". Sounds familiar right? Maybe a tribute to one of the greatest concept album in the rock history. POS should have learned better in this case.

If you doubt that POS could once play some church organ song, I can only confirm that this is possible: "Omni" is such a track. Some might call this genius. I don't.

The closing number is brilliant: noises for about forty seconds and a long silence break for 3'20". What a great creativity!

Almost the whole of this album is boring (and it last for over seventy-five minutes): it sounds like sub- sub par "Ayreon". This might well be the progiest of their efforts but I don't like it at all. This is pure mental masturbation. Like Zitro, I wonder why I go as high as two stars with my rating. I must be in a good mood this evening.

This swedish band was introduced to me through PA. Thanks for that.

The word progressive is totally appropriate with this record. I don´t think it worth while to go through the music piece by piece, since the whole is what matters here. This is a musical journey through western man and times. The idea of a female god and man could so easily turn out pompous or ridiculous, but not here. There are beautiful and emotional melodies, tragedy, humour and ideas to think about in a very colourful mixture.

Meaningful art is seldom born out of emptiness. This journey in the midst of various cultural images is interesting and exciting. And art it is, no doubt. And progressive for sure. Metal it is not, so don't be misled by the band's genre attribute.

Those of you, who enjoy many different kinds of good music and are not too bothered with swedish humor, go for this one.

"Be" is a very special album in the recent history of art-rock, and definitely, a particular milestone in the career of pain of Salvation. This concept-album shows a band that had been on top of their game since their "Concrete lake" days headlong for a new stance, a stance that even defies the defining elements that had been essential to the style and sound developed in earlier efforts. "Be" is a non-prog- metal album by a prog-metal band. The main concept revolves around the relationship between God and man, laterally leading with issues such as the origins of human conscience, the meaning of earthly life, the essence of evil, the dialectics of destiny and freedom, etc. 'Animae Partus' and 'Deus Nova' set the mood of industrial-friendly environments, metallic riffs and ceremonious orchestrations, augmented by assorted assertions and recitations. 'Imago' provides the first passage of Renaissance, featuring strong percussive cadences and lute, together with the chamber instruments that fill the atmosphere. 'Pluvius Estivus' has to be one of the finest moments in the album: a lovely piano piece nurtured by dreamy string and woodwind orchestrations. 'Lilium Cruentus' is an unusual exercise on a mixture of jazz-rock and folk-prog, with traces of menacing metal rock erupting in the choruses and ultimately taking over. 'Nauticus' is Pain of salvation's tribute to Gospel, effectively evoking images of corn fields, Southern river streams, clouds passing by and people gathered around bonfires. 'Dea Pecuniae' remains in North American fields, only this time focusing on the utilization of blues with an extra touch of soul and an additional ounce of Gospel. The energetic climax is well delivered, with the band and orchestra carrying each other as the singing stays enthusiastic and passionate. 'Vocari Dei' is a pastoral instrumental that includes voices of people stating existentialist complaints of discomfort and confusion toward God: I interpret the contrast between the music's softness and the voices' angry disappointment as an opportunity for good things to flourish among bad things. 'Diffidentia' starts as a slow rocker with lots of Metallica-oriented overtones, bearing a menacing feel that stands somewhere between constrained neurosis and desolation. The second half shifts to a chamber waltz, displaying a controlled colorfulness. 'Nihil Morari' kicks off from the ceremonious introspectiveness with which the preceding track had ended, but it soon builds up to a rockier development, first mid-tempo, then reprising the main body of 'Deus Nova': the track's climax comprises a cleverly complex set of counterpoints, something that the band had employed in earlier albums. 'Latericius Valete' is a pastoral piece that might as well have come out of an Anthony Phillips album (no kidding!), occasionally ornamented with elegantly controlled metal bursts. 'Omni' sounds like a religious hymn, almost Gothic but not really creepy. It melancholy is patent, and so is the delicious despair reflected in 'Iter Impius', arguably the best ballad ever written by Pain of Salvation (at least, so far). Gildenlöw's singing is emotional beyond words; the piano phrases exemplify refined precision; the guitar solo takes hints at the heritage of the best Gilmour; the orchestration works beautifully, well, everything works beautifully in this song all the way toward its magnificent climax. After this song's end, a harpsichord gets in to introduce the sonic framework of 'Martius / Nauticus II', which starts very symphonic and ends heavily antique, a Renaissance thing with strong Arabic undertones: actually, this is a reprise of 'Imago', but only this time the sung parts are based on the instrumental harmonies and the latter are converted all the way around. The final sung lines and the following percussive climax are outstanding, plethoric and celebratory after the preceding drama. The real last track, 'Animae Partus II', is an ambient-filled enunciation of 'I am'. While not being typical of the usual Pain of Salvation musical trend, Be stands out as a true masterpiece in their career. Two final words of caution to true lovers of good prog rock and good prog metal: get this CD. and get the DVD as well!

'Be' - Pain of Salvation (10/10)

This is quite simply one of the best albums ever made. Daniel Gildenlow has once again transcended the boundaries of his musical parameter and tackled a project which is nothing short of massive. Pain of Salvation has composed an album that is close to being perfect, and might as well be considered as such. 'Be' has a little bit of everything. There are folk-influenced pieces, a minimalistic (and very beautiful) classically styled piece, songs reminiscent of their 'Remedy Lane' effort, and even a song that wouldn't sound out of place on Broadway! The culmination of all of these magical elements is rendered even more splendid with the addition of a 9 piece Orchestra (The Orchestra of Eternity.) While other bands have used orchestras before (Metallica's 'S&M', Dream Theater's 'Score'), never before has there been such a perfect mixture between the rock based and symphonic based instruments. The orchestra is at the forefront of the action throughout the work, and compliments the music greatly.

I've always wondered what genre to truly consider this album. It's certainly not metal, despite the fact that many consider Pain of Salvation to be a progressive metal band. In fact, metal is the least represented genre on this album! That's not to say that there's less progression on this album however. Many have said that this record takes a long time to appreciate. While I can see where they're coming from (it's incredibly musically dense and unique) I personally fell in love with the music from first spin on. However, I would give a warning to those who aren't used to such avant-garde leanings.

If the music itself wasn't enough to sell 'Be' off as a masterpiece, the concept of the album fortifies the album a hundredfold. This is one of the most epic, ambitious concept albums ever produced. 'Be' tries to answer the questions that mankind has posed ever since it's inauguration. Who is god, and does he exist? What does he want? This divine element is contrasted by a human plot, of the future 'richest man in the world' (named in the script as Mr. Money) attempting to seek immortality through cryogenics. When waking up, he finds himself in a world of desolation and emptiness (apparently after some sort of apocalypse) and realizes that his all of his money was, in the end totally meaningless. Summarizing this shouldn't spoil any of the enjoyment, as it is the way it is told that is worth so much praise.

Daniel Gildenlow is a musical genius, and if ever there was a perfect representation of the man's brilliance, this is it. 'Be' is not only one of the best progressive albums of all time, but one of the greatest pieces of music ever to be composed. A masterpiece, and possibly my favourite album ever.

A Big Swing and a Miss for the Talented Swede

In a genre with its share of ambitious, pretentious, self-absorbed musical forays that go too far, this one runs headlong right off the cliff without even looking back. Pain of Salvation's bandleader / singer / multi-instrumentalist Daniel Gildenlow's creative talent is enmeshed in pushing the envelope further and further, and he's effectively ridden the edge to great effect many times. I would argue the "pushing too hard" begins as far back as Remedy Lane, and most agree that Scarsick is way past the line. In my opinion, this is the first album in the PoS discography where I felt like I wasted my money.

