Customer Reviews

Entropia

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"....."

That's what I first thought after listening to Pain of Salvation's debut album for the first time. It was really unlike anything else I'd ever heard, and I didn't know what to think. Entropia is such an eclectic synthesis of so many different musical styles that it truly is original and, well, progressive. That wouldn't be worth much if the songs were badly written, but Pain of Salvation is headed by one of the most brilliant writers/vocalists in the genre.

Most progressive metal copies Dream Theater's Images & Words album, and that gets real old real quick. But some bands, like PoS, actually bring fresh ideas to the genre. Yes, Entropia's got long songs, melody shifts aplenty, weird time changes, and varied song structure, but none of these things are really progressive. Being progressive is about pushing boundaries on musical composition and musicianship. Entropia does this. This is unique album

This innovation comes with its challenges, but if you don't enjoy challenging music you should probably skip this review and this band entirely. I found the album album quite hard to get into because it is so different. Also, sometimes the implementation of so many styles sometimes seems to have been done in a sort of random way, with no real regard to how it fit in the context of the song. There are some awkward herky-jerky musical moments where flow of the song becomes disjointed and suffers. It mostly works ("Revival", "!", for instance), but sometimes it doesn't.

Despite some criticism, the album largely works well. Melody changes are seamless and mostly make sense. Listen to how a song can naturally move from a chugging and vicious guitar riff to a surreal jazzy interlude and you can't help but be amazed. With Entropia, PoS took a chunk of metal and tossed it into the blender with everything from jazz, symphonic prog rock, extreme metal, funk, among other things (most of which can't be individually identified because they are implemented very well, but you know they are there). It's a weird mix, but it's also weird that it works so well.

The vocalist might be an acquired taste for some; like the music, he uses a huge variety of styles, with a delivery running the range between soaring broadway-esque moments and vicious metal growls. I'm not sure who to compare him to, since he's not really like anyone else. There's no denying that this guy has range and power. My only problem is that he sometimes tries to sing far above his range and he loses power at really high notes, where his voice just stops sounding good. (He has improved upon this on later albums.) One thing you'd probably never guess is that this guy's European...there is only a slight trace of an accent and the lyrics are very strong. Since Europe is well-known for its bleak wasteland of power metal where lyrics are utterly bad, Entropia's effective poetry is a nice surprise. Speaking of the lyrics, the disc is a concept album of sorts. It doesn't progress in a story per se, but rather it's a sort of commentary dealing with the impact of war on people (I think).

Unless you've heard other PoS albums, you've probably never heard anything like this. Compared to other PoS albums, it is more experimental and diverse than One Hour by the Concrete Lake (which is more song-oriented to my ears), and less dramatic and "lush" than The Perfect Element. Entropia is like Remedy Lane in that both albums are rhythmically extremely sophisticated and diverse, but Remedy Lane is much more personal lyrically. Either way, I think all progmetal fans should listen to this at least once...love it or hate it, it will probably change the way you think about the genre.

My Pain of Salvation collection started with their latest and greatest masterpiece, Perfect Element, and then their second release One Hour by the Concrete Lake. Both albums made it into my favourites real quick, as seems to have been the case with many others who've given this awesome new prog-band a chance.

I thought two PoS albums would do me fine for a while so I delayed purchasing Entropia. Now that I've got it, I can't believe I didn't buy it sooner. I was blown away with this band again, just as much as I was when I heard the Perfect Element.

This is not as coherent and masterfully crafted as the Perfect Element, nor as refined as One Hour by the Concrete Lake, but it's different enough to deem comparisons irrelevant. You don't get the beautiful vocal melodies and harmonies that you'll find throughout the Perfect Element, but you get more rhythmic diversity and adventure, with lots of tempo changes and unique structures (that actually work well), and fairly prominent infusions of funk (the slap bass works really well), jazz and thrash in a progressive rock mindset. This album should particularly please those who found The Perfect Element and One Hour to be lacking in heavy guitar work.

