Pain of Salvation
 

Well, Since there's no thread on them, i might as well make one.
Progressive metal from Sweden centered around the lead guitarist/vocalist/composer Daniel Gildenlöw. Although progressive metal is what they might be known by, half their material is hardly metal. All their releases are "concept" albums. The music is centered more around the vocals.
They do come off a bit "Pretentious", but bah, screw that word. That's what makes them interesting in the first place.

Entropia, their debut is by far the heaviest and overlooked. The vocals aren't at it's best here, but the music and the concept overall really are solid.

One Hour by the Concrete Lake, the follow up, is kinda similar to Entropia. Musically, again solid but the concept is kinda weak. Seems a bit lacking overall.

The Perfect Element I, Remedy Lane & Be are all superb progressive masterpieces. Again, all are concept albums. The Perfect Element I and Remedy Lane are somewhat similar, musically. Be is on a league of its own and not recommended to start with. It's not even metal.

Scarsick, their last release...well It's definitely their most controversial one :p: Different to say the least, but yah, It's more of a "love it" or "Hate it" kinda thing.

What do they sound like?
A combination of say, Van Der Graaf Generator and Faith No More.

I'll post a compilation soon...In an hour or so. My crappy net keeps disconnecting while uploading it :mad:

Till then, here are a few tracks-

YouTube - Pain of Salvation - In the Flesh
YouTube - Pain of Salvation - Iter Impius
YouTube - Pain of Salvation - Martius Nauticus II
YouTube - Pain of Salvation - A Trace of Blood
YouTube - Pain of Salvation - Kingdom of Loss

Yeah... I just can't get into them at all. OHBTCL is on my playlist and I keep forgetting to erase it, keeps playing tracks from it and I keep right on hating it! :)
For me, boring, pretentious, uninteresting and overblown are the words that spring to mind when I hear PoS (as well as the phrase "remember to delete")!

Pretentious? Maybe
Boring/Uninteresting? Far away from it

I could name a dozen prog. rock albums that could be termed "pretentious". Heck, many great albums are pretentious upto an extent(depends on the way you look at it obviously). It shouldn't be the first factor to judge the music. You can definitely tell when a band is sincere and when they aren't. I prefer my progressive music without cheesy/crappy vocals and over-instrumentation. And these guys definitely seem to satisfy both. OHBTCL for me is their most uninteresting release...maybe try Be or The Perfect Element?

If you honestly don't like it, well, fair enough. Not trying to force you or anything :p:

I'll be honest. If I had heard Kamelot's first album only, I would probably have hated them, and missed out on some fantastic music, so yes, maybe I just chose the wrong one as far as PoS are concerned.
I may try another, though to be honest the music is backing up on my Zen, so it may be a while before I would give them another chance. So much to listen to! :)
And the new Marillion out on Monday! YAY! :D

You definitely are missing out!

Anyways, here's a compilation if anyone is interested.
I had to split it into two parts since my net is giving me troubles.

PoS Compilation Part 1
PoS Compilation Part 2

Track Listing -

1. In the Flesh
2. People Passing By
3. Iter Impius
4. Her Voice
5. Undertow
6. Oblivion Ocean
7. Martius-Nauticus II
8. A Trace of Blood
9. Kingdom of Loss
10. Idioglossia
11. Beyond The Pale
12. Inside

Hey Demonoid, you allowed do this?
If it's not against the rules then, I'll run up a Mostly Autumn compo for you over the weekend. Whaddya think?
TH

As far as i know, posting your own compilations are fine. But not entire albums. So yeah, I'm sure you'll interest a few if you do post one :D

Entirely correct. The more compilations the better as far as I'm concerned. Cheers for the comp demonoid. Looking forward to this one.

All the names of the songs on Be are Latin phrases. Yeah, they're pretentious. But I like them.

Undecided. One minute I love what they are doing, then it almost becomes parody. At least they are providing me with food for thought. An interesting band to say the least (yes I know it is mainly one guy)

Various comps are allowed too, just not official releases.

You know, the whether POS is "pretentious" or not **** aside, Daniel Gildenlow is still one hell of a vocalist IMO.

(He also did lead vocals on my favorite Flower Kings album, Adam & Eve :D)

PS: FIRST POST FTW??

I do believe we're all allowed to have our opinions. I personally have tried to get into OHBTCL, but found it --- oh, what's the word? It's on the tip of my tongue... Oh yeah! Pretentious! :)
Doesn't mean it IS, just that I THINK it is. You saying it isn't ain't gonna change my mind, TL (though I do have to listen to some other of their music when I get time, as I've been advised I picked the wrong album to experience PoS for the first time...)
Anyway, aren't you supposed to be extinct??? :D

Lol Trollheart, being pretentious is like anything else; it can be good or bad depending on the context of the music. Anywayz, I personally wouldn't recommend OHBTCL over Entropia or Remedy Lane for a first time listener of POS anyway. :P

The Perfect Element is one of the greatest things I've ever bought. Ashes is a great song off that album for anybody interested. Check it out!