Be contains LONG spoken word sections throughout the album on subjects dealing with existence, religion, love, and the nature of being. And not allegorically, head on, attempting to juggle multiple immense subjects at once - it was doomed to fail. At times these musings run over ambient key pads, occasionally over prog-metal, and sometimes some simple guitar noodling. Even more occasionally, we get an entire SONG with actual lyrics and melody that relates to the instrumental music. To a greater degree than even the previous PoS concept albums, this is a rock opera, a soundtrack to what sounds like it was meant to be a stage production (Existence and Everything in It - the Musical). Several songs sound like big stage numbers, and the genre hopping here sounds more like Broadway than prog.

Some of the composed music on this album is really good, and in fact the album opens and ends quite well. The completely realized songs (Imago, Pluvius Aestivus, and Martius / Nauticus II) and many of the instrumental interludes are up there with the best of Pain of Salvation, and makes a fan like me wonder what could have been. Gildenlow has added a folky flavor in spots with acoustic instrumentation and melodic sense that really gives the album a freshness and contrast to previous work.

But after weathering several spoken word passages among some truly compelling music, we are given the very questionable Nauticus. Starting with a similated slave work song (White northern European not only trying to sound Black but writing a slave song??? That takes some stones) the piece then devolves into a spoken word scene between a narcissist and a woman he's picked up that is just painful on repeated listens. The piece is really an intro to the next track (all about narcissism), and it's all part of the story, I get it. But beginning at this spot and continuing for many subsequent songs, the brushstrokes are so broad, and the points so basic on a philosophical level, that only (young) teenagers are not already going to be past the lyrical content of the album.

There's enough here to earn the album two stars, but it's significantly inferior to Remedy Lane, which I initially (before hearing this album) gave the same mark for some faults in common and some of its own. Where I think most PoS fans should get Remedy Lane and render their own opinion, I feel like no one should buy this disc unless they've sampled it in its entirety first. Sadly, it could have been a masterpiece. But when you swing for the bleachers, you're going to have your share of strikeouts. Gildenlow swung for outer space on this one. The result is not surprising.

This is not my definition of good. It is definitely a concept album but there is too much talking and not enough music. For long periods of time the talking sounds more like whining than anything and it gets really annoying. There are some good musical bits here and there. Sometimes it is drving heavy metal, sometimes it sounds quiet and melancholy, but there is not enough good music to make it worth listening to people pleading for God to talk to them over and over again. The album is ambitious and progressive but I don't like to listen to it!

Pain of Salvation throws together the mysterious ideas of creation, the haunting prospect of the future of the Earth, and the death of the human race all together and throws it against the listener musically in a dark and solemn way. This is one of the most thoughtfully put together concept albums in all of prog and certainly prog metal. Themes are twisted around and serve to enhance the concept further than most, and the orchestra in the album adds much more emotion. Simple melodies and syncopated guitar chugging contrast in BE and make a beautiful and thought-provoking album.

People will probably be turned off right away from the album because of the large focus on the concept of the album. The first two tracks couldn't really be called songs, since both are largely based on narration, and only the latter ("Deus Nova") has music, which while containing lots of rhythmically complex syncopations is compositionally somewhat simple due to lots of repetition. There are also a lot of softer tracks, a couple of which are instrumental, like "Pluvius Aestivus" and "Omni", which due to their placement in the album could make listeners familiar with songs more traditionally 'musical' (for lack of a better word) find the album boring. Even narrative tracks like "Vocari Dei" featuring people leaving messages for God on his answering machine are musically beautiful but aren't in a standard music format, so people expecting an album containing a standard collection of songs should change their expectations right away.

Of course, there are more standard songs on the album, though they even stand out due to their wide variety of influences. "Imago" for example is mainly comprised of folk-based melodic instruments over tribal drums, with a lone oboe carrying a main theme beautifully in some parts. "Nauticus" is akin to chants sung by negro slaves in pre-civil war Southern US. Then there's the lengthy "Dea Pecuniae", which is a bit like an over-the top broadway track played by Pain of Salvation. The wide variety of influences helps reinforce the concept dealing with humanity as a whole. Of course, there are standard Pain of Salvation songs like "Diffidentia" and "Lilium Cruentus" with slightly heavy melodic metal playing the main role musically.

The concept, as said before, is the main focus of the album, not necessarily the music. This is partially what makes Pain of Salvation's work here so interesting, since rarely is there a band that sacrifices their musical writing for getting the story across. The story, also as said before, is quite ominous. While it begins with a 'god' figure explaining his/her method of creation by making all of humanity as pieces of god. As it goes on, mankind starts becoming less innocent and more malevolent towards god, their planet, and each other. A fictional character that represents humanity as a whole battles with god, and humanity suffers for it. The planet, eventually being narrated from around fifty years in the future becomes a very inauspicous place, and the idea that this is actually where society is headed becomes an important message from the band.

Overall, this work is a masterpiece. Sometimes artists feel they can pull off a concept and tell a story only musically. While Pain of Salvation has been able to use music in the past, their storytelling and criticism of societal flaws using narration as a large instrument in the album is innovative. BE is simply superb, and progressive in all senses of the word.

This album is the most challenging one i´ve ever heard in my entire life,this is a piece of art ,the concept of this album is about the existence of god and the humankind,in this album it´s not important the answers to this subject ,i think what is important is the way this album passes his musical poetry to the listeners,the combination of nature with the primitive instincts of human beings is perfect ,the album has a tribal feel that makes you think about the Evolution and the Origins of Human Beings,Daniel is an amazing vocalist and his band plus the orchestra are in top form in this album ,only daniel could create this amazing masterpiece,to me this album must be put in the same league as other masterpieces like the dark side of the moon,close to edge,animals,etc.

After years of following progarchives, I feel the need to write my own review. The first one has to be really something special. I spent a couple of minutes staring at my cd stacks, and this album sort of looked back at me.

I remember how I first came to hear ! and Ashes samples from this site, and was mightily impressed with the band's intelligence and the hard metal edge, brilliant vocal and nice guitar work. These are the 'perfect elements' that attracted me to bands like Queensryche and Savatage.

Soon, this led me to my ebay hunt for this album (sorry guys. I am not that rich.) When this CD was delivered to my office, I was expecting some magic, and did not pop it into the computer CD-ROM like other cds before it. I know it's an important piece and it will need to be treated with care. Now, as I am writing this, I am giving it another spin so the details will come fresh.

Like other reviews say, this is a great work of art, albeit a tad tough to swallow. The concept is not what you might expect, but thank God Daniel spells (almost) the whole thing out in the booklet. Animae Partus opens the CD with somewhat intriguing monologue, and introducing the concept in a mysterious way. This whole thing is about a being who "will call myself GOD" and will "spend the rest of forever trying to figure out who I am". Not too much music, let alone prog metal.

Deus Nova is a prog metal piece as we know it. The lyric is very, very simple, citing statistics of the world's population. Tension increases as the population grows, superb build-up.

Imago has a folkish feel. It is still about this curious 'GOD' creating seasons and forests and beings. This track shows me one thing I love about this album, which is the role of the 9-piece 'orchestra'. Unlike some other prog-metal so-called symphonic attempt, the orchestra plays a big role here, not playing some plain chords in the background. Some of the key passages here would reprise again in later tracks. This track builds on to Pluvis Aestivus, which is one of the most beautiful piece of music led by Mr Fredrik Hermansson. With no words, I can feel the rain and virtually see the leaves and flowers growing from the tree. (Perhaps it's the picture on the booklet and the live DVD that induces these images.) Is that what you're trying to say Mr Hermansson?

Next come Lilium Cruentus. I love the woodwind instrument (not sure what it is) in the intro and the first verse. The more aggressive side of PoS explodes in second verse (A Scene in White and Grey). This track explores quite a lot of PoS potential actually, the soft, the aggressive prog metal and metal rap. Wonderful mix and great ending.

Now, if there's any weak track, it's Nauticus. Well, it's good, soft, basically an acoustic guitar, church-praying music with vocal overdubs. I just don't like about the low voice in the mix here. The lyric is a somewhat straightforward and less sublime. Luckily it's not too long.