This is a very daring album that exhibits immense originality and diversity, supported by superb musicianship. It is progressive in every sense of the word. Much more so than most of the essentially recycled material that passes as 'progressive' rock/metal just because it was considered progressive when somebody else did it first.

The production on Entropia is, surprisingly, much cleaner than that on PoS's subsequent two releases.

Anyone that was impressed by the Perfect Element and One Hour by the Concrete Lake should own this album for a different but equally satisfying PoS experience. This album could even win audiences that the other two could not, particularly those who enjoy stuff like Faith no More or Living Colour.

I don't want to sound too overbearing, but Pain of Salvation's first album, Entropia, is possibly one of the most original and revolutionary musical masterpieces of the second half of this century, comparable to "Sargent Pepper" of Beatles fame. This music takes the super-genre of progressive metal and rock to a higher level, infusing influence from anywhere from classical, funk, to death metal. This is NOT an album for the light-hearted or un-adventureous. Daneil Gildenlow (lead vocalist, guitarist and composer) shows an amaizing array of flexebility in his music and in his heart, this is truely emotional music for the complexity of the human spirit. Like any great work of art, it has it's unsettling statements and character that challenge our comfort level, almost getting too undeniably close to the questions and answers that plague our society and our human nature. Guildenlow has an incredible voice, but more importantly, he has an incredible amount of a soul and spirit, and you can feel this through his voice and music. There is a wide veriety of influences to this band, you can hear Debussy to Faith No More, Dream Theater, Schostakovich, Pink Floyed, Marillion, and quite a bit of light opera (some of the parts very much remind me of the style of Les Misserables, the band pays special tribute to Jesus Christ Superstar).

The album itself is a thematic concept album, as it has no plot in the traditional sense, but more reocurring metephores and themes. The main themes of this album are anti-war and anti-hate. The lyrics read like poetry. It is very deep, intellectual outlook onto the dark side of humanity and society.

As for the music itself, there is EVERYTHING on this album, I've never heard a cleaner mix of styles. As said before, there are many influences, but they are so well integrated, that it's impossible to point them out moment to moment. The music is sometimes very demanding and driving (somehow this band is able to achieve amaizing grooves, but while going in and out of odd time signatures) while other times are extremely poignent. The ballads are incredible, all the background and choral vocals are done by the entire band (there is very little overdubbing) and they are incredible, sometimes singing ocapella sections that will make your heart melt. Every piece on the album is a highlight, each one stands out for itself, from the dramatic opener "!" to the ambient choral ballad, "Plains of Dawn," to the drivinly funkadelic (for lack of a better term) "Stress."

This album is incredibly demanding as well, it demands attention, throught, and time (you may be completely lost during the first few listens to this work). There is no other music remotely similar to this band, it is incredibly groundbreaking. This album may have you crying, feeling emotionally fullfilled, or angry, but none-the-less, it WILL change you.

Easily one of the best debuts that has ever crossed my ears, Pain of Salvation's Entropia marked the start of what would be a consistent chain of absolutely staggering progressive metal concept albums - and what a magnificent start it was.

Entropia, which is derived from the words "entropy" and "utopia", is a very loose concept in comparison to future albums. While it does, in a way, follow a central story with specific characters, it also acts as a general commentary on war and societal injustice. As such, it is far more open to interpretation and will likely be approached differently by different people.

From a tangible standpoint, the album is divided into four chapters and follows a child, his father, and his mother through a period of war in a land called Entropia. When the father leaves his family to fight in the war, the album looks through the eyes of his son as he aches and bleeds within, longing for his father's return. Sorely missing the love and presence of his dad, the son eventually strays from his once promising path and falls into poverty and disarray... and finally, into the cold embrace of the grave. Broken with the news, the father pleads to God, and swears to take what's left of his family and move away into West Entropia.

