PAIN OF SALVATION

Sad!...sad...sad!!!That's all I can say after a first audition of this really uninspired new POS material!Thank GOD it's only an EP,because a whole long play would definitelly kill POS' new musical direction.The drift continues,after the monstrulusly dissapointing SCARSICK and this proves the guys in POS are out of fuel!Finito the inspiration,over the magic...or the magic is over,as you wish!The dissapointement is even bigger for me,because I was fan of this unique band since the beginning!Album after album they have developped an unique way of expression,very tortured and extremelly original,with this fantastic musician DANIEL GILDENLOW in front and his musical vision,called being close to be sonsidered a cult and something like a classical in life!Unfortunatelly,too much drug abuse is not good in the compositional process and the neuronns are the only human cells that are not able to regenerate itself!This new POS material is the culmination of uninspired music and proves that the Sweds are searching new ways of musical expression,being more and more away from the prog rock music!They sound now like stoners,or '70's era music when LSD was king and all was...very coloured!But this LINOLEUM musical mistake is grey...without any form any substance or core!It's weak under all aspects!GILDENLOW's voice is wonderful,-it;s the only light in the dark-he sings like an angel or a devil,depending of the song,but overall POS's music on this album is garbage !Disspointing,boring,senseless,uninspired and a true failure under all aspects!Hardly 2 STARS indeed only for die hard POS fans!Such a shame!

Underrated

Out of the first 5 Pain of Salvation albums, One Hour by the Concrete Lake is the only one that their fanbase doesn't always appreciate. The three albums that follow the band's second effort are all 5-star masterpieces in my book, and their debut album is often said to be one of the most original debut albums in prog metal. So where does this album fall?

Well, for those reasons I just mentioned, One Hour by the Concrete Lake is often forgotten about by Pain of Salvation fans. It's not as polished as their next three albums, it's not as innovative as their debut, so by default it must be a bad album, right?

Wrong. One Hour by the Concrete Lake is an excellent, almost perfect album in my opinion. By this point Pain of Salvation was a more mature and developed band than they were on their debut, and it definitely shows. The songwriting is top-notch, they had defined their unique take on prog metal, and they had almost perfected their formula.

To be honest, my only real complaint with this album is that I have some minor problems with the production. Sometimes the production can sound rather low budget and a little cheesy (particularly in the drum department). The drums sometimes sound too artificial for my tastes, but I wouldn't complain too much. The production is still powerful, even though it doesn't really appeal to me. I've definitely heard some albums that have been produced far worse than this.

THE MUSIC:

"Spirit of the Land"- The first song on the album is a haunting synthesized keyboard chord progression. Very dark and emotional, and it accurately sets the tone for the rest of the album. An excellent opening piece.

"Inside"- The prelude fades into the opening of this song. A fast and intriguing piano melody with excellent drum rhythms creates an excellent opening. The mood turns darker for a short while, but a memorable keyboard section with a light bass and drum rhythm section lead into the first vocal part of the album. This entire part of the song is excellent and wonderfully crafted. Daniel Gildenlöw delivers an excellent vocal performance, and the highlight of most of this song is the excellent keyboard tones and playing from Frederik Hermansson. This is filled with excellent progressions, transitions, melodies and everything in between. This is one of the best songs from the album.

"The Big Machine"- The third song opens up with a mid-tempo guitar riff. It progresses into a nice verse with good instrumentation. The chorus to this song sounds like something off of an operatic power metal album. The vocals are really what give it this feel. Low, opera-like vocals. The ending is epic and symphonic with powerful vocals. This is a good song, but this is not one of the standout tracks of the album.

"New Year's Eve"- This opens up with a dark, low guitar melody. When Daniel's vocals enter, it goes from dark and heavy to light and melodic. This goes into fast prog metal riffing and successfully builds back into the verses. This is a perfect example of excellent transitions in music. When you think the song can't get any better, a beautiful symphonic section enters. The vocals are extremely powerful, and I absolutely love how Daniel sings in this section. It progresses back into the dark sections that opened up the song, and it is followed by another excellent transition! This is one of the best songs of the album and it's 100% perfect from beginning to end

"Handful of Nothing"- Much of this song sounds very much like power metal, mainly because of the production of this album. This song is mostly based on a drum rhythm and a few chords. While this really comes across as shallow at first, after multiple listens the beauty of the song shows. The chorus is excellent, and the vocals particularly shine. The beautiful melodies and memorable riffs are more than enough to intrigue me.