Dea Pecunia starts with humorous dialogue between Mr Money and his chick (Cindy?/Sandra?). This is a mini 10minute epic with three parts about this character who I think representing the modern capitalism in this BE world which has grown up and its human inhabitant has reached our present level of civilisation. The story is a sub-theme that intertwine with that one about god. Read the booklet, it's there. Mr Gildenlow showing his theatrical singing prowess here, portraying a disgusting, greedy chauvinist millionaire (Here's to me... there will be nothing left for you). Guest vocalist Cecilia Ringkvist, who sings Dea Pecuniae, a female side of Mr Money, is worth mentioning here. After its bursting climax, Vocari Dei calms the pace down a bit. Interesting participative approach to songwriting here, and this provides for a very emotional track, even to a non-believer like me.

Diffidentia brings us the prog metal side of Gildenlow and co again. I just love this track as it's got everything I love in prog metal. Mr Hermansson's "paino riff" is pretty simple but effectively cool. Gildenlow once again shows he's a good rapper. Our anti-hero Mr Money decides to buy himself immortality. The track ends calmly and it could have segued right into Nihil Morari, which starts calm and build up to a pleasant reprise and the whole band and the orchestra perform darn well here with bursting energy, until it dies down and Latericius Valete transports the audience to 2060 AD, where the world of BE has failed, and its human or Imago has created Nauticus, which is a space probe in search of a way to save the earth.

Iter Impius returns us to the Mr Money character, who wakes up to find himself a sole survival of the devastated earth. This track is perfectly executed. Sorry I don't know how to describe such perfection in words.

Martius/Nauticus II describes how the man-made Nauticus gains a life of its own and becomes the new God. Then Imago reprises here again and closes the circle, which starts from God creating man in his/her image, then men creating God to save them from the final destruction brought upon by themselves. Nauticus II wraps up with interesting drum jam that sounds rather primitive, possibly symbolizing a new word beginning, and new mankind is made once again.

Most of the credit, including graphics, will go to Daniel Gildenlow for making this happen. Although this level of genius naturally calls for a superlative amount of ego, it seems like this whole BE disc is music-led, and no one instrument is overly dominant. It would be interesting if he decides to produce a solo album how it will sound like.

All in all, sorry for the very long review, but this album is an essential disc to my prog cd collection. Five stars is all I can give.

For me this album, at least is from the 5 best albums on the last 15 years, it has everything, and the parts that are spoken, well, many albums have songs like that and they are great, I like very much this album, specially for the lyrics, they are spiritual, they tell things in a perfect way, and the music to, Daniel Gildenlow composes very well, and sings very well to, many people thinks that The Perfect Elemen Part I is the best album of Pain of Salvation, but for me it does not have anything to do against BE

Sorry for my bad english I am from Argentina

Pain of Salvation's Third Consecutive Masterpiece!

Every now and again, an album comes around that is so different from anything previously released. An album that pushes the boundaries of a genre, doing something so ambitious that it will get criticized from people not willing to hear a band take a new direction.

BE is Pain of Salvation's attempt to make the most unique progressive metal album I have ever heard. And they most certainly do not fail. The unique blend of Pain of Salvation's already original prog metal formula, folk music, classical, and orchestrations work perfectly on this ambitious concept piece. If you're just looking for the average prog metal album, this is not it. You must go into BE with an open mind and you won't be disappointed.

Another thing that make BE so excellent in my opinion is that this is a very concept-driven piece. Every other Pain of Salvation album is also a concept album, but this focuses much more on lyrics than any of their previous efforts. Any one song on this album isn't a masterpiece on its own, but in the concept of the album, everything flows together perfectly. If you're looking for a really accessible album, you might not want to turn to BE either, simply because in its conceptual nature you won't "get it" at first listen.

THE MUSIC:

"Animae Partus (I Am)"- This incredible journey of an album opens up with a dark spoken word passage. It contains some excellent lines that accurately set the dark mood of the album.

"Deus Nova"- The second song opens with a very dark piano, low string, and woodwind melody. It contains some nice harmonies, and it actually sounds a little avant. Soon an odd rhythm enters with spoken word stating the world population at different times. In the background is one of the main musical themes to the album. This is followed by the same speakers in the previous track.

"Imago (Homines Partus)"- An Arabic sounding acoustic guitar and flute riff opens up the third track, and the first real song on the album. The riff is very dark and moody. Pain of Salvation proves that they don't need metal to create powerful music. The chorus is absolutely beautiful, and is later reprised in the album. The instrumentation here is absolutely perfect.

"Pluvius Aestivus"- This is a very classical inspired piano piece. It has other orchestral instruments. It is a truly beautiful instrumental, and it builds wonderfully without you even realizing it. Every time I try to focus when listening to this song I soon get lost and my mind drifts in all of its beauty. Words obviously fail, but this is one of the best instrumentals of its type I've ever heard.

"Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova)"- A light guitar melody serves as a short opener, but soon an excellent woodwind melody serves excellent contrast with the guitar riff. A syncopated riff soon enters and sets a darker tone. Both of these themes are used later in the song. This is a very powerful song, and I absolutely love the woodwinds here. I just can't get enough of the melody! Another great song.

"Nauticus (Drifting)"- This song is very bluesy. It contains an acoustic guitar and baritone vocals. It has some nice harmonies in parts, and the main section is very good. This isn't a song you won't to focus too hard on. Just let it's repetitiveness slowly pull you away. Near the end there is a humor-tinged spoken word section between a man and a woman.

"Dae Pecuniae"- This song continues where the previous left off. It has a very funky main riff, with a nice electric piano melody. It is very catchy and has a light and moody feeling throughout the song. It has some nice progressions from section to section. It actually reminds me a little bit of Paul McCartney at times.

"Vocari Dei"- This song mostly builds off of the same melodies and riffs and spoken word. This is very classically influenced, and again I love the oboe. I think the woodwinds are a good amount of why I think so highly of this album.

"Diffidentia (Breaching The Core)"- This opens up with repeated piano chords, and this contains some of the most metal on this entire album. A heavy riff contrasts the piano chords. This sounds like a pretty standard Pain of Salvation song off of previous albums. A light emotional piano and guitar melody soon enters, and Daniel Gildenlow has an excellent vocal melody. It goes back to the previous section, but near the end it goes back to that lovely piano melody. The rest of the song builds off of that perfectly.

"Nihil Morari"- An ominous low guitar and string melody starts the tenth song off. This has some excellent metal sections with beautiful orchestral melodies. This also has a reprise of the second song on the album near the end. The ending is absolutely perfect.

"Latericius Valete"- This song is entirely instrumental, and it never once tires. The main instruments are acoustic guitars and piano, but near the end there is an oboe and strings. When the song is at it's climax drums are present, and it gives the song a very powerful feeling.

"Omni"- This song starts with a relatively dark organ melody, but it turns very emotional when Daniel's vocals enter. The entire song is just his vocals and the church organ,yet somehow it's one of the most powerful and emotional songs on the album. This really shows what an excellent vocalist Daniel Gildenlow is.

"Iter Impius"- An ominous piano melody opens up this song. This is another excellent vocal performance from Daniel Gildenlow. The song builds mostly off of the same chord progression, and this is a beautiful song, and is a perfect way to prelude the perfect closing song that soon follows.

"Martius/Nauticus II"- A march like drum beat follows the complex harpsichord melody. A beautiful vocal, string, and woodwind melody naturally contrasts the drum and harpsichord beat. Soon, a tribal guitar and flute melody enters that is the same as in the third track. Another tribal riff with a great drum beat enters until we have a lighthearted (what sounds like) a banjo melody. This is the same beautiful chorus used earlier in the third song. This is the perfect way to end such an epic album, and it just builds beautifully. It creates an indescribable feeling, and that feeling is what makes a great concept album. A heavy percussion section ends the song.