Their new life, however, is not all that was expected. West Entropia has its own share of problems. Industry is spinning out of control, technology is pervasive throughout everything, violence and hatred are far closer than ever before, and all of it quickly becomes overbearing. So overbearing, that the man is unable to protect his wife from the dangers of this hostile new world. Upon suffering this second loss, the man has another conflict with God, and eventually arrives at the realization that every ounce of energy he had expended to create order in a given situation had resulted in chaos and despair on a much larger scale, and - finally coming to terms with his inability to protect his loved ones from harm - he commits suicide.

All of this is, as stated previously, only a guiding light within the larger concept which, again, is largely open to interpretation.

Musically, it is very obvious that Pain of Salvation were still trying to decide on a solid direction, as this album features elements of straight ahead metal, funk, jazz, bombastic prog rock, bittersweet balladry, and more. Daniel's voice is raw and slightly underdeveloped, comparatively speaking. You can feel the strain in his voice when he attempts to hit highs and lows that would come effortlessly on future albums, and he indulges himself in 'Yeeeaaaaahhh!'s and 'Waaaaaaahh!'s on here in ways that really never resurface past this album - however, this element of imperfection adds a welcome dimension of added energy and sincerity... and either way, he still has that sense of massive empathy and power that blows away just about any other male vocalist I have heard.

From a structural and song writing point of view, Entropia is all over the place. The band jumps between styles sporadically, moods and dynamics are constantly shifting around in potentially disorienting fashion, and the instrumental work here is easily the flashiest that they've ever done - though nothing near the masturbatory self-indulgences of the typical progressive metal band. Pain of Salvation have become known for always placing the song and concept first, and while it might not be quite as obvious on Entropia as the band were still experimenting with different directions and composing exploratively, it is still quite reasonable. This "New Band Syndrome", as I like to call it, actually works out very well for the band in many ways. The rhythm section of Johan Langell on drums and Kristoffer Gildenlow on bass is at its most frenetic, displaying much more of a jazz-influenced freestyle flow and throwing around some rather "in your face"-type mind-boggling patterns that we never really get to hear on future albums. Daniel Gildenlow's vocals are fascinating and exciting, often coming across like a newborn baby that wants to do absolutely everything at the same time, and do it to the absolute extremes. This was also Pain of Salvation's only album recorded with guitarist Daniel Magdic, and he displays some of the best lead work ever heard on a Pain of Salvation album.

In other words, while Pain of Salvation's future albums would become very serious and dramatic in just about every aspect, Entropia remains an extremely fun experience at surface-level while still retaining a high intelligence factor in the lyrical and conceptual departments. With that, it should also be said that this album might be the hardest Pain of Salvation album to get into because of how all over the place it is - but it's well worth the time to try.

Song-wise, just about everything on here is a trip... though the introductory track, interestingly named "! (Foreword)", is a very propulsive song that immediately kicks off with chugging riffs, pounding drums, and background keyboards, with Daniel alternating between high-pitched wails and angry shouts - and just like that, the song lapses into a pulsing bass line with Daniel singing in an almost narratory manner - "Listen to me now - You! Listen to me now - You! Do my words mean more to hear when I am standing here? On a stage like all your silly idols do!" Drums join the fray, providing cymbal flourishes as Daniel continues - "Open up your eyes - All! Let your walls and grins fall. Would you reach for something new, if the crowds were reaching too? Are you close enough to taste their tears at all?" From here, the song begins to plow through styles and tempo shifts like Mr. Bungle gone mad. Daniel Gildenlow also goes on to give several assuredly over-dramatic performances throughout the course of this song that are simply staggering and might even be considered as some of the greatest he has ever done.

"People Passing By", the longest song on the album at approximately nine minutes, is probably the best thing on here. Slap bass and funky drums launch the song into full throttle, and the dynamics from there on out remain in a state of continuous motion - hopping around from funk, to metal, to mellow segments of arpeggiated clean guitars, back to propulsive funk, and so forth. Around a quarter of the way through, the band enters into an extended instrumental section which goes on for around three minutes. Suddenly, the wall of sound drops out, leaving only Daniel crooning softly over a somber guitar melody, soon backed by a prominent bass line... and at the 7:00 mark we are treated to an explosive solo from guitarist Daniel Magdic that is as emotionally moving as it is technically astounding - without a doubt the most impressive piece of guitar work ever placed on a Pain of Salvation record.