"Water"- This song is possibly my favorite from the album, as it's filled with beauty, intensity and emotion. It opens with a rather heavy riff. A light guitar chord progression enters soon after. Daniel's vocals are beautiful right here and they seamlessly progress into a beautiful guitar solo. This builds powerfully into a light, yet heavy, prog metal section with excellent synth and guitar soloing. This leads itself perfectly into an emotionally-driven chorus. The vocal harmonies are perfect, and this is one of the highlights of the album. The climax of the song is dark and heavy, with fast drumming and dark keyboards. This slowly fades away into the beautiful acoustic chorus seamlessly. This is one of the best Pain of Salvation songs, and it's even better in the context of the album.

"Home"- This song opens up with piano and guitar melodies against a bass drum. It suddenly turns into a climatic symphonic metal section with fast and frantic metal riffing. Just as suddenly as it started, it ends and a lush acoustic guitar melody enters. It sounds somewhat like a ballad with the beautiful vocal melodies. The chorus is excellent, and as usual, the superbly crafted vocal harmonies stand out. The climatic intro enters, and it progresses fantastically into a light electric piano section. The guitar solo is excellent, and it serves as a perfect transition into the final vocal section.

"Black Hills"- I've got to be honest when reviewing an album, and I must say this is not one of the better songs of the album. This whole song often seems to be lacking in emotion and the powerful dynamics that make most of the album excellent. The chorus, while it is memorable, is disjointed and flawed. Much of this song is lacking in dynamics. This is still a decent song, though I find it a little bit boring. This still isn't a terrible song, though.

"Pilgrim"- This opens up with a light and haunting guitar chord progression and quiet vocals from Daniel Gildenlöw. This song builds excellently and is powerful without using any complex instrumentation. The string section really adds another layer to the music, and their melodies contrast each other perfectly. This is a beautiful song.

"Shore Serenity"- A dark and fast piano melody using odd time signatures opens up the song. A fast and dark guitar melody and low vocals enter. Parts of this song have kind of an operatic feel, mostly vocally. The outro is climatic and powerful.

"Inside Out"- The last song on the album uses the same theme presented in the first song throughout. It opens with dark and heavy metal riffing with a fast piano melody. It progresses well into the dark, gothic-tinged chorus. The song, while listed at around 12 minutes, is really only 6 and a half. The rest is mostly silence, and a quiet section reminding me of Pilgrim. Let me just say that those 6 minutes are really epic. It is generally in a dark, almost gothic mood, but there are epic symphonic sections along with beautiful melodies. This song closes the album concisely. This is a really great way to end the album.

Conclusion:

One Hour By The Concrete Lake is a really underrated album by Pain of Salvation. It's really a shame many fans, and even Daniel Gildenlöw himself, don't appreciate this album very much. I think this is an excellent and well-crafted prog metal album. I don't think it ranks up with the three following albums from Pain of Salvation, but this album definitely holds it's own. I will award this album with a 4 star rating. This is a highly recommended album from me!

4 stars.

This one's a grower.

I have a confession - I've never heard Scarsick, except for a few brief listens to the live tracks from their newest live release. I doubt I'll ever pick it up considering how many albums I have on my "to buy" list. But PoS is definitely one of my favorite progressive metal bands.

On my first few listens to Linoleum, I was entertained but a bit worried. I guess I assumed that (besides Scarsick), Pain of Salvation's material would continue to grow more and more complex and dense. So I was confused - where did all the razor sharp playing go, the layers and layers of polished production, and epic song structures.

But I'm beginning to love this grungy, somewhat retro sound. It feels like this is material that will lend itself to some great live shows and benefits from a lot of band chemistry. The high point of the EP is Gone, though I'm very fond of If You Wait. Mortar Grind I'm still getting used to.

A big nod goes to the cover Yellow Raven, as well. I admit I haven't heard the original but it sounds great. I love the guitar tone especially.

Check it out and open yourself up to the new direction. PoS haven't lost their chops, they're just trying something new. There are plenty of other bands I can hear if I want my fix of insane technical compositions, and while I'd like to see PoS return to something like Remedy Lane again, this will do nicely for now.

