Pain Of Salvation - Scarsick |
Published Feb. 08 2007
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Scarsick |
| Genre | Progressive Metal |
Daniel Gildenlöw
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 10 |
Daniel Gildenlöw
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 68 Min. |
Johan Hallgren
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Guitar
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| Label | InsideOut Music |
Daniel Gildenlöw
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Bass
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| Release | 22 Jan. 2007 |
Johan Langell
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Drums
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| Country | Sweden |
Fredrik Hermansson
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Keyboard
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| Similar artists | Faith No More, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree | ||
The Swedish progressive outfit Pain Of Salvation is a band that before the release of Scarsick has been unexplored ground for me personally. The few excerpts I've heard before has caught my interest but not reached the depths of me and therefore not invited me to investigate these matters further. Mark my words; this was BEFORE the release of Scarsick. After falling in love with this disc I have moved myself backwards in the discography and found that my initial feelings towards Pain Of Salvation was totally wrong and based on haste conclusions. The 2002 release Remedy Lane is now one of the best records in my collection and in a couple of weeks I'm about to see them live in Gothenburg and my expectations on that show are extremely high.
Scarsick marks a new chapter in Pain Of Salvations history. Compared to the previous and complex offering, entitled BE, Scarsick is much more direct and easily digested although it of course includes superb musicianship and creative arrangements. Scarsick's first two tracks have caused some commotion among the fan base since it includes rap from the mastermind Daniel Gildenlöw. The title track opens the album with a very heavy riff which make me think of the Swedish rap metallers Clawfinger. Up next is Spitfall, probably my favorite track on the album, with its fantastic contrast between the verse and the chorus. In the verse Daniel Gildenlöw states his message with dedicated rapping almost like a politician agitating and then a marvelous and melodic chorus arrives that has the potential to follow you forever. Absolutely brilliant! About the rap, I personally think it works fantastic and suits the lyrical context and musical moods in a perfect way. I wouldn't call it rap either; it's more like the talking kind of vocals Faith No More's Mike Patton sometimes used back in the days.
Cribcaged is more laid back in its character and here the great lyrics once again work in a perfect way together with the music. The lyrics are, as always the case is with Pain Of Salvation, an important factor and it will be quite interesting to see how the Americans will adapt to the quite controversial America. Talking about controversial, Disco Queen is another track that has been the talk of the town to say the least. The chorus sounds exactly as the title implies; 70's disco music all the way that instantly sticks in your brain. But there is another story to this song since the verse is a lot darker and works as a contrast to the chorus that creates balance and diversity. In Kingdom Of Loss the beautiful sonic landscapes from Cribcaged are back and after living with this album over a month this composition has really grew on me as one of the album's highlight. Idiocracy will certainly appeal to all Porcupine Tree fans out there since it has got a lot of common with my favorite Brits. Finally I have to mention the ten minute piece Enter Rain which sums thing up in a splendid way; a majestic composition that slowly grows in the verse and explodes in the chorus.
Would you excuse me if I exaggerated a bit? Well, in that case I can tell you that Scarsick has changed my life. If it wasn't for this album this fantastic band would have stayed unexplored by me but now a new door has opened and I am extremely thankful for that. The die hard fans might not rank this album as high as me but this was my way in to this band and I actually look upon Scarsick as an equal to Remedy Lane.
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
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Summary
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9 chalices of 10 - Hawk |
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