"Animae Partus"- This isn't really a "song", but more so of a way to sum up the concept. After you hear one of the speakers say "I AM", it is followed by silence. At the very end there is a short dialogue, and then this epic album is over.

Conclusion:

This album is as close to perfect as you can get. I still think The Perfect Element, Pt. 1 may be my favorite Pain of Salvation album, but this album is still one of the greatest I've heard, and in my top 10 albums ever released easily. This is a great way to begin listening to Pain of Salvation, and it is worth hearing for any fan. If you're looking for metal, you're not going to find too much of that here. If you're looking for one of the greatest concept albums ever released- you're going to find that here.

5 stars.

Pain of Salvation are well known for their concept albums thing. led by mastermind Daniel Gildenlöw. Mr.Gildenlöw wrote an ambitious concept album about the essence of our existence and god. The song arrangements are not typical Pain of Salvation, the previous albums were mostly Progressive Metal, in this album Gildenlöw explored the fields of classical, hard rock and even Folk. this is not a METAL album at all. It's really easy to miss this album, the music is less dominate then their early stuff. The main idea here is the lyrics which are well-written,interesting and thought-provoking. When you listen to this album you need to let yourself be part of it, sit down with the booklet, and a glass of good whiskey or wine and enjoy this non-metal masterpiece by metal masters Pain of Salvation

After being slightly disappointed by the material that I heard on Remedy Lane I was afraid that the band have gone entirely into the metal territory and left the magic of The Perfect Element Part 1 behind them. This was of course not so and Be was there to prove it!

It took me a lot more time to get into this album than any of their previous releases but that had, for most part, to do with the rather complicated subject matter that the album's concept deals with. Originally there were quite a few professional critics that bashed Be for being over the top in everything it dealt with. Be it the instrumental arrangements or its story. Well let's get this critique out of the way once and for all, shall we?

It's vital to remember that this record is first and foremost a concept album and everyone who doesn't understand its somewhat sophisticated subject matter is bound to dislike the overall experience. I know that I had the exact same issue when I heard The Perfect Element Part 1 but that album's material works well on the track-by-track basis while Be fits in an entirely different bracket.

This is one of those albums where the individual tracks might not be all that spectacular but once it's all combined and put in the right order the fluent story magic will take over and lift the material to new heights. I'm talking about albums like The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and God In Three Persons, which are by the way two of my favorite concept albums by far. Guess what, Be fits into this very exclusive club of the greatest concept albums ever recorded!

I really like this album's introduction, it's actually an ingenious way to start a concept album when you think about it. Let me explain: The two minute long Animae Partus ("I Am") consists of voices talking about themselves while we hear different parts of the album played underneath all the narration. Remember that this first track is here for a reason because it's actually a riddle that the listener has to solve before going further into the story. Here are a few clues to get you started:

Who are these voices? What are they talking about? What do the words Traveled | Formed | Transition | Crossing the line | Drifting | Eternity mean in this particular context?

Got it? Good! Deus Nova is the second track and this is where the countdown begins. What you need to do here is to use the knowledge that you acquired in Animae Partus ("I Am") and apply it to the arc that is unfolding here. The last part of the track is another voice-over section where you have to collect additional clues. It all ends on the quote "I think they will teach me something..." and once Imago begins it's all practice from here on!

I agree that the musical arrangements are not on par with what the band has achieved on their previously releases but it's weighed up by the amazing concept. The whole two-part introduction reminds me of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway where first we are introduced to the setting through the title track while Fly On A Windshield unfolds the story arc. Then it's action from there on!

Be is a must have album for fans of concept albums but unfortunately the music itself is lacking which will definitely put some listeners off. Still it's among this band's best albums and therefore an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection!

***** star songs: Animae Partus ("I Am") (1:48) Deus Nova (3:18) Imago (Homines Partus) (5:11) Dea Pecuniae (10:10) Omni (2:37)

**** star songs: Pluvius Aestivus (5:00) Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) (5:28) Vocari Dei (3:50) Diffidentia (Breaching The Core) (7:37) Nihil Morari (6:22) Latericius Valete (2:28) Iter Impius (6:21) Martius,Nauticus II (6:41)

*** songs: Nauticus (Drifting) (4:58) Animae Partus II (4:09)

Ok, when it comes to comparing music to art (the Pitchfork method which leaves a lot of great bands with poor reviews on albums, basically because they don't sound like Radiohead?yawning every piece of music they can make (there first 3 albums were great, at least there was music present.)

But this album is art within itself, a conceptual piece of music that presents an amazing story about?life itself basically, instrumentation that is second to none, a late Romantic style orchestration which is incredibly beautiful and a stage show that put forward drama, music, dance and art. Like Banksy (the avante garde artist), this story really makes you think. Being an atheist, but a fond fanatic of occult and modern ideologies, this concept was incredibly interesting for me. If there is a God, is he as human as we are, & does he find out hard to love, to create, unlike the Christian ethos which make him out to be all wise & ever loving.

Out of my top 10 albums of all time, this one would certainly be one of them. Pain Of Salvation have changed with every album they make, not in a dramtic Bowie way, but in a more timbre like quality. This album is one in a million. It is amazing.

1. Animae Partus (I Am) - The intro, basically the thoughts of an early God.

2. Deus Nova - An amazing piece of music mixing polyrhythms with amazing piano triadics. The countdown like lyrics represents the course of reproduction throughout history.

3. Imago (Homines Partus) - An absolute gem. Mixing folk like instruments with an amazing oboe countermelody, and beautiful and amazing vocals from Daniel.

4. Pluvius Aestivus - An intermezzo really. Amazing piano work with some beautiful orchestration. Unlike anything this band have ever achieved.

5. Lilium Crentus - Classic Pain Of Salvation really. The riff in this song kicks serious ass.

6. Nauticus (Drifting) - Very beautiful and very calm.

7.Dea Pucuniae - This song sums up basically what The Wall did in less than 12 minutes rather than 2 discs. The narration at the start of the song makes me laugh every time. Full of innuendo and cheese, how could you not love it. This song is probably one of the greatest things this band have ever done. With amazing dramatics and vocal harmonies, gospel choirs and lyrics that describe hubris, it really is a conceptual masterpiece. Mr. Money is an amazing character as well, the most vain man in the planet, who tries to make himself a God, how can you not love that.

8. Vocari Dei - The messages that are presented in this song are very opposite, with many thanking God, and others telling him what a twat he is. It was very moving to see these 2 oppositions juxtaposed.

9. Diffidentia (Breaching The Core) - A very emotional song with amazing clashing riffs and amazing orchestration. The end bit is incredibly beautiful, and is probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

10. Nihil Morari - A quite heavy piece that fits with the apocalyptic lyrics. This song pictures an almost Armageddon like feel to the song. This basically is the end of humanity. How scary is that?

11. Latericius Valete - A quite ominous song with some nice fugal vocals. Nice harmonies created by baritone style voices.

12. Omni - Some nice organ work and some very emotional vocals from Daniel.

13. Iter Impius - This song details the work that sin has spread on humanity and how it has effected man. So you need quite a dark tone to uplift the song.

14.Martius/Nauticus II - I was watching the live performance of this song on You Tube. All be it an amazing song and an absolute epic way to end an album, I was wondering just one thing. If Daniel is standing in a pool of water with a microphone in hand, if he drops it? he's done for. This song is absolute amazing. Bringing back the folk elements with the orchestra at the end to make an absolute hair raising moment of calamity.

15. Animae Partus II - "I am", then silence. Wow, ominous?effective.

CONLSUION: This album really is a piece of art. One of the greatest pieces of music I have ever heard one of the greatest visual stage shows I have ever seen, from one of the greatest bands of all time?.can you get any better than that. No!