I'm Really Excited for Road Salt!

I consider myself a huge fan of Pain of Salvation. They might actually be my all-time favorite band, only rivaled by Genesis, Neal Morse and Dream Theater. They've released some of the highest quality music I've ever heard in my entire life, and their first 5 albums are pure genius.

When Scarsick was released, words can not describe how disappointed I was. While the album's not a complete failure, I couldn't believe that my beloved Pain of Salvation could release an album that's anything less than incredible. For that very reason, I was nervous to hear how their upcoming album, Road Salt, would sound. I was still really looking forward to the album and I really hoped the band could create another masterpiece despite my doubts.

Recently the album had to be postponed for 6 months due to financial problems with InsideOut and the buyout of Century Media. Needless to say, I was really disappointed. I was really anxious to hear the new album, but when I heard I had to wait another 6 months, I was very disappointed. To satisfy their fans, such as myself, the band released an EP, Linoleum, containing 4 songs from the upcoming album, as well as a bonus track and a cover song.

Of course, being the fanboy that I am, I bought the EP the day it came out and listened to it frequently for the next few days. I was immediately pleased that the band didn't continue the style introduced on Scarsick and I enjoyed the 70's hard rock feel to the EP. My only real complaint is that the music isn't as challenging or emotional as the band's first 5 albums. Regardless, I have high expectations for Road Salt after this enjoyable EP.

THE MUSIC:

"Linoleum"- The first song on the EP opens up with a hard rock sounding riff. The use of organ in addition to the guitar riff gives the opening a 70's hard rock sounding. It goes into a funky verse that progresses into a powerful chorus. Daniel Gildenlöw delivers a powerful vocal performance, and the musicianship is generally of high quality. Near the middle a light keyboard section enters, and it builds back into the main section. I really love this part, and I think it makes this song really worthwhile. The progression into the chorus is excellent. This is a pretty standard verse-chorus-verse song, but it is a great opening track.

"Mortar Grind"- A drum beat opens up this song, and a distorted guitar and organ riff soon enters. It reminds me a lot of bluesy hard rock of the 70's. This riff is really great and memorable, and most of the song builds off of the riff. The chorus is particularly good, and Daniel Gildenlöw does an excellent job vocally. This is possibly my favorite from the EP, and this is a great piece of music.

"If You Wait"- After the two, heavier-edged hard rock songs, this is more of atmospheric ballad. Most of the song builds off of the same guitar melodies and Daniel Gildenlöw's vocals. All in all, a good song, if not particularly memorable or challenging.

"Gone"- This is my favorite song from the EP, and it is also the longest. This song opens up with a dark pop-rock sounding guitar and piano riff. I like the Porcupine Tree-influenced sound of this song, and it has clear atmospheric alt. rock influence. A beautiful section enters with solid vocals. A heavier riff enters with clever melodies. The progressions in this song are genius, and everything works perfectly. This is a really great song.

"Bonus Track B"- This bonus track is not really a "song" at all, but just a conversation between the band. It is really hilarious, clearly showing the distinct sense of humor present in the band.

"Yellow Raven"- This is a cover of the song by Scorpions, and Pain of Salvation does a really great job. I haven't heard the original, so I can't compare the two, but I must say I really enjoy this one. The overall feel to the song is great, and Johan Hallgren does an excellent job on guitar. Overall, this is a good addition to the EP and it's a solid closer.

Conclusion:

Linoleum is a really good EP from Pain of Salvation. This is such an improvement over the disappointing Scarsick, and I am very pleased with the EP. The songwriting is solid, the musicianship is excellent, and the arrangements are great. I love the 70's hard rock direction taken on this EP, and the band does a great job. This doesn't come close to masterpieces such as The Perfect Element, Pt. I, Remedy Lane, or BE, but it definitely holds it's own. I will give this solid EP a 3 star rating. This is really good, but non-essential. If you don't have the three albums I just mentioned, Entropia and One Hour By The Concrete Lake, get those first. This is still a great and highly recommended EP for any Pain of Salvation fan.

3 stars.