"Oblivion Ocean" consists of nothing but Daniel singing over a clean guitar melody. His voice here is torn, pained, and absolutely forlorn. The last chorus of this song will likely bring tears to your eyes. Very moving and quite beautiful, both musically and lyrically.

"Stress", the most kinetic and energetic thing on here, has been described as King Crimson meets Michael Jackson, and I'm inclined to agree. "To The End" is straight-ahead driving metal that features a really jarring transition into pure jazz that lasts for only a few seconds before dropping out once again into metallic fury. "Void of Her" and "Circles" feature solo guitar and bass pieces, respectively. "Nightmist" is a somber song that unexpectedly drops into pure funk about halfway through, with more tasty slap bass and upbeat drum work, before breaking out into another monster guitar solo from Daniel Magdic and finally exploding into absolutely headbang-worthy metal. "Plains of Dawn" is a pained and mostly tranquil piece that features beautiful vocal harmonies, a gorgeous acoustic guitar solo, and soaring choruses with multiple performances from Daniel Gildenlow that will absolutely take your breath away... the song ends on a rather heavy note, and moves into the epilogue, "Leaving Entropia". This is a reflective, somber duet between Daniel's voice and an acoustic guitar, and does a wonderful job of bringing the album to a close.

With such a diverse musical soundscape, it's very easy to simply get lost in the music and forget all about the underlying groundwork. This is, of course, a very big mistake, because even when Pain of Salvation were throwing musical conventions out the window like a demented Danny Elfman, they still paid a great deal of attention to conceptual considerations. Indeed, the lyricism here is strong, complex, and passionate and needs to be taken in along with everything else... otherwise, the experience will be decidedly incomplete.

Entropia was actually my favorite Pain of Salvation album for quite a while. Though I've since had a change of heart, I will still say that this is an absolutely mammoth accomplishment for a debut album, and should be picked up post-haste by any progressive metal fan who is tired of the same old trite and boring Dream Theater worship and instead would like something that's actually progressive and compelling.

Pain of Salvation are peerless.

Though I'm sure to piss off alot of POS fans, I just didn't feel this album was as well excecuted as the rest of their efforts. They do have a refreshing sound, which successfully manages to juxtapose several types of musical genres into a metal based blend. However, some of the songs, IMO, just seem too random, such as "Nightmist" and "Plains of Dawn" which features too much choir singing. Daniel has a great voice and only he should sing the verses. Having said that, the music is dead on. Overall it's a great debut album, but not quite a classic. For POS newbies, try One Hour By the Concrete Lake, a nearly perfect album in every regard.

Wow. I shelved Pain of Salvation about a year ago after listening to it once, thinking it was another Dream Theater knock-off. I pulled them out a couple months ago and can't get enough of them since. I've been jumping around their albums debating on which is the best.

Entropia is filled with great recordings that not only work as stand-alone songs, but fit together like a puzzle to create one progressive rock masterpiece. "Winning a War" is more pop-sounding with groaning vocals. "People Passing By," one of the highlights of the album, has such a unique sound I can't even describe it. "Revival" has a really sweet guitar solo in the middle of some hardcore jamming, and "Plains of Dawn" ends in a soaring finale with beautiful harmonies.

I really like the bonus track "Never Learn to Fly," a very slow piece that fits nicely in the middle of a seemingly marathon middle metal section. It's somewhat of a relief from what is amazing music, but can get a little on the hard side sometimes.

Overall, Pain of Salvation manages to shift styles in mid-sequence without losing their vision, unlike recent Dream Theater albums that wander aimlessly in self-indulging shredding. PoS knows where they are the whole time and continue to tell the story with different styles for different moods. The shift to funk in the middle of "Nightmist" is a classic example of this. This album really grooves.

