A HANDFUL OF EARTH

2.5 stars. SALVA are from Sweden and they play melodiic synth / drum led music with litle in the way of guitar solos. The vocals are the main focus though and I don't like them at all. I've been listenining to this cd all week and it hasn't gotten any better for me because of my problems with the vocals.

"Never Again" is fairly heavy to begin with as synths arrive, deep vocals come in before a minute as it settles down. Lots of synths in this one. "A Thousand Deaths" again has a nice heavy intro with vocals after a minute,and again I don't like them. This is catchy at times and even becomes a little jazzy 7 minutes in. "Trick Of The Century" is one of my least favourites on here. A synth led track with vocals 2 minutes in.

"Land Of Obscurity" is heavy to begin with but settles down as vocals arrive quickly. Good guitar solo 2 minutes in as the tempo continues to shift. "Faith Versus Reason" opens with guitar and drums. More excellent guitar 3 1/2 minutes in with a synth solo 7 minutes in. Guitar ends it. "Rain" has a catchy intro but I can't get past the vocals on this one. "Gone" has some heaviness before a minute but it's brief as synths and drums will lead the way on this one. I do like the guitar before 7 minutes though.

This is one of the few records that miss the mark with me on several levels.

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Posted Friday, June 20, 2008 | Review this album | Report (Review #174517)

If this is not an art rock band,then which is?SALVA come from Sweden and were formed by three friends in 2003.At the end of 04' their hard work finally was ended up in their debut ''A handful of earth''.

If you expect full-blown complex progressive rock from SALVA,look somewhere else.SALVA insist on playing a rather groovy-styled short-track-oriented rock form with accesible musicianship and lots of rhythmic parts.Were is the progressive rock style then?Firstly it's the heavy use of analog keyboards and the quite limited digital ones.Secondly their guitar melodies have an intense Scandinavian feeling and they also use instruments like cellos,flutes and harmonica in some parts .Then comes the mass of distorted vocal lines,while actually hints of legends like KING CRIMSON are obvious in the guitar work.Do this elements make them a prog rock band?....I really do not know...The thing I do know is that the album gets somewhat boring along the way,all melodies and grooves sound soooo similar,that is quite annoying at some point...Accesible rock in progressive forms?Progressive rock in accesible forms?The future of prog sound?...I would prefer another direction for progressive rock music...

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Posted Sunday, May 10, 2009 | Review this album | Report (Review #214655)

I am not going to disagree with my co-reviewers. This is magnificent. How the hell I missed this band, is worrying.... Think Arena meets Crash Test Dummies, chuck in a bit of Purple, Kayak and an smattering of jazz (don't let that put you off btw) then you have almost got Salva. I was surp ... (read more)

Report this review (#136199) | Posted by pussywillow | Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | Review Permanlink

Heavy. Melodic. Pounding electric guitars. Acoustic beauty. Bombastic synth runs. Sweeping organ waves. Powerful vocals. Emotional singing. This is a band that has it all. This is what modern progressive rock is all about. Salva is a cross between symphonic prog ROCK, neo-prog, prog metal and ar ... (read more)

Report this review (#111719) | Posted by dalt99 | Monday, February 12, 2007 | Review Permanlink

It's generally believed that most bands improve in their releases after a debut album. If this is to be true with Salva, then this is a band that will have to be watched carefully in the future, since what we have here is a really solid debut album. Salva's music is the result of a combinatio ... (read more)

Report this review (#33738) | Posted by | Tuesday, February 15, 2005 | Review Permanlink

This is an album that grows and grows. I can hear a lot of the influences mentioned above, but the music is by no means derivative. Some high points for me are: the keyboard intro of 'Never Again'; the 'lounge-jazz' :-) section of 'A Thousand Deaths'; and all of 'Gone', to name only a few. The ... (read more)

Report this review (#33736) | Posted by | Friday, January 14, 2005 | Review Permanlink

Excellent first album by this Swedish band! This album goes to almost every corner prog has ever been (sometimes sounding more like ELP, then a VDGG-styled passage, then a typical "classic rock" passage...) and they do it in a very balanced way and with much virtuosity. Makes me already curious f ... (read more)

Report this review (#33734) | Posted by BillBoh1971 | Friday, January 14, 2005 | Review Permanlink

This album has been the discovery of 2004 for me. There is a range of different influences running through "A HAndful of Earth" - you will hear shades of Deep Purple; classic jazz piano; a very hard and driving metal sound; and Per's voice which is far from conventional adds ethos to make it all ... (read more)

Report this review (#33733) | Posted by Melodramatica | Thursday, January 13, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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