Given how much Scarsick grew on me, I made sure to give this latest EP from the eclectic Pain of Salvation lots of listening before passing judgment. Now, after at least 6 straight runs through the disc in it's entirety, I would feel better about being able to rate this. Which brings me to the point. Almost all of the "Perfect Elements" of Pain of Salvation, built up through years of many different styles and genres but retaining a clear and unrelenting identity, are stripped away. The always complex and brilliant compositions, meaningful and enriching solos, clear and often memorable melodies, and poignant lyrics well dressed in poetry or raw and disturbing are extremely scarce. While the last of these is still fairly present, particularly in the last real song, "Gone" , it is considerably less, and the lyrics to Mortar Grind are almost laughable. Then the "melodies". Or, better put, the lack there of. "If You Wait" has no melody what-so-ever. It's just Daniel, singing along to a bland backing as if he is reading words from a page and just spouting them out in melody. "Gone" has the strongest melody out of all the tracks. Now, Composition. Really simple, heavy, rhythmic, non-accentuated, heavily distorted, painfully predictable guitar riffs. Frederik is about as present in this record as Kristoffer Gildenlow and Johan Langell are. Really, he's an extremely talented keyboardist (and writer, for that matter), and Daniel Gildenlow is giving him absolutely nothing to go with. Once again, Daniel sees himself as the most fit to play bass. (hey, it's only job is to make sure his singing sounds perfect) I'm surprised I haven't mentioned singing yet, as it is the absolute center focus of the album. Yes, Daniel has one of the best voices I have ever heard, and this has not changed. However, It just loses so much when emotions and well-written melodies are not coming out of it. They are often so exaggerated that the lyrics are unintelligible, which pretty much leads the listener to believe that they (the lyrics) are not important , which is a complete contradiction to what Pain of Salvation has made themselves about since their seemingly more mature debut. There are also lots of distorted vocals that are really annoying, especially when heard in headphones. As far as tracks go, Gone is the only song that would be passable on any other Pain of Salvation album, I have to admit that the delivery on this song is well done. Bonus Track B is a funny edition to the album, and the Scorpions cover is one of the more enjoyable moments on the album. Overall, I am very disappointed, to say the least. I rated it relative to the rest of Pain of Salvation's catalog, considering that this is still better than 90% of the music out there, but a four star rating would imply that Pain of Salvation really did something right this time, which they didn't. I still think there are plenty of surprises left in store on Road Salt, but, unfortunately, partly because you can't fill two disks of this monotone and uninspired music without blatantly copying yourself.

With the collapse of distribution giant SPV and the subsiquent financial problems with InsideOut (that resulted in Pain of Salvation having to cancel 4 tours with no finance to underwrite them) and the buyout from Century Media, Pain of Salvation found that the new album they had recorded was going to have its release put back by about 6 months. So, to ease the fans wait for the new album, Road Salt, Pain of Salvation went back into the studio to record Linoleum, a 5 song EP of unique tracks meant to give us a taster of what's to come. Now, I dont normally buy EP's as they are just too short for me to waste my hard earned money on, but this is Pain of Salvation, so I wasnt about to pass up the oportunity to get new music from them, and now that I have I'm rather glad that I did.

I remember reading towards the end of 2008 Gildenlow describing his new material as "1976 on steroids" and its a phrase thats very much applicable to this EP to. The opening two tracks, Linoleum and Mortar Grind, have a very strong feeling that the band has been channeling Black Sabbaths early muse with dirty, grungy riffs powering the songs along but with the dynamic shifts and flurishes that are part and parcel of Pain of Salvation. This is a feeling that continous with the EP's 4th track, the 8 minute epic Gone, which for my money is possibly the best track the band has recorded since Beyond the Pale off of Remedy Lane some 5 years ago. This 1970's hard rock/metal feeling is helped by the inspired production on the album which gives a very "gritty" feel to the sound, remeniscent of the 70's production sound, but with excellent definition to each instrument used throughout the album, no problems with a bass or hammond organ/keyboards too low in the mix here. The EP is rounded out with a cover of the Scorpions Yellow Raven, an interesting choice of song but played in a way that keeps it very muh in line with the rest of the EP's material.