This is my favorite POS album, mainly due to its raw emotion and adventurous spirit. Is there any type of music not used on this recording? These guys are the Kings of BOMBAST, and that's what is so endearing about them. From whispered passages directly into ear- shattering power chords, all done at breakneck speed! I swear, a screeching guitar solo nearly left a shard from my headphone embedded in the side of my skull! Not for the faint of heart or someone who likes his/ her music predictable or formulaic. Really dig the first track, "Foreword," the emotionally- charged "Oblivion Ocean," and the guitar intro to "Void of Her." The whole disc is good and definitely not boring!

Pain of Salvation are a pretty damn impressive band, and this is unquestionably one of the strongest, most fully formed debut albums I've ever heard. It's also perhaps a bit more conventional than their last couple albums, from a prog-metal standpoint, though they certainly aren't just a Dream Theater clone.(Though they perhaps aren't as different from them as some would suggest.) Still, innovation and and originality can never replace good song writing, and here PoS (tee-hee!) manages to have a lot of the latter while not neglecting the former. Personally, I think this is their second best studio album, behind 'Remedy Lane'. Definitely worth checking out.

Though this album still contains a great many different influences, it is definitely Pain of Salvation's most metallic album. On their last few albums, PoS liked to jump completely from one style to another, while here they generally remain within the basic prog-metal framework, while still brining in plenty of other influences. (Jazz and funk being probably the two most prominent ones) There is also a bit more emphasis on flashy prog-metal style instrumental sections, but they're still far more restrained and song-oriented than many of their peers. (And, this album has some of the best leadwork they've ever done) Still, their technical ability is undeniable as they move through sudden, inexplicable stylistic changes with plenty of odd-time rhythms and some dense polyrhythmic stuff. Gildenlow isn't fully developed as a singer, but he's still quite good, with a more generally aggressive performance than on most of their later albums, with a fair bit of nice screaming.(Lotsa people don't like this though) And, the vocal melodies are some of his most consistently memorable, with plenty of soaring, memorable choruses.

I like all the tracks here, though I'm not too big on 'Stress', and it is definitely the weakest thing here. Lotsa noise and motion, but it never really does anything all that interesting. The opener, '!', is probably the most propulsive, aggressive track on the album, with a very powerful chorus, and a somewhat over the top vocal performance from Daniel. The epic 'People Passing By' is definitely the best thing here, and probably my favorite track of theirs on any album. The first half of the song is a powerful mix of funk and metal, very effective and catchy by any standard, but it's the last movement that really shines, with a tortured, powerful vocal performance from Daniel and the best leadwork on any PoS song, bar none. 'Oblivion Ocean' is the first ballad, and while it is definitely a bit melodramatic, it is quite powerful, and with an unforgettable chorus. 'Nightmist' is the last consistently heavy song on the album, but still quite eclectic with a very unexpected funk break in the middle and another dynamic vocal performance. 'Plains of Dawn' is the emotional climax of the album, and another balladish track, with pretty, understated instrumental work and a myriad of sorrowful vocal lines. Definitely a great track, which does a good job of distinguishing itself from everything that came before, while still seeming quite appropriate. 'Leaving Entropia' is the closer, a pleasant little acoustic number, and though it isn't as effective as the last couple tracks, it provides a nice epilogue.

Yep, great album here. If you're primarily a metal fan, this would probably be the best Pain of Salvation album to get first.

Pain of Salvation's debut, "Entropia", is often overlooked by most of their fans, and I can't begin to figure out why. This is an absolute masterpiece, full of perfectly executed musicianship, a fair share of melody, and diversity around every corner. I have to laugh when people refer to "Remedy Lane" as their most ambitious and diverse album. There is so much more musical depth and creativity within this album than in that overrated piece of contrived pop cheese. If you want to hear original,well-crafted progressive metal, buy this and "One Hour by the Concrete Lake". Their later material sounds so boring and stale by comparison. It's quite a shame they're already past their prime.