A drop in quality after the masterpieces that have been "The Perfect Element Pt. 1 "and "Remedy Lane". From an ambitious concept (about how God can learn from their own), they created an album somewhat uneven, but with good moments that only the Pain of Salvation can make.The first five tracks are the problem for me, are very bad.From "Nauticus"(which is a kind of hymn) things improve a little, but unfortunately there are still failures.The best tracks are: "Nauticus", "Dea Pecuniae", "Omni", "Inter Impius"and "Martius Nauticus". The worst? All first five tracks

3.5 stars rounded down, but I might change my mind to hear it, after all is not so bad here.

Road Salt One got a lot of criticism as being "the end of Pain of Salvation" where a lot of progressive fans felt that they had gone mainstream and boring... To me, Be is a significantly worse album. I wanted to like Be. It's so experimental, different, and out-there, but as an album it just doesn't hit the mark for me. It's basically a self-absorbed, pseudo high-minded attempt to make a profound and unique statement, but as a musical album it comes off as boring and frustrating.

No doubt Pain of Salvation has released some epic progressive masterpieces, arguably the best progressive metal ever, but Be is often "proggy" for the sake of being proggy rather than to accomplish a specific goal, i.e. make good music. Honestly the only bright spot on this entire album for me is Imago (Homines Partus). It's got a very catchy hook combined with interesting rhythms and melodies and while the lyrics are slightly cliche (They can be summed up as: People are becoming progressively selfish, greedy douche bags and they're destroying nature), they're still quite interesting in the context of the song. Iter Impius is the only other standout solid song. It's a very soft, melodically beautiful song with some nice electric guitar solos during the middle section, but I can't help feeling like it wouldn't stand out on any other POS album. Besides those two... Good luck. I couldn't find a lot of true value besides bits or pieces scattered throughout the rest of the album.

This is an album hardcore POS fans listen to, but I can't imagine many people outside of that truly enjoying it.

Another interesting concept album by the Swedish band, BE stands as one of the best prog metal albums in the last decade. In spite of many of his weaknesses, it represents a very interesting attempt from Gildenlöw and company to make a true artistic set of concept-orchestrated driven songs. This, of course, includes the archetypal (very known to "classical" music listeners) leitmotiv from the romantic era, which represents particular characters, moods or situations. This kind of recourse is used with intelligence and ability. On the other hand, we have an almost biblical theme that deals with questions of existence and mankind, of the idea of a "God", etc. that attracts - very productively - influences that range from Irish folk music to rhythm and blues/gospel, creating an extremely appealing blend of popular music that only prog music (I believe) can have. Maybe there's a point where lyrical theme becomes a little repetitive, and after listening to it several times the first impression wears off because you become able to see the technical simplicity of orchestration and a more or less repetitive insistence on the same motifs. Still, and overall, this is a must hear for every music (not only prog) fan and it is not a bad idea to have it in your collection.

The listening of PoS's "Be" always find me surprised and in my opinion PoS are been brave to present that black-coloured work to their fans. Be it was really different from their previous succes R.L. or T.P.E. and is different from Scarsik and RS1. The way they insert folk instrument and orchestra approach are not probably always accepted in the prog-metal world, and of course the five minutes piano track 4.Pluvius Aestivus, the spoken piece in 8.Vocari Dei Sordes Aetas, the track Nauticus (drifting), the use of classic guitar with folk riffs (Nauticus II), and of course the particularity of Dea Pecunia. et cetera. If I have to choose, my favorites tracks are Lilium Cruentus, Dea Pecunia, Nihil Morari. But I love all parts of this album and I give 5 stars cause I prefer that particular approach, and this album combine in the better way metal, folk, classic and prog.

I seem to be entirely out of step with most people when it comes to Pain of Salvation - particularly Be, which I find incredibly irritating. Part of it is the daft, nonsensical attempt at metaphysics which the album is based on (apparently the band's conception of God is as someone with so much time on their hands they can't think up anything to do beyond smash themselves into a myriad different souls, torture themselves, kill themselves, and return to the whole... go figure), but most of it is the fact that the album plods along in the same obnoxious all flash and no sincerity vein as most of Pain of Salvation's albums. I don't mind progressive metal - there's a lot of progressive metal albums I love - but I wish people don't feel the need to be so progger than thou about it.

"BE" is one of the most ambitious project that I saw in modern rock music. The idea of an album about God, humanity and creation of world is pretty huge. When you see the tracklist of the CD, you are really confused : there's a prologue, then five chapters with latin names. If the idea is great, is the music great too ? Fortunately, yes. "BE" is cleary the best Pain Of Salvation album along with The Perfect Element Pt 1 (Remedy Lane is just behind). The music is as ambitious as the project is huge. There's an orchestra who follow the band, who play a lot of instruments. The music is very complex and less metal than the other albums of the band. It's a pure story that you listen with a huge pleasure.

There have been just a few key moments that I've come across something beautiful, something important, that i found didn't belong in the medium that it was boxed into. A video game that had a wonderful message, a work of art that should be heard and experienced by more people but is dragged down by the fact that it isn't a movie or a book or a painting but a game and primarily is not meant to be anything but. A movie that gifted ideas so profound, but the subject matter is shallow on the surface and takes away from the experience if for no other reason than 'leave that to the documentaries, this doesn't belong in X Y Z movie'. They become cult classics, or resonate with just a few people, but for the most part they are found to be pretentious, controversial, and are either spat at like they are worse than garbage or hailed and loved deeply those that the message touched.

This is one of those times that i find the medium just doesn't, and can't possibly, do the message justice. Pain Of Salvation, like a missionary on a quest for evangelism in a foreign land, forgo their music entirely for the spoken words. It is bigger than themselves, than their music, and they treat it as such. It isn't an album to be enjoyed as music as much as it is an experience for your life.

Now, i started reviewing on this site in my early teen years, and actually the first progressive rock album i ever listened to beyond the standard RUSH albums i had collected before i knew of prog was Dream Theaters - Scenes From a Memory Metropolis Part II. At the time it completely blew my mind, from instrumental skill of the musicians (Mike Portnoy was one of my biggest influences in learning my own instrument) to the way that the album told a story throughout. But, i was young and impressionable and i did not see the faults at the time. Years later i revised my score of the album and found that i no longer enjoyed listening to it for these reasons: the overlong jamming moments of most songs were drawn out and should have been cut down to just enough time to get the idea across then move on, and the subject matter of the album was just kind of laughable and juvenile, cheesy even. I took a star off for these reasons, and i might even take another one off if "I haven't had one single urge to listen to this album in years, and still don't want to even now" was a reason to diminish an albums' value. But it isn't actually, because these concept albums take quite a toll on the individual and it is an investment. Only the highest quality rock operas can be listened to on a more regular basis, and even those you wouldn't listen to in one sitting you just pick out the songs you like and digest in small portions.

At that time, as a teenager, if i had heard and reviewed this album it would have blown my mind 10 fold of Scenes did. But, since then, I've had many existential all-night conversations about life, and God, and why-are-we-here and all that so this albums' subject matter doesn't shock me or really even get me thinking too much as I've done all that and then some.

BE has the opposite issue that Scenes did for me back then, the lyrical content and overall purpose of the message outweigh the music itself. But that doesn't mean i don't still find the message, and in turn this album, important. It is very important, and i do believe that for someone that has not given serious thought into the metaphysical beyond needs to hear this. I have been a fan of Pain Of Salvation for years, but never attempted to listen to/review this album probably because i was more than satisfied with Remedy Lane and The Perfect Element, so i moved on to other bands before finally coming around full circle back to this album. Those albums are perfection, and essential, and the music meshes perfectly with the message. This one is a gorgeous piece of art, but unfortunately it is confined in the realm of a piece of music, and as such it must be judged by how well it works in that medium. I imagine a live stage play would be wonderful, for what its' worth.

I didn't have to listen to this album many times to 'get it', but i also don't find the concept of God and the metaphysical world controversial, it is something i think about daily. So, those reviewers who are saying this is challenging music it really isn't in the sense that the music is challenging, it is the subject matter that challenges them.

