Pain Of Salvation

Entropia

(c)(p)1997 Marquee, Inc., Japan

Review by Jason Sorens

Pain of Salvation is something new and difficult to describe, though I shall spill much virtual ink attempting to do just that. Hailing from Sweden, that breeding-ground of much good music, Pain of Salvation fits under the general rubric of "progressive metal", though here that term is a bit limiting. Belonging neither to the shred / neoclassical (Symphony X, Stratovarius) or hypertechnical (Watchtower, Meshuggah) schools of prog, PoS fits more with what might be called the "quirky" school. I find much resemblance to that other quirky band, the Galactic Cowboys, probably because (as they admit) they are both influenced by King's X. Pain of Salvation's smooth, rich, vaguely Beatles-ish vocal harmonies are the clearest legacy of King's X.

Shades of other interesting bands crop up here and there. Daniel Magdic, who does a minority of the songwriting, cites as influences Kiss, Queensryche, Rush, Marillion, King's X, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Meshuggah, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Yes, Sting, King Diamond, Fates Warning, and Black Sabbath. That about covers it, I guess. The Meshuggah, Dream Theater, and King's X influences are quite strong in his writing, it seems. Magdic participates in writing some of my favorite songs on "Entropia": "!" (the opener), "Stress", and "To the End". Stop-and-start riffs (akin to Superior, Dream Theater, and Meshuggah) are common in these songs.

Daniel Gildenlow, who does most of the songwriting, pays homage to Simon and Garfunkel, "Jesus Christ Superstar", Faith No More, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, and Queensryche. Only one metal band there. The Queensryche influence comes through most strongly in the sense of drama Pain of Salvation infuses into many of their songs, the same drama that pervades "Operation:Mindcrime". My favorite Gildenlow-only songs are "Oblivion Ocean" (something of a ballad) and "Circles" (a stomper).

Keyboards are used heavily, which is sometimes unfortunate and sometimes shrewd. A few of the keyboard runs are very like arid music-school jazz. Quite a bit of the guitar is acoustic. Few traditional guitar solos appear, but as noted above, chunky start-and-stop riffs are common.

In this brief review, I have touched on only a few highlights of this interesting and thoughtful creation. It is a long chunk of music, clocking in at over seventy minutes, because of its length, its coherence is sometimes strained. Unfortunately, it is currently available only as a Japanese import, though a deal has recently been struck for European distribution. A follow-up effort, "One Hour by the Concrete Lake", is already available in Japan.

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