Though I'm probably one of the biggest fans of Pain of Salvation currently on ProgArchives, even I have to admit that previous album Scarsick was a disappointment on all levels but the techincal proficiancy of the musicians. However I was certain, without hearing a note of new material beforehand, that Scarsick would very much be a one off and that Gildenlow hadnt lost his touch at musical composition, and Linoleum has very much proved me right. Scarsicks biggest failings were two fold IMO, musical structures that were too simple to hold the listeners attention for any length of time and lyrics that were overt and crass, though I felt both were called for by the concept of the album. Musically Linoleum is well ahead of Scarsick with complexity and catchyness being mixed togethor creatively resulting in 4 very strong songs, though non of them really try too hard to reach the levels of intricacy that was last heard on BE. 3rd track If You Wait stands out in this regard as being a bit different, more of a gentle, mellencholic ambient piece than a full on rocker as the other 4 songs are and proving to be an interesting break in the structure of the EP, adding variety to avoid any chance of the sound getting stale, even if Linoleum is only 28 minutes. Lyrically this EP stays in the regions of heartfelt melencholly that that band tends to do best and so the poor socio-political comentaries of Scarsick are consigned to history, though I'll confess that nothing here touches me in the way that songs like Iter Impius (BE), A Trace of Blood (Remedy Lane) and Reconciliation (The Perfect Element Pt1) have done.

Long time drummer Johan Langal retired from music at the end of 2007 and has been replaced by Frenchman Leo Margarit while a permanent bassist continues to allude the band as well, with Gildenlow once again playing bass as well as his normal vocal and guitar duties. The results are excellent, Margarit is clearly an excellent drummer and on the strength of this recording will prove to be a match for Langal's legacy. The rest of the band are playing at their best as well with them all proving their virtuosity whilst holding a very tight performance that is centred on the composition. The only track on here that I havnt mentioned yet is the 5th one, Bonus Track B, which isnt a song but a rather funny discussion by the band at what they will do for a bonus "track" that I probably shouldnt laugh at, but still do anyway. Overall this is an excellent EP that puts to rest the memory of Scarsick and leaves me hungary for the new album, whenever that comes out. Personal favourits on here is the dynamic Mortar Grind and the powerful epic Gone, both of which have risen my personal favourites list within Pain of Salvations discography, and there is no low points to speak of. This EP doesnt reach the emotional highs that the bands first 4 albums brought me too, but it lacks the vehicle of a concept that Gildenlow has always used to give greater meaning to the bands work but as a taster of things to come, Linoleum fills its requirments excellently, a strong 4 stars.

Whilst I found this quite catchy after the first few listens, there are only a few songs I go back to now, those being Cribcaged and Kingdom if Loss and probably the rest of the album but only as much as one song (if that makes sense). The songs are based around criticising America and all it appears to be to the outside world, especially the materialistic and egotistical components. I expect that may mean a few Americans may declare Daniel Gildenlow as the new Osama Bin Laden. The fact is that PoS aren't repeating themselves, there's a fair few curve balls for anyone wanting The Perfect Element 2. The first song, Scarsick, whilst having a bit of a dboring riff, gets into your head at the end with a build up of melody in the chorus. The second song sounds like Eminem, Korn or something, with the looped sample over a beat and rapping vocals for the verse and a melodic sung chorus. The rapping is more of a venomous rant, like Mike Patton does, not like 50 cent or Puff Daddy. It's actaully apretty good song, a bit long perhaps. The thing most people missed is that this song is basically an attack on the rapper image with all their hired ho's and how they are basically trash. It's called irony or something... Cribcaged is more standard PoS fair, but a bit more laid back to start and there's no real progressive metal flash from their earlier days. The lyrics deal with the shallowness of celebrity, etc. Here here! A top song to play to the kids. "America" - comes across a bit like a quirky pop guitar song, can't pigeonhole it, but a bit more upbeat than their serious stuff. Now for something completely different, Disco Queen will throw people, it starts up with a standard dance beat and bass line, but breaks down into a slow seedy crawl in the verses. At 8 minutes it ain't really gonna be heard on the dance floor and is probably a bit long, a bit of a double en tendre in the lyrics makes it interesting - once again, bit of a comment on the nightclub scene. Kingdom of Loss is a great song - "All for sale", you get the idea of the lyrics, a slower number that builds towards the end, nice gentle chorus, catchy melody and poignant lyrics. "Mother Mary" - Again, a repetitive riff, all the talk about customised guitars and pickups, maybe the guitar was forgotten in the production, the heavy bits sound tinny to me, not enough warmth or crunch. Not a bad song, but not right up there with the rest. "Idiocracy" is another song that builds to a finale, again, the heavy guitars grate a bit, but maybe I like a vintage tone better. "Flame to the moth" starts up with another tinny guitar riff and a bit of an eastern flavour "Enter Rain" is slow brooder, heavy in bits, softer in other bits but never gets close to reaching the heights of say The Perfect Element or Beyond the Pale.

