LINOLEUM

Linoleum starts off with the loud metal title track and pretty soon I recognized an apparent pattern here which reminded me of the title track from Scar Sick. This previous studio album was a continuation of the concept album The Perfect Element Part 1. Does that mean that this is Scar Sick Part 2 hence The Perfect Element Part 3? Probably not, but at least it was a thought.

Mortar Grind is probably the most straight-forward metal composition that the band has ever recorded which might mean that the shift on Scar Sick wasn't a one time deal. The tune's chorus section is catchy but I got tired of it after a few spins and now usually skip the song every time I see it coming up on the play-list.

Things do get a whole lot better with the short but sweet If You Wait and the eight minute long Gone. These two track redeem the EP for me and hopefully there is more where this material came from once the full length studio album hits the market. Pain Of Salvation balances the fine line between metal and ballad-like sections on these tracks and put their original spin on the compositions, something that I definitely lacked on the first two tracks that sounded more like typical output from Roadrunner Records, but with slightly better production.

Track five is a bonus track which I would have considered unnecessary on a full length album but the joke within works fairly well in the context of the EP and so I'll leave it at that. The closing composition is a cover of an early Scorpions track which actually once again strengthen my point when I mentioned that Second Love on Remedy Lane sounded a lot like a Scorpions tribute. Still I should probably give Pain Of Salvation credit for not hiding their sources of inspiration. Especially since they do a great cover of this lesser known classic.

So what do I think about Linoleum as an EP? It definitely does the job it was suppose to do, nothing more and nothing less. Although the EP showed us the metal side of the band I personally lacked those mellow subtle moments that Pain Of Salvation has perfected on their previous releases.

At least, here in Sweden, we've got a good taste of that during the performance of Road Salt which the band played live at the Melodifestivalen 2010 and was broadcast on national television. That song is so far my favorite of the material from the upcoming album so maybe it's a sign of the things to come once the actual album is released. Therefore I shall restrain myself from any type of prediction of how that record will turn out to be but you can be sure that's I'll be following the progress.

**** star songs: If You Wait (2:50) Gone (7:55) Yellow Raven (5:39)

*** star songs: Linoleum (4:54) Mortar Grind (5:52) Bonus Track B (2:28)

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