IN THE PASSING LIGHT OF DAY

I didn't keep following PAIN OF SALVATION's career after "Be" other than hearing of the controversy of the albums that followed like "Scarsick' and the "Road Salt" recordings. I haven't heard the ones between "Be" and this latest offering called "The Passing Light Of Day" but I want to check them out down the road. So I can't say that this is a return to form but other reviewers have said this. Please check out jjlehto's review for some great information about this. This is a return to the heaviness of their classic period and an album that many feel sits proudly with those albums. I know this record impressed me in a big way and I wasn't expecting that.

This album seems to deal with one's mortality which isn't surprising given Gildenlow almost died to the flesh eating disease. That will have an impact on your thought process obviously. This is a fantastic album and it was the heaviness that surprised me initially, especially that opening number. We get some different instruments like accordion, mellotron, lute, zither and so on while electric piano is prominent along of course with the guitar, drums and bass. The vocals are quite varied and there's a lot of emotion on this album.

"On A Tuesday" opens with crushing riffs that get even heavier as the guitar starts to play over top. A calm with spoken words and atmosphere before 1 1/2 minutes then it kicks back in with vocals this time a minute later. We get a beautiful section after 4 1/2 minutes with strings, piano and high pitched vocals. It kicks back in a minute later and ground shaking riffs will follow. Another calm with piano only arrives 7 minutes in as fragile vocals join the piano then we get this majestic vibe before 8 minutes. It's building until it kicks in with emotion around 9 minutes.

"Tongue Of God" opens with piano only as bass and I believe lute join in before it kicks in hard a minute in. Heavy stuff as reserved vocals join in. Soon he's singing with passion. A calm arrives before 4 1/2 minutes with spoken words to end it. "Meaningless" is heavy to begin with and I'm digging this a lot. It settles back as almost spoken vocals arrive. It turns melodic with atmosphere then heavy again with passionate vocals this time. Contrasts continue. I think that's zither that comes and goes. Lots of emotion as he speaks the lyrics with passion after 4 minutes.

"Silent Gold" opens with piano only as reserved vocals join in. When it turns brighter after a minute I feel emotion. Drums before 2 minutes as it starts to pick up slightly. There's that emotional section repeated later. Nice. "Full Throttle Tribe" opens with a sample of someone walking and people talking as drums arrive and build. This sounds like classic POS right here. Vocals just before a minute and it kicks into gear a minute later with passionate vocals. Contrasts continue. Man it's heavy before 4 minutes as the vocals step aside. Just killing it then another calm arrives before it turns heavy again late with samples of distressed sounding people amongst the heaviness.

"Reasons" is different with that brief section of GENTLE GIANT-like vocal arrangements. This is a stuttering and heavy tune that is quite interesting to listen to. Lots of explicits as well plus he sings an answer back to the sung questions as it were. Like I said this is different and interesting. "Angels Of Broken Things" opens with picked guitar I think, atmosphere and more. Vocals just before a minute and a catchy beat. It kicks in at 4 minutes with some ripping guitar over top. It ends with a sample of people talking. Another interesting song.

"The Taming Of A Beast" is catchy with piano and a beat. Vocals before a minute then it kicks in hard with emotional vocals 2 minutes in as contrasts continue. "If This Is The End" is ballad-like to start with relaxed guitar and fragile vocals. Accordion after a minute. Drums kick in before 3 minutes with heaviness and passionate vocals. He starts to speak the lyrics before 4 minutes including lines from the opening track. The heaviness is back! So good! Might have been a great closer here but that honour is for the 15 1/2 minute title track.

"The Passing Light Of Day" is mellow to start. We get relaxed guitar, bass and reserved vocals at first. How good is this before 6 1/2 minutes as it starts to build with vocal melodies but then it settles right back. It's building again after 7 1/2 minutes. Heavy stuff is the result 9 1/2 minutes in until a calm arrives 12 1/2 minutes in and mellotron and reserved vocals will help out here. It becomes majestic sounding as vocals continue.

A very solid 4 stars in my opinion and a reminder why I used to like this band so much.