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Pain Of Salvation - Entropia CD (album) cover

ENTROPIA

Pain Of Salvation

 

Progressive Metal

4.09 | 626 ratings

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AtLossForWords
Prog Reviewer
5 stars It's not suprising to see five star reviews for Pain of Salvation anymore. Entropia however seems not to recieve the great acclaim of other works. Is this justified?

Entropia is Pain of Salvation's debut album. At my first listen, I didn't care as much for the album as I do for later Pain of Salvation releases. Now as I listen to this album, I have to admit that Enropia contains some of Pain of Salvations strongest and most creative matierial. People Passing By, Winning a War, Oblivion Ocean, and Plains of Dawn are all some of the most amazing tunes in Pain of Salvation's repitoire. Entropia also shows off much more intrumental mastery than the later efforts.

Daniel Gildenlow's vocals are not quite to the point of later albums, but they fit this debut perfectly. Not only does Gildenlow put in a great vocal performance, the harmonies done by other members of the band are placed perfectly making this album worth listening to just for the vocals. Gildenlow's guitar playing is some of the most complex throughout his entire career. Not only is there quite a bit of dissonant melody, but there is an awful lot of shread solos and unisons that really make this a unique Pain of Salvation album.

Fredrik Hermansson's keys are the most important element to the album, but it's certainly a necessary one. Hermansson doesn't participate in the virtuoso unisons that the Gildenlows and Daniel Magdic will, but he is an important source of melody and tonal distinction. Hermansson's playing is supposed to be an atmospheric effect, which he accomplishes ten times out of ten.

Daniel Magdic made his lone Pain of Salvation performance on this album. Subsequently this is one of the most technical Pain of Salvation's albums. I think his contribution to later albums most specifically One Hour by the Concrete Lake would have been quite interesting. Magdic's time in Pain of Salvation was short, but excellent none the less.

Kristoffer Gildenlow does some great bass playing on this album as well. The album is more metal than later Pain of Salvation matierial, and that is reflected in Gildenlow's playing. There are some really cool bass parts in songs like Circles, People Passing By, and Winning a War, but sadly this is not Kristoffer Gidlenlow's most impressive work. There's still good things, so I'm lead to believe it's not his fault, but simply the style he was playing didn't dictate the use of many of his talents.

It is interesting to here a drummer as jazzy as Johan Langell play such a straight ahead metal style throughout this album. Langell's creative use of every piece of his set is even more impressive going full speed. Interesting cymbal use and excellent fills make Langell's performance on this album unforgettable.

The production is top notch for a debut album. Everything is clear, strong, and most importantly audible. The guitar feature a lighter and unique distortion, but still come off incredibly potent. The bass is very present in the mix with the most balanced equalization. It's great to hear bass that isn't overly bassy or tinny from excessive high range. It's just a great balanced tone. The drums are great. Each tom and cymbal has great sustain and articulation. The keyboards aren't as creative as most Pain of Salvation efforts, but none the less provide an important atmospheric element.

This is my personal favorite from Pain of Salvation. The creativity of this album is unmatched even by future efforts like BE. It's a shame Pain of Salvation didn't stick with this style longer, but then again that may be what makes this album so special. It's one of the most imaginary progressive metal albums a fan will ever hear.

How could I not give this spectacular album from this spectacular band five stars?

AtLossForWords | 5/5 |

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