Throughout the album, there's lots of little tastes, bit of flamenco, bit of electronica, etc, I don't really notice it (it's all music), but when I do it's a nice surprise. It's interesting and quite diverse in the genres it explores along with the way the songs progress within themselves. No, it's not as breathtaking as Perfect Element or Remedy Lane, the multilayered harmonies and instrumental passages aren't as interesting and Daniel Gildenlow is almost restrained, but they don't want to write the same song over and over, and that is why they are a great band. The songs are still interesting, the lyrics still deep. My main criticisms are a lack of melodies and instrumental noodlingand I do love a good wanky guitar solo too....

Pain of Salvation is my favorite Progressive Metal band, and I expected very much this EP. After the Scarsick album, I realy would like to know what would lay ahead. This EP is interesting and has good songs, but don't expect so much. "Linoleum" opens this EP with interesting passages, the second half is very good and has a retro atmosphere. Fortunately the scream vocals are very rapidly. I think "Mortar Grind" is the most similar to Scarsick songs, and is the poorest music on this EP, although it's a good song. The song has a dark atmosphere, but the chorus is a problem for me because I think it's very cliche, and there are also lots of distorted vocals. "If you await" is a more diferent music and serves as a prelude for the next and best song on this EP, "Gone". "Gone" is a very good song, with variable elements and moments, but I highlight the great interpretation of Gildenlöw, although I feel uncomfortable with the vocals on the chorus. The next song is a joke, and I disconsidered that. The last song is a Scorpion's cover. "Yellow Raven" is a good music, and has a good interpretation of PoS, ending the EP in a satisfactory maner, in my view. Besides the EP has good songs, and a good interpretation of Gildenlöw on "Gone", this EP is no big deal. So, I think that three stars are the best for PA website.

As usual, I've been waiting anxiously for an album from Pain Of Salvation. This EP, hoping it to be a treat to my ears, left me a bit on my appetite. The first two songs sound like good leftovers from ''SCARSICK''. Track #3, IF YOU WAIT, is the 'soft' part of Pain Of Salvation. GONE (the fourth song) is what the song DEA PECUNIAE (from the ''BE'' album) could have been at its metalest sound. It is full of surprises, yet you can almost guess what chords will come up next. Their Swedish humour is well shown on track #5 (I can't wait to 'see' the hair in their cd's!). It joins well with their humour on the ''TWO DEATHS'' dvd which came out last year. YELLOW RAVEN, a track from an old SCORPIONS album called ''VIRGIN KILLER'', is a nice surprise and ends this EP with style. The next album should be interesting to hear. This EP is musically the logical follow-up to ''SCARSICK''. We are far from albums like ''REMEDY LANE'' or ''THE PERFECT ELEMENT'' (which, by my opinion, are their best), but Pain Of Salvation are still good at what they do: obscure, deep music with Daniel Gildenlöw singing his heart out, being backed by excellent musicians.

This Is Supposed To Be The Perfect Element Part II?

Pain of Salvation began their career with the surprising debut "Entropia", which is one of the strongest debuts in the crowded prog metal world. They continued expanding their original formula on "One Hour By The Concrete Lake", and "The Perfect Element, Pt. 1" is one of my favorite albums of all time. They created another 5 star album with "Remedy Lane". They followed this up with one of the most innovative (and greatest) albums I've ever heard, "BE".

So how can you possibly follow up such a streak of great albums? Apparently release a sub-par album. "Scarsick" is supposed to be "The Perfect Element, Pt. II", but this isn't anything like that masterpiece. This album is disappointing at best. The lyrics are immature and annoying, musically this album is poor, and this just contains nothing that made me originally like Pain of Salvation.

Why is this album worse than any of Pain of Salvation's previous albums?

There is no one reason. It's a combination of things. The rapping really needs to go. In all of Pain of Salvation's previous albums they've had a few hintings towards rap, but this is way too much for my taste, and it detracts from the overall value of the music. It's really a shame because Daniel Gildenlow is a great vocalist, but all of his rapping here sure doesn't show it.