Well, I'd agree with you...I don't think they are pretentious at all. Just stating that anyone new to the band might take it that way(which i could kinda understand), but listen to more of their stuff and it's just the way they go about.(and there's nothing wrong with it either)

Definitely! I'm not a big flower kings fan, but Adam & Eve wasn't all that bad.(although I do like their earlier stuff more, but i hardly listen to them now a days.)

Well no one has posted in here for a while, I though I'd resurface this thread seeing as they have a new album coming out 2010 "Road Salt"

I brought the EP for Linoleum today and I haven't had the chance to really listen to it. I've heard the song 'Linoleum' and it sounds okay. Pretty straight forward compared to their past more complex work. I heard someone say that it sounds like Trent Reznor on vocals and The Mars Volta with music. I know NIN and yeah I agree Daniel sounds like Reznor on this track but I don't know The Mars Volta... I've always wanted too but don't know where to start, I might have to check out the thread for comps I saw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqZMC...eature=related
^^^ PoS - 'Linoleum'

I like the sound of things to come but then again I actually didn't mind Scarsick too much (I know that others despised it).

Oh and I saw PoS last night supporting Dream Theater, they were insane. I only wish more people were into them, they put on quite a good show for just being a support act. When they ended their set with 'The Perfect Element Pt. 1' I nearly fainted hahaha...

I first listened to some stuff by Pain of Salvation about a year ago and went into them thinking they were going to be death metal sounding (well they are Swedish!) and all wrapped up in concept albums. I listened to the first three albums and wasn`t impressed to say the least. They weren`t really metal and sounded very bitty, I just couldn`t get into them.

About a month a go, a voice in my head said go back and listen to them, I`m glad I did as I`m finding a progressive group with a wealth of influences that produce some damn good music and are another great group to come out of Sweden.

Their music could be described as metal but in a very mellow way, as their influences are in part definately metal based, but of course they bring in a lot of non metal based influences as well, which makes them so interesting.

As for the Albums, well "Entropia" is a very good debut with some great guitaring and other musical sounds with a lot of very good material which at times has a groovy feel. "One Hour by Concrete Lake" I didn`t really like that much, maybe the concept was all quiet dodgy in the first place. "The Perfect Element" I think this is a great album and combines all the positive aspects of the first two albums and is very focused, I`m actually listening to this album at the moment and will probably give it a couple more listens as its so good.



.

You should really get into Remedy Lane, it's much more Folk orientated but still has a metal edge. The only problem with that album is that it doesn't end on the high that The Perfect Element does. They are a very hard band to get into because they never stick to doing one thing but overall I would say they might be 'Folk-Metal'? If that's even possible?? :confused:

If you want to know some good songs by them then just let me know... My Favourite is easily 'Iter Impius Martignea, Son Of Mars Obitus Diutinus' (a very pretentious sounding album it comes from in BE). But I don't think they are pretentious at all to be perfectly honest, they even goof around and make jokes taking the piss out of themselves sometimes.
Here's the link if you want to check it out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBD9L_l1eO8

Without checking if "Remedy Lane" is their 4th album, its defiantely next up on my listening list. Greatly enjoyed "The Perfect Element" and definately their best so far.

Its amazing just how many great metal groups Sweden has produced in the last 15 years or so: Pain of Salvation, At The Gates, Meshuggah, Opeth and Evergrey all quickly come to mind.

I love PoS, am quickly becoming obsessed with Opeth and am only very new to Meshuggah (but I like what I've heard)...

I've never heard of At The Gates and Evergrey? I'm doing some searching soon... if you put a great list of bands together like that then I'm fully assuming that they would both be fantastic. :bowdown:

At The Gates were one of the early bands in the Swedish Death Metal scene and certainly one of the best, their last album came out in 1995 "Slaughter of the Soul" and its an album I love. They split up after this, but have heard they have now got back togeather again. Evergrey are a power metal outfit that I discovered no too long ago and unlike extreme power metal Finnish band Children of Bodom, they play a far more mellower and melodic type of metal, you`d probably like them. Start with their debut "Dark Discovery" this is a great album.

By the way, two other great bands as well are In Flames and Dark Tranquility.

I saw Pain of Salvation two nights ago in Sydney supporting Dream Theater, I was dissapointed by the reaction of the crowd as 1 out of every 8 people was getting into it even though they put on a very good show. Could've played a few more of my favourites though I guess I have to go to a headlining show to see that, one of my favourite bands.

Cool thanks for the info... I will check them out for sure.

I've only heard a little of In Flames and I like what I heard. As for Dark Tranquility, I know them, I have the albums Fiction and Haven... I really like Fiction and I like the mix of symphonic metal and death metal but I haven't given either album enough time for me to have a solid opinion.