If you are a young progressive rock adventurer, do yourself a favor and really give this album a good long listen and if it speaks to you then i suppose it did its' job as the purpose is just to be heard.

Larger than life piece of musical art, that is more art than music.

Essential to experience for some, non-essential to own for others. 4 stars.

Pain of Salvation was founded in 1984, by the eleven years old Daniel Gildenlöw, in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Every album released thus far has been a concept album; from Remedy Lane (2002) to The Perfect Element, Part I (2000) and In the Passing Light of Day (2017), the band has released a multitude of albums in the progressive metal genre. However, their most ambitious effort to date - that is BE (2004) - transcends any genre. It is not only a great musical experience but a major crack at ideology and philosophy. To be blunt, BE is Pain of Salvation's masterpiece, but it is also a very challenging and rewarding album.

This review will first describe the musical journey, and it will also analyze all of the themes included.

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"Animae Partus ("I Am")" sounds like it belongs in the soundtrack for "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe. It introduces the album with menacing bass notes and ominous breathing. In the background, snippets of gospel-like and harmonic vocals can be heard propelling the song forward, but first and foremost are spoken word vocals that are not uncommon in post-rock. All of it makes for a very haunting two minutes.

Next, "Deus Nova (Fabricatio)" first makes use of The Orchestra of Eternity, which is truly an integral part of the album. A minute in the instrumentation becomes heavier; grand, progressive keyboards, guitar soloing, and nu metal rap vocals make up the majority of the track, but towards the end, the "Animae Partus ("I Am")" feeling returns, and the spoken words can be heard echoing.

"Imago (Homines Partus)" is not unlike "Songs from the Wood", by Jethro Tull. It is obviously folk-influenced, what with the acoustic guitar and flute playing that is dominant throughout. However, "Imago (Homines Partus)" also features a lot of contrast, which gives it the defining Pain of Salvation sound first established in The Perfect Element, Part One. The ending sound effects create the image of a forest: branches rustling, wind blowing, and pond cracking.

"Pluvius Aestivus" again makes brilliant usage of The Orchestra of Eternity. The piece is piano-driven, and it would not be out of place on Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Nobody would have ever expected something like this to appear on a Pain of Salvation album, but Gildenlöw is highly well-rounded.

"Lilium Cruentus" has an epic feel, so that in many ways it sounds like a twisted version of a ballad. There is more going on here than there appears to be: the soft parts sound repressed, but so do the rapping and screaming parts; albeit forceful and angry they are definitely curbed. The significance here is that this drives the album forward, and it foreshadows some sort of breakdown later on in the album.

"Nauticus (drifting)" comes out preachy and features more gospel. It is even more repressed, as if further elevating that future epic. At the end, there is some humorous spoken word music (think Frank Zappa).

If the theatrical "Dea Pecuniae" was performed on Broadway, it would probably alienate a lot of fans; however, Mike Patton would certainly approve of the vibe. A little over three minutes in, Gildenlöw's guitar solo is most unexpected, but Cecilia Ringkvist comes in strong on vocals, eliminating any doubts. Guitar harmonics are also responsible for the strong and successful development that makes the song, and eventually everything comes together - the shattering of a glass, screaming, and then this spoken word outro, leading right into the next song.

"Vocari Dei (Sordes Aetas - Mess Age)" is pure post-rock; piano and subtle sound effects carry the spoken words. Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is a clear inspiration - Pain of Salvation's distant contemporary. Amongst the typical English language, "Vocari Dei" uses Japanese, Dutch, and Greek to its advantage.

"Diffidentia" - headbangers, it's metal! Now, at last, we get a typical Pain of Salvation song: driving and heavy guitar, complex time signatures and subdivisions, gentler choruses, and brilliant dynamics. With the release of BE, many were disappointed that there was still no trace of The Perfect Element, Part II - they should have listened to the whole record first! What is so impressive about "Diffidentia" is that the orchestra is, even now, and undeniable part of the music!

"Nihil Morari (Homines Fabula Finis)" opens up with a repetitive rhythm on the fretless bass (reminiscent of Tool). It continues to use prog metal and nu metal as its biggest influences, and it also links back to "Deus Nova (Fabricatio)". On top of all of that, the piece screams Serj Tankian at times - all of that, of course, being pretty awesome!

"Latericius Valete" has somewhat of a symphonic feel and is somewhat of a guitar and cello duo. Together, "Latericius Valete" and "Omni (Permanere?)" sum up all different parts of the album, providing temporary closure. "Omni (Permanere?)" has the trademark prog sound popularized by Genesis and Gentle Giant - guitar arpeggios fit in very well with the orchestra, indeed.

Finally, "Iter Impius" could not be placed better in the album. Easily the best track off of the album, "Iter Impius" is six minutes of pure emotional bliss. It is almost a continuation of "Dea Pecuniae" except the ballad is more straightforward and heartfelt. Here, like throughout Remedy Lane, Gildenlöw's vocals are in full form, and nobody has a vocal range like he does! Sometimes, piano and vocals is the best way to go!

"Martius/Nauticus II" is a return to the folk style of "Imago (Homines Partus)", and it basically concludes the album. That is, "Animae Partus II" has some drumming and thumping, but otherwise, it is four minutes of silence (at the end, a family can be heard laughing and enjoying themselves).

Additionally, each part seems to begin and end on either an epic or silent note, which is cool to say the least.

My top 5: 1. Iter Impius 2. Dea Pecuniae 3. Imago (Homines Partus) 4. Diffidentia 5. Nihil Morari (Homines Fabula Finis)

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2017 interview on Pain of Salvation (Daniel Gildenlöw):

"My biggest problem is that I don't believe in God, which makes everything very difficult. But, I still feel the need to address God. That's the weird thing. I've always felt that the notion of God is really important. Divinity for mankind and sort of God life being is a very strong and important concept for mankind, so it's impossible not to be fascinated and deal with it.

I talk to God every once in a while. I always start with "sorry for not believing in you". There you go... You know, for the odd chance that he or she actually exists... It's not therefore that I don't believe in them (laughs). Things can exist even if you don't believe in them. It's not that I'm saying that it's impossible that there is some sort of God; I just don't believe in it.

I tried to make that thought experiment in "BE", that if there is a God, by default that God must be on a level of existence that we cannot grasp or understand. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's something exceptionally bizarre..."

On BE:

"Chinassiah is a word puzzle, as so many other titles and phrases on the album. It derives from the combination of China (for fragility and beauty, but also man made) and Messiah (for savior but also the notion of something in which we, humanity, put our faith for salvation)."

The Latin errors are on purpose, and each of the puzzles can be translated into English.

"Animae Partus ("I Am")" can be translated to mean "A God Is Born ("I Am")". It describes how Animae, the album's representation of God, first appears out of nothing. It ends on the haunting line, "And I will spend the rest of forever; Trying to figure out who I am."

"Deus Nova (Fabricatio)", meaning "New God", describes how people first populated the Earth. Animae looks down upon the people and states, "I think they will teach me something."

"Imago (Homines Partus)", or "Imago (Man Is Born)" , is more on the birth of man, which, in the album, is represented by Imago. The lyrics describe the moralities of Imago, and the "Breathe and BE" qualities of Imago,

"Pluvius Aestivus" means "Summer Rain". It is strictly instrumental, but it most likely represents "longing for the things we could not be" from Imago. Man is beautiful, yet far from perfect overall; for every champion, there is a rotten egg too.

"Lilium Cruentus", "Blood Stained Lily", is about death, and it is about all those that truly do not deserve to pass on. (leftovers from Rope Ends?)

"Nauticus (drifting)" is about the fictional space probe, Nauticus. According to BE, it is the most intelligent space probe to have ever been created, and it drifts throughout space, searching for answers to "save Earth from itself". Additionally, "Nauticus" is latin for "Sailor"; Nauticus embarks on a journey throughout space.