Musically, this album has some issues as well. What made me fall in love with this band was their melodic and unique approach to prog metal. This album contains really none of that. They hint at their glory days a few times, but the majority of the album is really poor. Lastly, the lyrics are very immature at times. Not nessacerily because of the relatively frequent use of the infamous F-Bomb. When that word is used correctly, it can be very powerful and add emotion to the music. The main lyrical issue is the fact that almost every song is about something Daniel hates. We all know you hate America and celebrities! Almost every song is about something he dislikes, and it makes for a really poor album from a lyrical perspective.

THE MUSIC:

"Scarsick"- The first song opens up with a cool metal riff. After that you'll notice it no longer sounds like the Pain of Salvation we know. Daniel Gildenlow is rapping, and it builds back into the main riff. It has a really good vocal melody afterwards that reminds me of their last album, BE. It builds back into the main riff, and then Daniel starts his god-forsaken rapping. This song, like most of the album, had potential but ended up being passable.

"Spitfall"- This song is actually one of the better songs off of the album. It contains four piano notes and Daniel Gildenlow rapping over it. While I am so against rap it may almost seem unreal, it works perfectly here into the wonderful chorus. I really like this song actually, though the lyrics are pretty poor. It's still a good song, but only if you're okay with hearing a little bit of rap in your prog metal.

"Cribcaged"- This is one of the best songs on the album actually, and it has a great piano melody. This song is melodic and beautiful and reminds me what is so great about Pain of Salvation. What's the only problem? The lyrics. He hates celebrities, and he shows it in a very immature way here. F**k this and F**k that doesn't exactly earn our respect, Daniel. I think the use of the F-Bomb every single verse adds nothing meaningful to this song, and he could have done that in a much more mature way. A great song musically, but unfortunately the lyrics are really poor.

"America"- Being an American, I don't even slightly agree with the lyrics here. I've never liked his left-oriented and anti-American views, but I've always respected his opinion. But when you start incorporating such views into your music, I lose a little bit of that respect. Musically this song is nothing special.

"Disco Queen"- The majority of people find this song to be poor, and while I don't completely disagree, I think it has some really cool musical sections. While it doesn't rank up with any of their previous masterpieces, it's a decent enough song with some cool synth lines.

"Kingdom of Loss"- This is the only song on the album that's actually excellent. I really like the melodic feel to this song, and it reminds me of something from The Perfect Element Part 1. The spoken word passages work perfectly, and this song builds very well. I really wish more of the album could have been like this.

"Mrs. Modern Mother Mary"- This opens up with a guitar riff and organ. This is a pretty lousy song, with nothing too special. The chorus is decent, and so are the verses, but this album will never captivate my attention. That's one of my biggest problems with this entire album. It's not completely a throwaway, but it doesn't do anything too special.

"Idiocracy"- This is the weakest song on this entire album in my opinion. While all of the other songs have some redeeming qualities in them, this song is just worthy of the skip button. Despite the really cool opening, it does nothing more. The melodies are annoying, and it repeats basically the entire song. I like the intro and the outro, but the rest is terrible to be honest.

"Flame To The Moth"- This starts with a very cool riff, and when the band comes in it is very cool. It has some really nice riffs, and Daniel give a good vocal performance. This sounds very much like a blend of nu-metal and prog rock at times, and it works pretty well. It still isn't much special, but it is an interesting enough song.

"Enter Rain"- Pain of Salvation is famous for their epic endings to concept albums, so how does the 10-minutes ending work here? Terribly. It doesn't sum anything up, and it's just boring and repetitive. It actually is one of the better songs on the album, but by this point in the album it's too late. I've probably already turned my stereo off. However, this is a good song, and if the rest of the album was more like this it would have been worth a 3. As an ending to a concept album, this fails and is far too long for the material that is here. A pretty disappointing ending.

Conclusion:

Scarsick has potential to be a great prog metal album. Almost every song has it's hintings towards the greatness in their previous albums. Unfortunately, as a whole this album is really a disappointment from a great band. If this wasn't by Pain of Salvation, I would have rated this a 3 because this really isn't a terrible album. But because this album is Pain of Salvation's worst album, and it is such a disappointment, I can rate it no higher than two stars.

2 stars.