pain of salvation

Even though Swedish progressive rock/metal innovators Pain of Salvation continue to promote their much acclaimed newest studio album “In The Passing Light Of Day”, released in January via longtime label InsideOutMusic, a set of very special vinyl re-releases has been announced for November 10th, 2017...

Pain of Salvation’s classic early albums “Entropia” (1997, two decades ago), “One Hour By The Concrete Lake” (1998) and “Scarsick” (2007, one decade ago) are being made available for the very first time ever on vinyl. All three albums will be issued as Gatefold 2LP sets (+ CD as bonus) on 180gr. vinyl and including their corresponding bonus tracks from the respective recording sessions.

Here is an overview of the tracklistings as well as the various vinyl colour versions and the corresponding limitation for each of the releases & pre-order links from IOM:



Pain of Salvation - "Entropia" 2LP (70:09) / Tracklisting:

Side A:

1. ! (Foreword) (06:11)

2. Welcome To Entropia (01:22)

3. Winning A War (06:32)

Side B:

1. People Passing By (09:07)

2. Oblivion Ocean (04:43)

3. Stress (05:01)

Side C:

1. Revival (07:39)

2. Void Of Her (01:46)

3. To The End  (04:57)

4. Never Learn To Fly (05:13) * Bonus Track

Side D:

1. Circles (00:55)

2. Nightmist  (06:49)

3. Plains Of Dawn (07:23)

4. Leaving Entropia (Epilogue) (02:31)



Bonus CD: Same 14 Tracks (70:12)

 

Available versions:

Black 2LP+CD

Transparent sun yellow 2LP+CD (IOM Webshop): 100x copies

Transparent red 2LP+CD (CM Distro): 200x copies

White 2LP+CD (Band Shop): 100x copies



 

Pain of Salvation - "One Hour By The Concrete Lake" 2LP (74:47) / Tracklisting:

 Side A:

1. Spirit Of The Land (00:43)

2. Inside (06:12)

3. The Big Machine (04:21)

4. New Year's Eve (05:37)

Side B:

1. Handful Of Nothing (05:39)

2. Water (05:05)

3. Home (05:44)

4. Black Hills (06:32)

Side C:

1. Pilgrim (03:17)

2. Shore Serenity (03:14)

3. Inside Out (06:37)

Side D:

1. Beyond The Mirror (08:26) * Bonus Track

2. Timeweaver’s Tale (06:21) * Bonus Track



Bonus CD: Same 13 tracks (74:53)

 

Available versions:

Black 2LP+CD

Transparent orange 2LP+CD (IOM Webshop): 100x copies

Golden 2LP+CD (CM Distro): 200x copies

White 2LP+CD (Band Shop): 100x copies

 

 

Pain of Salvation - "Scarsick" 2LP (67:47) / Tracklisting:

Side A:

1. Scarsick (07:08)

2. Spitfall (07:17)

Side B:

1. Cribcaged (05:56)

2. America (05:04)

3. Disco Queen (08:22)

Side C:

1. Kingdom Of Loss (06:41)

2. Mrs Modern Mother Mary (04:14)

3. Idiocracy (07:04)

Side D:

1. Flame To The Moth (05:58)

2. Enter Rain (10:03)



Bonus CD: Same 10 tracks (67:54)

 

Available versions:

Black 2LP+CD

Dark green 2LP+CD (IOM Webshop): 100x copies

Transparent magenta 2LP+CD (CM Distro): 200x copies

White 2LP+CD (Band Shop): 100x copies

Swedish metal Easter part one – that’s how the header for this years metallic Easter time could look like. Gebr De Nobel in Leiden hosts two shows with Swedish/Finish bands. Before Gothenburg’s melodic death metal pioneers Dark Tranquillity will hit the stage on Monday it was a prog metal package that enchanted the audience on Saturday night. Prog metal band Pain Of Salvation is on tour through Europe, promoting their newest longplayer “In the Passing Light of Day” and stopped for three shows in 'tulip country'. Together with their support act Port Noir, a band from the greater Stockholm area, the main act ignited a metal fireworks that included all facets progressive metal music could include.