At the end of "Nauticus (drifting)", Mr. Money is first introduced along with his girlfriend. He jokes about letting her drive the expensive car; in other words, Mr. Money represents "greed" and one who is pretentious (not Daniel Gildenlöw; he is not pretentious!).

"Dea Pecuniae" can be translated to mean "Goddess of Money". The first part, "Mr. Money", is about how Mr. Money decides he loves money, more than any women; he does not care about making relationships, and rather, he decides to be "cold" and "mean". "Permanere" and "I Raise My Glass" play on the same concept.

"Vocari Dei", "Message to God", is about how powerful faith is. Many are uncertain that Animae exists, or they believe he is no longer there; however, they still pray to him or her - against everything that Mr. Money stands for.

"Diffidentia", "Mistrust", is one big theory revolving around everything that brought about the destruction of Animae - at first, Imago screams of hope, but at the end Imago states, "We failed."

"Nihil Morari (Homines Fabula Finis)" means "Nothing Remains (The Story of Man Comes To An End)". Imago apologizes for all of its sins - "Abuse", "Rape", stealing, and the loss of "thanks" - that finally cause Imago to implode on itself. "Latericius Valete", or "If You Are Strong, Be Strong", and "Omni (Permanere?)", or "Everything", further stress this concept.

"Iter Impius", meaning "Wicked Path", describes how Mr. Money finally wakes up. He has spent all of his money on cryogenics, and asked not be awaken until he be made immortal. How that he is immortal, he is very happy; he does not care when he discovers the absence of Imago.

At the end, Nauticus finally succeeds in his journey and contributes the "BE" that society needs to survive. This is in "Martius/Nauticus II"; in "Animae Partus II", Animae comes back, bringing a brand new Imago with him.

What happens to Mr. Money is uncertain. The above review is just my interpretation of one of the best albums ever.

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Live on, Pain of Salvation! (but seriously, I love every album they have released!)

After two masterpieces of prog-metal, The Perfect Element Pt.1 and Remedy Lane, Pain of Salvation released the most ambitious album of their career!

Which sadly was a big step back for them, dividing the opinion of fans and critics equally.

What I think of this BE? I consider this album a boring and disjointed attempt to create a concept bigger than life, which revolves around philosophy, religion, God, apocalypse and tons of other ideas inside Gildenlow's head at that time. I cannot say that Be is a bad album, but it's too irregular and full of disposable tracks to be a worthy follow up of their previous four records.

There are fifteen tracks here, and I would say that only four or five are really worthy of Pain of Salvation. The rest are a repetition of ideas, melodies, simple instrumentations and tons of voices and dialogues in service of the history, forgetting what a good and enjoyable album really is... Moreover, that makes the hearing of BE on its integrity an odyssey by itself.

Even the fine folk and orchestral elements cannot hide the lack of more consistent and hearable songs.

Best Tracks: Imago (fine primitive and folk melodies), Lilium Cruentus (very cinematic), Nihil Morari (one of the few songs which reminds to the true Pain of Salvation of previous albums), Iter Impius (incredible vocal performance by Gildenlow)

Conclusion: BE is an irregular, pompous and pretentious album where Pain of Salvation tried to make something different and ground-breaking forgetting almost all the trademarks which made them big in their first four albums. Gildenlow set the history above the music and the result is an album with lots of fillers, absurd tracks and just a few good moments.

Sadly, BE supposed the end of a glorious era for the band. And I think that they never really recovered themselves of the flop of this strange and messy album.

My rating: **

Review Nº 241

'Be' is the fifth studio album of Pain Of Salvation and was released in 2004. It's one more conceptual album, this time focused on the existence of God and the Humankind. This was the first time that a Pain Of Salvation's album divided fans and critics, because of its experimental and philosophical nature, and also because it isn't properly a typical progressive metal album. We can consider that from this studio album, the controversy nevermore abandoned the group on their future studio works, until today, which was more evident on their next sixth studio album, 'Scarsick'.

'Be' represents also a landmark for the group. This was the last album featuring the participation of Daniel Gildenlow's brother, the bassist of the group Kristoffer Gildenlow. In 2006, it was asked to him to leave the band because it wasn't possible to him attends rehearsals, due he lived in Holland since he was married. So, the line up on this album is Daniel Gildenl'w, Kristoffer Gildenl'w, Johan Hallgren, Fredrik Hermansson and Johan Langell. The album had also the participation of Mats Stenlund, Cecilia Ringkvist and The Orchestra Of Eternity, as guests.

The concept of 'Be' is based in the human existence in its various forms before God. The album begins with the narration of 'Animae', self-titled God (He or She), pictured without form, sex and age, coming of the 'Silent Darkness' and formed by 'It', contemplating its natural existence and a beginning eternal question for self- understanding. The story continues with the creation of 'Imago' and multiplying them by 'Animae' accelerated to current time. Fascinated (He or She), concludes that 'Animae' can learn through their own creation. This is a very complex concept indeed.

The story has some characters: 'Animae' (is the representation of God, or his mind), 'Nauticus' (is the name of the most intelligent universal creation, which moves through space, looking for answers to save Earth), 'Imago' (is the image of humanity in its natural form and is associated to the reflections of 'Animae'), 'Dea Pecuniae' (is the feminine form of 'Mr. Money' in addition to representing human sins and wickedness) and 'Mr. Money' (is the main character in the story and is the man with the greatest wealth of the land that spend fortunes on cryogenic to his wish to be frozen and not be woken before reaching the immortality, and he represents also the evil and darkest side of the humanity).

The music and the style of the album are somewhat more varied than their previous studio works, but at the same time, it calls upon those previous albums and its musical influences. However, musically speaking, 'Be' is an album totally different from their other previous studio workings. On the album we can listen to, beyond the progressive metal songs, many other varied type of songs like a folk song, a gospel song, a church song, a classical piano piece of music and also some narrative passages, news readings, a conversation with a radio in the background, voice messages left on 'God's Answering Machine', beyond The Orchestra of Eternity, which features prominently through the album.

'Be' has fifteen tracks that are divided in a prologue and five chapters. The album is very experimental and non commercial, and Daniel expresses his feelings when and as he wants all over the album. The composition is as good as ever, complex and strong, giving all kinds of atmospheres, moods and feelings. There is classical music, folk tunes, deeply philosophical voiceovers, power ballads, symphonic instrumentals, traditional pieces, heavy Latin percussion passages, spoken verses that border on rap, baroque music, blues, hard rock, symphonic prog, gospel and country. Considering the group's background, a progressive metal band, metal is the style that appears least often on the album.

So, what Pain Of salvation have made musically, is a mix of a million styles, yet somehow making them sound coherent. What is so amazing is that they use so many styles and that all sounds are so natural and in the right place. This is truly progressive music. This is what progressive music is all about. We don't can get individual songs from this album, as is usual on many conceptual albums. This is easily one of the most necessary to listen to all the way through albums I've ever heard before. Although, all the songs have their own identities, and some songs could still stand alone as some of the best songs ever written. However, it's just best that they be listened together in the real context of the all album.

Conclusion: This is, without any doubt, the most ambitious, difficult, challenging, complex, adventurous, risky and powerful conceptual album released by Pain Of Salvation, until now. 'Be' is a conceptual album, varied, original, very controversial about abstract, philosophical, metaphysical and existential thoughts, questions without responses about ethical values like life, death and the concept of God itself. There isn't the slightest doubt that when Daniel says that Pain Of Salvation is a different band he is talking very seriously. These guys are really different. The concept of their albums, the several musical influences of the band and the ever-changing of their music, actually it makes of them a unique progressive rock band, whether we love or hate them. You should give to 'Be', three to four auditions, at least.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

After a little break, I am back on my reviewing tendencies. So within my musical ventures I have found myself getting quite involved with the Progressive Metal scene, especially with newer bands out there, but never fully, head to toes, diving into more "classic" bands. Well I have decided to express my joys and wonder to such classic Prog Metal bands, like Voivod, Opeth, and maybe even a little bit of Symphony X. I think, though, there is no other band from the starting periods of Prog Metal like Pain Of Salvation. This Swedish band of merry misfits took me a while to get into, but after I did I have been really loving their very varied sound with albums like The Perfect Element Part 1 and In The Passing Light Of Day. But, while each album they try something new, on their 2004 release of Be, the band would get a lot more verbose in their ways and create an album filled with songs ranging from folk, jazz, musicals, and gospel.