I was there as well Hammock and had the same exact reaction that you did, at least I enjoyed seeing them for the first (well for me it was the first time)... Everyone was still waiting outside and I heard negative things being said, I thought it was bull**** to be hearing it as they were great. I have their whole Ashes performance on video and loved hearing The Perfect Element at the end of their set. I was like this is so epic right now people are gonna be pumped for DT soon... but alas I had douchebags around me looking bored, what idiots!

Yeah I've been listening to Pain of Salvation for a few years now and I bought the ticket before they were announced because I'm a big DT fan but then I became heaps more pumped for the show after PoS were announced. I just don't see why the Dream Theater fans hardly took to the show at all, the microphone may have been a little off where you couldn't really understand what he was saying alot of the time but apart from that it was awesome.

Hm, I really love this band - the voice of Daniel, diversity of their music...
Every album is different and it's exactly what fits to me :)

What's your favourite album? And what do you think about album BE?

I think my favourite album is Remedy Lane... it's the most intimate and personal of all their albums, but I still do love The Perfect Element Pt.1.

I couldn't get into BE when I first heard it. After a few listens I really liked it... It would be one of my favourites by them, but their entire discography is so good it makes it hard to choose favourites. The concept of BE is very intriguing and thought-provoking but verges on being pretentious (a lot of Prog. bands get tagged with that term, unfairly I might add). My favourite song by them is Iter Impius... :)

DiSTANToblivion, Iter Impius is also between best songs for me.

Exactly!
I love folk, I love rock, metal, classical music.... and I love Pain of Salvation :D

Last month this band is my number one and in general for sure between my top 10.
Yeah, they are maybe pretentious but... as I know, lot of artists are self-confident or often too self-confident. But I think without it they wouldn't make the music that they make.

My favourite album is Remedy Lane and it was the first that I listened. More catchy than others and also concept seems to be most natural for me.
Second fave or first together with RL is album BE. It took me long time to get into it but more I listen to it, more I love it.
Perfect Element I is also great, probably it has my third place.
One hour by the... is not so much topic for me. Linoleum EP is good but only ok and not so special how albums before. So I am very curious how will be their new album.

Very soon we will have release date of album Road Salt One. For Europe it's 17th of May, for USA 8th of June. I think I am going to buy it imediatelly ;)

How are you looking forward? Do you expect something from this new album?

I personally love the EP, 'Mortar Grind' and 'Gone' are amazing. I really would love for them to go with a more natural concept again, but I never have any fear with PoS. Ebony and Ivory being the two sides to Road Salt. Wonder what's the significance of 'Road Salt' in it's name? The songs on the EP seem to imply talk of a female character dealing with various issues. It seems they like taking the whole dirty edgy concept when they speak of emotional pain. 'Ashes' seems to lean towards what they are trying to achieve with the new album... and that ain't bad at all! :D

Perhaps I'm just a minority in this opinion, but does anyone else think Scarsick is rather underrated? A lot of fans seem to be unhappy with it...despite the fact it is just as innovative, if not more so, than PoS's past efforts. :(

Also, I'm very much looking forward to Road Salt One. It's got AOTY written all over it!

Agreed, I really liked Scarsick (albeit a few misteps - I never like 'America' among a few other songs) but it has some of their best stuff on it... plus any album the closes as well as it does with 'Enter Rain' deserves more attention. I think a lot of their fans tend to be turned off by the rather simple straight-forward way it explains stuff. It's not as metaphoric or symbolic as previous works. Then again those same people complain that Be is too excessively arty and hard to wrap their heads around. Go figure lol.

I still love it, and 'Cribcaged' is one of my favourite PoS songs.

I am happy with it or at least definitelly I like it ;)
Well, I am not sure if this is a good place to say it but in some points of view (some!!), I agree with Daniel so I really like this album.
I love song Cabridged the most but I like also song America.
Eh, I have a feeling some people from USA take this album too serious. Yes, it is angry music, it has some provocative lyrics - but it's Pain of Salvation. All their albums are provocative in some way.
And did you realize melody of America is similar to Bernstein's West side story? Leonard Bernstein is native American and his song is also little bit provocative. So what's so wrong with this song by PoS?

Hello! So some opinions about the new album? :D

Not between my top albums of PoS but I like it really more than Ep Linoleum. And I love song Sisters...

I think "Scarsick" is one of the classic POS albums with its eclectic mix of tunes. Just how many metal groups, could put out a song as absorbing as "Disco Queen"

I have only listened to Disco Queen, but I really like it. I've been meaning to get Scarsick specifically for that song even though I know it's generally rated lower than their others.

Its the only song like it on the album.

I kind of expected that, but for me it'd probably be worthwhile even if that's the only song I like from the album. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

New member here and really glad to see some PoS love. I have OHBTCL, Remedy Lane, and The Perfect Element Pt. 1. These guys are so talented it's ridiculous. I can see why some can't get into them. Not an easy first few listens.

In many ways too talented and too eclectic for many people to easily get into;)