The band that was supposed to break the first ground was Port Noir. Already before the show started, it was a photo in the middle of the stage that created some question marks in people’s minds – at least with the ones not knowing the background. The photo showed a portrait of Port Noir’s former live bassist Kalle Ojala who passed away a month ago and it was the photo that made him present during this show.

With such a heavy burden Port Noir hit the road and after having seen the concert I can report that it was more than worth the effort. The trio nailed down a show that was very well received by the audience. I’m not sure how many fans came for the opener, but Port Noir took everybody’s heart by storm. That the Swedes have great songs in their backpack is something we know already from the latest studio longplayer “Any Way the Wind Carries”. It was more the energy the guys unleashed that was impressive. It almost felt like they wanted to get out of this sadness mode of the last weeks by playing each of the tunes so heavy and loud. At the end of their 40 minutes set the trio received a more than warm applause from an adrenalized crowd.

That means that fans were prepared for the main act and after a short break Pain Of Salvation filled the room with the first notes. “Full Throttle Tribe” from the latest album was a perfect entry point for a two-hour show that was highly entertaining. As not expected differently it was the “In the Passing Light of Day” album that built the core of this show including all highlights of the latest longplayer. Enriched by some earlier tacks from “Remedy Lane” and the two “Road Salt” records, the set showcased pretty much all the periods of Daniel Gildenlöw and band. Each of the twelve songs that have been played that night were real highlights, also showing the development of the band over time. While all of the tunes being a 100% Pain Of Salvation, it has been the newer tracks that showed a level of intensity that was (and is) simply jaw dropping.

It wasn’t that much talking that night and it was the music that was the main point of interest. However, the moments Gildenlöw used for talking to the fans were special too. With a twinkle in the eye he mentioned the sadness of an Easter day like this with Jesus dying that day, followed by another, more serious moment of sadness when the frontman talked about the recent drop of the ‘Mother of all bombs’ and one thing was crystal clear: Pain Of Salvation fans are no Donald Trump supporters.

Time was flying and the show came closer to an end. Normally a band plays two to three songs as the encore. In Pain Of Salvation's case it was one track, but that one had a length of 15 minutes. Gildenlöw announce the closer as a song that everybody should experience in its entirety by though away all the mobile phones and just listen to a terrific version of  “In the Passing Light of Day”, a song that was true grand finale of a show that featured the full spectrum of what progressive metal music stands for. The show included heavy, sometimes almost brutal riffs, moving emotional moment and fragile sequences in which you could have heard a pin drop.

I can't imagine anybody leaving this how with unmet expectations. These 120 minutes belong to the best ones spend in concerts so far in 2017.

Setlist:

1. Full Throttle Tribe
2. Reasons
3. Meaningless
4. Linoleum
5. A Trace of Blood
6. Rope Ends
7. Beyond the Pale
8. Ashes
9. Silent Gold
10. On a Tuesday
11. The Physics of Gridlock
12. The Passing Light of Day (Encore)

Location: Gebr. De Nobel, Leiden, The Netherlands

Date: April 15th, 2017

(9/10) What Daniel Gildenlöw and his band mates offer with the newest Pain Of Salvation album is a jaw-dropping experience for a larger group of progressive metal fans. In case you're looking for some 'Tool-ish' alternative sounds, this is the album to go for. If you're more into melancholic soundscapes - here you go. Heavy riffs and a powerful guitar sound fascinate you? This album delivers. I guess I could continue for a bit longer here, but it's more that this longplayer marks a great start into 2017.

Pain Of Salvation are around since the late 90's, having released in the meantime a few records that are all based on progressive metal that’s always embedded in a heavy sounding context. Gildenlöw could keep this general pattern alive over all the years since the musician is/was involved in quite some other projects as well, outfits that gave him the freedom to try other things than what Pain Of Salvation stands for.

The latest output of Pain Of Salvation was back in 2014 when the band published an acoustic album called "Falling Home". After having paid a bit more attention to the softer and fragile elements of Pain Of Salvation’s sound, the guys shifted gears for the new longplayer "In the Passing Light of Day".

The longplayer starts bold. I can't tell you what happened "On a Tuesday" but it seems like the day was pretty much of a mixed bag. This is reflected in the opener, which starts with a mighty riff, something I haven't expected. The track lives by a constant interaction of contrasts - loud and silent, creepy and optimistic. Over ten minutes it's Pain Of Salvation celebrating prog metal with all nuances you could imagine. This song is definitely the highlight, but all the other ones can easily compete.