While POS has had enormous growth over the years, Entropia was their album that marked the arrival of one of the most innovative bands in the world. If you're a POS fan, you should know that there is not one POS album you can grasp on the first try. That's the beauty of their music: secret meanings, different plots, a lot of texture, cerebral lyrics and intelligent concepts. Daniel Gildenlow is a unique artist; he likes to explore all sorts of musical ideas and thus he's more creative artistically than most of his contemporaries. He likes to push music in more unexplored directions with each album to express himself.

Entropia is Pain of Salvation's debut album; it was originally released in Japan in 1997, but it would take two years for it to break in Europe and Stateside, after the success of their sophomore album One Hour. Hence the reason why some people confuse the two CDs. Anyway, compared to One Hour, Entropia is more raw in a way, and more fresh in a way. It has more groove and soul, while One Hour was more stiff (yet more focused). Most of the material on Entropia was collected and written when Daniel was in his early twenties. In this aspect the album tends to branch out quite a bit and comes off sounding more unpredictable than the band's later releases. Considering that Entropia is a debut album, that is a very big asset. The music borrows a lot of funk influences, some rock influences, some traditional metal and even some death metal riffs. Since the band's original bassist was Gustaf Hielm, who later joined Meshuggah, that may be the reason. Also Daniel admits that they may have taken some hints from death metal way back. The song structures vary a lot and they are more loose in a way. The combination of funky riffs and ultra heavy riff-laden approach provides an interesting contrast, and takes the compositions to a totally new ground. Vocalist Daniel is very multi-dimensional: he can soar from a deep bassy tone to a high witched wail effortlesly and effectively. So if you prefer vocal diversity at the highest level over the same boring tone, you are in for a treat. These are only few of the features that make Entropia arguably their heaviest release to date.

Also, this is the only album with guitarist Daniel Magdic on it, who contributed a little to the songwriting as well. He lays down some amazing guitar solos, a bit longer than the solos on their later albums. I really like the attitude he puts behind his playing, moreso than his advanced technique. His solos speak, and he's found a greath path to express himself musically. Kristoffer's bass is powerful, full of life. His rich bass line in the song "People Passing By" is beyond this world! The drumming once again is very diverse, the solo on the intro of "Stress" is awesome indeed. In all the songs the music carries a great deal of unity. The keys enter and leave as the story in the concept begins to take shape and you realise how well-thought the lyrics are on the album. The mix is very crisp and fresh, it allows each instrument to make itself felt and blend seamlessly with each other.

But Entropia isn't just about the music. There is so much more to it as far as the concept is concerned. Basically the album looks through the eyes of a small child and his father. When his father has to leave him and his mother to go to war, we are given insight how he aches and bleeds within. The songs scream out rage at the senselessness of war and its outcome. "People Passing By" has a great lyrical theme dealing with the backside of society [this is more vividly explored on The Perfect Element Pt.1], about the people that are made redunant by others. It is about a homeless man who could probably have been a useful individual in the society had it not been for the destructive war. This amazing concept album is presented in three chapters which again sees Gildenlow exploring dark and complex lyrical and thematic subject matters. The title of the album was derived from the words 'Entropy' and 'Utopia'. Entropia is the place where the soldier takes his wife after his return from war. Upon losing his beloved son, he and his wife move to West Entropia (a vague satire at industrialization and technology overstepping its limits?), but is unfortunately unable to protect her from wrongdoings. There are so many shadings and meanings to this concept, and I highly recommend you try to bring out your own interpretation. Whatever the concept, Gildenlow manages to deliver with emotion, intelligence, integrity, passion, complexity, and poignancy.

I love each and every song on this CD, but my favourites would be the 9-minute epic "People Passing By" with its amazing vocal delivery, incredibly articulate guitar solo, and on top of it all its lyrical theme. The lyrics are alive with emotion and sentiment! "Nightmist" is another winner for its blending everything regarding the band's talent and "Plains of Dawn" towards the end of the CD takes the listener to height where he might want to freeze forever.