I find myself seeing this as the band's turning point away from their harder structures as they venture to new, unseen territories here, and with it comes a mixed grab bag of some really solid material. What I most enjoy about this album is the huge cinematic focus the music brings. This album most particularly reminds me of Frances The Mute or The Clockwork Fable with each song having tiny moments in between giving leadway into this grand narrative. This album, in fact, feels like a big movie in some way, with the whole reality bending concept, and with it comes a new enjoyment for me as a whole. Each song feels like a new scene in this cinematic journey through god complexes, greed, religion, sex, and loss, resulting in a work that can be seen as a modern day Greek tragedy.

Musically, this is a very wide ranged sounding album, to both its benefits and its troubles. For its pleasures, I think the lack of any cohesive sound really makes this release way more interesting, and fun. You do not know what you might get on this record, and each song has something new to give and bring. I found myself loving the more musical ebb and flows like on Dea Pecuniae and Martius/Nauticus II. It really gives this a rewarding and expertly crafted experience for me since each song really does give you way more than you would expect.

However, to the album's detriment, with such a big narrative and a big idea, there are moments here that feel very fillery, and even some songs on here never quite hit the same mark as others. I find the more gospel and folk songs, while good in their own right, never get the same oomph for me as say Deus Nova or Nihil Morari. I can absolutely appreciate a very complex and varied album, but I think what makes Pain Of Salvation's sound so good is their energy and expression. That rough, dirty, and almost poisonous sound has always been a Pain Of Salvation staple, so with some tracks loosening the grip on that ideology, it makes this album feel very disjointed in presentation.

I think the best way to try and counteract this is probably to listen to the songs in the perspectives of the characters singing them, whether it is the lustful Mr Money, or the godly Animae. With the varying perspectives, it could help the odd effect this album brings.

I think though, this album is stronger than not. It reminds me of equally strong but wild rock operas, but there are so many out there that it's a little hard to say. I guess you gotta pick and choose then.

While not my favorite release these guys made, it does contain some of my favorite songs the band has released. It is big, grand, really different from anything they've released, and an album that, while in some cases disjointed, still feels really tightly knit in its presentation. Highly recommend giving this a listen, but only if you are into the more prestigious pose of more wild rock operas like The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway or Frances The Mute. A solid effort from a great Prog Metal band.

'Be' is the fifth studio album by Pain of Salvation, released in 2004. It is a concept album about the existence of God and humankind. A nine-part orchestra called 'The Orchestra of Eternity' is featured prominently throughout the album. 'Be' is a rock opera with a narrative story and characters, including Animae (Godhead), Nauticus (a fictional space probe), Imago (the image of humanity), Dea Pecuniae (the Eve of humanity's sinful nature), and Mr. Money (the protagonist and the Adam for Dea Pecuniae). 'Be' starts with the prologue "Animae Partus ("I Am"), and the rest of the album is divided into five sections. "I Animae Partus (All in the Image of)" comprises the tracks "Deus Nova - New God," "Imago (Homines Partus) - Imago (Man Is Born)," and "Pluvius Aestivus - Summer Rain." "II Machinassiah (Of Gods & Slaves)" comprises "Lilium Cruentus (Deus Nova) - Blood Stained Lily (New God)," "Nauticus (Drifting)," and "Dea Pecuniae - Goddess of Money (I. Mr. Money, II. Permanere, III. I Raise My Glass)." "III Machinageddon (Nemo Idoneus Aderat Qui Responderet)" comprises "Vocari Dei - Messages to God," "Diffidentia (Breaching the Core) - Mistrust (Breaching the Core)," and "Nihil Morari - Nothing Remains." "IV Machinauticus (Of the Ones With no Hope)" comprises of "Latericius Valete - If You Are Strong, Be Strong," "Omni - Everything," "Iter Impius - Wicked Path," and "Martius/Nauticus II." Finally, "V. Deus Nova Mobile (...and a God is Born)" comprises of "Animae Partus II." 'Be' borrows from a myriad of musical styles and is the most ambitious album by Pain of Salvation. 'Be' is the last album to feature Kristoffer Gildenlöw on bass.

The opening track, "Animae Partus," is God's soliloquy. No music, just spoken word from a woman and a man in a monotone voice. In the background, you can hear music that will appear later in the album. The Orchestra of Eternity appears on "Deus Nova" and creates a dark atmosphere that crescendos into complex, djent guitar riffing. Daniel Gildenlöw lists off the population numbers throughout the history of humanity until the present day. "Imago" reminds me of "Chain Sling" from the previous album, 'Remedy Lane.' "Imago" sounds like a sea shanty. Each lyrical stanza references a season and compares it to the different periods of an individuals life, from childhood (spring) to elderliness (winter). The sound of rain leads into "Pluvius Aestivus," which is a piano piece with orchestral accompaniment.

Finally, "Lilium Cruentus" starts to actually sound like the Pain of Salvation we know and love. But even then, the music doesn't hit nearly as hard as anything found on the two previous albums. "Nauticus" is a gospel song with baritone/bass vocal harmonies. An audio excerpt of a conversation between Mr. Money and his mistress (including a subliminal radio broadcast) leads into "Dea Puceniae." This song is a 10-minute musical theatre extravaganza. The sleazy groove reflects Mr. Money's corruptness. Cecilia Ringkvist is a guest musician who provides some vocals "Dea Puceniae." The final section, "I Raise My Glass," is completely overblown. The mixing during this particular section isn't great. I can barely hear Daniel Gildenlöw's vocals over the wall of noise accompanying him, especially during Mr. Money's proclamation.

"Vocari Dei" consists entirely of voice messages that were to be left on "God's answering machine." The band asked the subscribers of their newsletter to call a certain phone number and say whatever they would want to say to God. "Diffidentia (Breaching the Core)" is a traditional sounding Pain of Salvation song that's filled with heavy guitar riffs. The end of the song gradually crescendos to a grandiose climax. The djent guitar riffing that was introduced on "Deus Nova" is brought to fruition on "Nihil Morari." This is the point on 'Be' when society and its institutions fall apart. Overpopulation, climate change, pollution, gun violence, racism... the list goes on. People (like Mr. Money) who accumulated paper wealth and estate are in serious trouble.

"Latericius Valete" is a mostly instrumental interlude. "Omni" is a dramatic church organ piece. "Iter Impius" is my favorite song on 'Be.' Fredrik Hermansson's piano playing on this song is gorgeous. The music sounds desolate, as if there's no other life on Earth. Sure, you may have all the money in the world, but at what cost? Daniel Gildenlöw's guttural singing style at the end of "Iter Impius" augments the intensity of the music. "Martius/Nauticus II" is essentially a reprise of "Imago," which gives 'Be' more cohesion. When reprised, the music sounds more celebratory and ends the album satisfyingly. "Animae Partus II" starts the same way the album began. A woman says "I am," indicating that a new God has been born. A heartbeat fades into silence. There is a hidden audio excerpt at the end of the track. A child named Molly Fahey states, "There's room for all God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes."

In conclusion, 'Be' is a disappointing followup to the masterpieces that are 'The Perfect Element - Part 1' and 'Remedy Lane.' The album takes seemingly forever to startup and find a flow. However, the second half is far stronger than the first. Therefore, I will rate 'Be' three stars.