Ragnar's vocals, actually in a duet with Gildenlöw, of "Meaningless" are outstanding. The silent moment provides a beautiful moment of reflection before the melodic "Full Throttle Tribe" increases intensity again. Whatever song you choose on this disc, it’s always pleasure moment.

Pain Of Salvation offers a musical kaleidoscope that is just awesome. I like every single track on this longplayer, an album I can seriously recommend. The first benchmark for 2017 is set.

(9/10)

Tracklist:

1. On a Tuesday
2. Tongue of God
3. Meaningless
4. Silent Gold
5. Full Throttle Tribe
6. Reasons
7. Angels of Broken Things
8. The Taming of the Beast
9. If This is the End
10. The Passing Light of Day

Label: InsideOut

Genre: Progressive Metal

Release Date EU: January 13th, 2017

Swedish progressive rock innovators Pain of Salvation have kept busy working on various new recording projects ever since their latest release, the semi-acoustic album “Falling Home” from November 2014. Having just returned from some successful shows in Russia, Pain of Salvation have now also announced a next string of shows in The Netherlands and Italy. Here are the exact dates:

Pain of Salvation – Live 2015:
29.10.2015 NL - Enschede @ Atak
30.10.2015 NL - Apeldoorn @ Gigant
31.10.2015 NL - Amstelveen @ P60
12.12.2015 IT - Rome @ Crossroads Live Club
13.12.2015 IT - Milano @ Circolo Magnolia

More dates will follow…

Swedish prog rockers from Pain Of Salvation published a new video on YouTube. The chosen song is called "Falling home" and is taken from the album of the same name.

(8/10) The brain and heart behind Pain Of Salvation is Daniel Gildenlöw. He is the frontman and mastermind of the Swedish prog band. The band released already eight studio records and got quite some attention in the prog scene.

The idea behind the album is as unusual as the band itself. Pain Of Salvation played some acoustic shows in Germany in 2012 and the plan was to record those and release a live album - esp. since "12:5" was released already in 2004. But sometimes things don't work out as planned. This means in this case that there have been no recordings that could have been used. Bad luck. But also no reason for Pain Of Salvation to give up.

Gildenlöw was that much convinced about the idea that he recorded the acoustic album "Falling home" in the studio. So you could say that the new record is a live album without being a live album.

And after I heard the album I must say that it was a very good decision not to give up. "Falling home" contains a pretty good overview about the discography of the Pain Of Salvation.

Already the opener "Stress" with the dominanting bassline in the beginning is different. The tune got a kind of jazzy arrangement with a real rock'n'roll guitar solo in the middle. Different and good. "Linoleum" is much more relaxed than the original version and "To the shoreline" still reminds to the "The good, the bad, the ugly" from Ennio Morricone - at least in some parts of the song.

"Falling home" also comes with two cover versions. The first is "Holy diver" from Dio. This is a controversal thing since Pain Of Salvation arranged the classic as a chilling piano bar song. I like the version since it sounds very cool. But I guess that there are also totally different opinions about this interpretation.

The second cover is from Lou Reed. It is "Perfect day" and compared to the Dio cover this song it will please much more fans. There is so much emotion in the tune that you want to listen to this version again and again. Very soulful in a great new dress.

"1979" comes as a singer-songriter version while "Mrs. modern mother Mary" got a atmospheric expression.

I like the version of "Spitfall" which is arrange far less heavy than the known version. The groove of the original song comes much more to the front and the rap-like vocals make it really something special. For me, together with the Lou Reed cover, the highlight on the album.

The title track is the bouncer on "Falling home". The song is OK, eventhough there are better ones on the album. It is a slow acoustic track with a certain country-/folk expression.  

All in all I have to say that I like the album very much. It is great to see what you can get out of songs if experience musicans re-arrange their own tracks. They got a new face by still keeping their personality. Well done.

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Stress
2. Linoleum
3. The the shoreline
4. Holy diver
5. 1979
6. Chain sling
7. Perfect day
8. Mrs. modern mother Mary
9. Flame to the moth
10. Spitfall
11. Falling home

Label: InsideOut

Genre: Prog Rock