The eleventh full-length studio release from Swedish power/prog innovators Pain of Salvation, Panther (InsideOut Music) is a concept album which presents a futuristic city in which people are separated into dogs and panthers. The dogs being “normal” people while the panthers represent “spectrum” outsiders. Continue reading
Pain Of Salvation has just revealed that they will be releasing their tenth studio album, In the Passing Light of Day, on January 13th via InsideOutMusic. Continue reading
Pain Of Salvation is streaming the music video for “Falling Home”, off of the acoustic album of the same name, out now via InsideOut Musichere.
The video shot in Iceland by director Hilmir Berg Ragnarsson and produced by Hilmir Berg Ragnarsson and Soley Astudottir.
Pain of Salvation’s Daniel Gildenlöw commented as follows:
“I started last year with four months in the hospital, battling flesh eating bacteria, and somehow managed to bounce back to see myself playing Vegas dressed in a rabbit suit. That considered, it felt perfect to end the year knee deep in snow on Iceland, shooting a video for “Falling Home” in a blizzard, with a dead coyote draping my freezing shoulders. I mean, who would have guessed a few years back that the latter would actually turn out to be one of the more normal situations of my 2014? 🙂
I loved every minute on Iceland, and my all-in personality could not have asked for more. When we were not pushing through the snow outside, we’d sit hours on hours in a cold basement of an old power plant, singing the song over and over again with numbing hands and feet, while the Reykjavik sun was setting outside the heavy concrete walls. Damn, we threw ourselves into this video, whole-heartedly and passionately, and I think anyone watching it will feel that.Huge thanks to everyone who helped out with this video, but most of all to Hilmir and Sóley!”
Pain of Salvation Line-Up 2014:
Daniel Gildenlöw – lead vocals, acoustic guitars
Ragnar Zolberg – acoustic guitars, vocals
Léo Margarit – drums, vocals
Daniel D2 Karlsson – rhodes, organs, vocals
Gustaf Hielm – acoustic basses, upright bass, vocals
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It has been a number of years since Pain Of Salvation last graced us with their brand of melancholic metallic prog. Not quite a Tool or Chinese Democracy dynasty of nothingness of course, but still a significant period without one of prog and metal’s most overlooked gems. Such a shame that their return is with a self-indulgent stop-gap.
Falling Home (InsideOut) comprises of mostly stripped down takes on songs throughout their history, a brand new song of a similar ilk and two covers reworked to fit stylistically. The reworked efforts encompass their vast history including album opener ‘Stress’ which takes from 1999’s Entropia (InsideOut) and renders it into a lounge jazz number. In some cases these reimaginings both make sense and work exceptionally well; take the heavy blues of Road Salt One (InsideOut) via ‘Linoleum’ which becomes a much softer, near-ballad which still maintains subtle, up tempo mellotron. ‘Mrs Modern Mother Mary’ similarly sees is metallic air removed entirely, showing a much more delicate side and really showcasing Daniel Gildenlow’s diverse vocal delivery.
Sadly for all its well-realized moments there are also plenty that don’t hit the mark, and even ventures towards simple novelty and becomes very hard to take seriously. The aforementioned ‘Stress’ for example sadly brings to mind comedy acts like Richard Cheese, whilst the most notable of the two covers, their lounge take on Dio’s iconic “Holy Diver” holds absolutely no musical worth and is surely included purely as a joke.
With such a rewarding catalogue at their disposal, its more than well documented at how special a group these Swedes can be, capable of absolute magic; which makes this release all the more disappointing and near aggravating. A collection that ranges from sumptuous takes on already high caliber songs to those that prove either unspectacular or even simply pointless, and a release that will only appeal to a select few uber fans, and the creators themselves.
4.0/10
CHRIS TIPPELL