Pain Of Salvation is one of the most exiting and groundbreaking bands I have ever heard.
Their style is extremely unique, and Remedy Lane has been spinning in my CD player for some time now, but still new discoveries keeps presenting themselves.
The concept is extremely personal, heartbreaking, intense and very emotional, and based in real life.
I think it is very daring and brave to make such an album where you really pour you soul out.
Musically the band is extremely talented and offers some mind-blowing performances. The vocals are sung with a beautiful infelt emotion, the keys/piano are very varied and makes a very special contribution to the songs. The bass is full of power and small details all the time, the drums are played with technical skill, the guitar riffs are complicated and intense. The leads are very melodic, but also work perfect in creating a dark rhythm as in
Undertow.
Of Two Beginnings is a very atmospheric and mystic intro with a brilliant vocal performance, especially the break in the middle sounds fantastic.
Ending Theme is a mid-tempo song, which relies on a slow guitar riff. The song has a pretty long section where a lot of talking is going on, I find this a bit weird but it also works in a strange way. The melodic guitar solo is a big plus.
Fandango is one of the best songs on the album. It is like a thousand things happening in not even 6 minutes. The hypnotic leads works in perfect harmony with the quiet piano arrangements. The stunning break with a brilliant vocal part and detailed drums and technical bass is simply genius.
The song also features a very intense and fast vocal part with a lot of power. I simply love the complex concept of this song; the different guitar and piano sections are almost constant in work.
The next song is one of the greatest moments in music history,
A Trace Of Blood will always be a very special song too me. It's beginning with a very melodic piano a combined by a solid rhythm section, and a brilliant relaxed lead guitar is astonishing. The sudden break and change into a darker atmosphere is working really great. The song is about losing a child before it's birth, an extremely personal lyric and written in beautiful way.
The progressive elements works brilliant and the chorus is one of the most melodic and intense I have ever heard.
This Heart Of Mine (I Pledge) is a very calm and slow ballad. The acoustic guitar and piano are working in great harmony. A song about love and passion, brilliantly sung by Daniel Gildenlöw.
Although
Undertow also starts in a slow way, it builds into a very raw and powerful track. The depressing lyric about feeling lost and down works fantastic with the gloomy atmosphere. The drums are very detailed and the dark and atmospheric ending is simply fantastic.
Rope Ends is about a person trying to commit suicide. The lyric is a bit strange, but very original and heartbreaking. The guitars are creating a lot of changing parts, and the melodic tragic chorus is extremely slow and touching. The different elements in the songs are raging from aggressive, calm, melodic and jamming. It is very easy to hear that this band plays on a very high level of technical performance here.
Chain Sling has some great vocal parts, but the main rhythm is a bit stretched out. The guitars are used in an interesting way. Even though the chorus part is a bit strange at times, the song still has a very original and cool edge to it.
Dryad Of The Woods is the first of two instrumentals in a row. The relaxed feeling it creates is fitting well into the album. The melodic piano and atmospheric keyboard makes a cool mood. The middle-section change is brilliant, putting the song into pace.
Remedy Lane is a keyboard/drum creating song that has a very strange sound to it, still it flows nicely incorporating past melodies, and offers a short break before the last songs.
Waking Every God is a mid-tempo song with some great technical guitar. The chorus is not that melodic, but the quiet piano parts and the raw guitar riff make a great contrast.
Second Love is the album's most calm and slow song. The singing is fantastic and the acoustic guitar makes a great melodic rhythm. The very catchy chorus helps making this one of the best on the record.
Beyond The Pale starts with a very strange hypnotic guitar riff that is a bit overdone, and I must admit that I think this song is a bit too strange. The many different twists and turns are not working as well as in the other songs; it seems too complex in a way. Still there are some slow and melodic passages that I find fitting and of very high quality. The Heavy guitar riffing and intense singing is working as a plus. It is not a tame or standard track, but I would have liked a better ending to this overall marvellous record.
The sound of the record is very balanced between the different instruments, and it has a very clear edge without losing any depth.
The lyrics are of high importance for the album. They are extremely well written and as I said earlier, very personal. The story is about growing up, finding yourself, falling in love and losing it, loss and sorrow, being confused; overall strong emotions.
The listener should be aware that the album takes a lot of time to get in to, but it is surely worth it.
The overall feeling and atmosphere of the record is astonishing and extremely well arranged.
I will continue to be surprised and dazzled by the originality, technical performance and emotion of this very brave album.
Written by
Tommy Saturday, March 1, 2003
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