Customer Reviews

One Hour By The Concrete Lake

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pain of Salvation is so much more than just a band name of three words. First of all, the Swedish prog metal band is o r i g i n a l. They are, in my opinion, the first prog metal band since the early-90's that truly managed to impress not only prog listeners but fans of other genres as well. In the 80's we had Queensryche and Fates Warning dominating, in the 90's we had Dream Theater plus a few others paving the way for hundreds of other bands. And today we have Pain of Salvation. If they continue releasing diverse, emotional, chaotic and cerebral albums in this vein, they are going to put their mark on this decade as far as prog metal is concerned.

One Hour By The Concrete Lake is their second album, however it was the first to come out in Europe. Their debut Entropia was released in Japan but didn't really get too much critical acclaim in Europe or Stateside--until their second CD One Hour came out. You may be wondering what the title of album stands for. The ideas behind it are some of the most interesting things about this release, especially regarding the radioactivity in Lake Karachay in the former USSR. Most of us might have heard of Chernobyl, for example, because it was very apparent. But learning that a lake covered in concrete had such a high level of radioactivity that it could still kill someone after only an hour standing near it is very appalling to say the least.

Daniel Gildenlow, guitarist/vocalist/(main) songwriter of POS, has always been very interested in politics, social injustice, and every other kind of wrong-doing going on in the world. He wrote the concept of One Hour during some International Relations and Nuclear Physics studies he did at school, and at the same time he was also writing a paper on music lyrics' influence on listeners on a social level. Thus, writing and releasing One Hour was also the first album that gave him the courage to believe he could actually spread good messages with music. This is the album where POS realised the potential possibility of changing things through their records. And, isn't that one of the core parts of heavy metal after all? Another reason why they get my utmost respect.

The album opens with the short intro "Spirit of the Land" setting the mood and moves on to "Inside" with an excellent keyboard mix that immediately catches your interest and prevents you from concentrating on something else. It is a very well crafted intro accompanied by the rhythm guitars, bass, drums and finally Gildenlow's beyond godly vocal delivery. The first couple of sentences give subtle messages and we gradually begin to realise that One Hour is a very angry album, especially in certain parts: "I was told the pain and hunger was not my fault..."

Lyrically the album deals with issues like war, war industry, environment, pollution, Indains. The subtopics derive from the search of a man for the right way of living. POS has released four albums so far, all of which are conceptual. While One Hour is also a concept album, it contains several independent subtopics, and instead of directly telling a story, it combines the above mentioned lyrical themes in a very unusual and successful way. Gildenlow believes that it is still possible to have individual lyrics within a concept and focus on various issues lyrically. I read in an interview that they decided to record this album after Gildenlow wrote a 600 page essay.

Compared to the band's debut Entropia, One Hour is more focused and more mature. Entropia was very fresh in a way and very raw in a way. It had more groove and soul, while One Hour is a bit more stiff. But their debut had borrowed lots of elements from various genres and therefore it didn't sound as focused as OHBTCL. It was perhaps branching out too far trying to cover new ground every second.

The fifth track "Handful of Nothing" showcases one of the greatest screams to have been recorded, not only by Daniel but by any singer ever. The advanced rhythm section sounds incredible, though to Daniel it is much harder to tap into the right emotions at the right time. This is another main aspect that makes POS different than most other prog bands. They aren't about technical wizardy trying to impress their fans with any sort of prowess. While it is obvious they are extremely talented musicians, they seem to focus more on the emotional side of prog metal, which nowadays is not a very common thing, especially considering all the Dream Theater clones out there.

Gildenlow's vocals are almost impossible to explain. He is one of the most versatile, multi-dimensional singers I have ever heard (some others would be Keith Sudano from Eternity X and Dan Swano from Nightingale & Edge of Sanity). He uses his voice in very different ways through the entire album, and on every other POS release as well. He has stated many a time in various interviews that the prog metal genre is having a fixed position in a way with the high pitched vocals constantly being up there and doing the same stuff all the time. It's like having a guitarist that only plays one single way of playing, just one range of the guitar, he says. So we always hear him experimenting with his vocal delivery, shifting from the smoothest singing to the harshest, almost growly assertive vocals. It is, simply, incredible.

OHBTCL is possibly the band's most interactive record, since all the band members had a certain amount of input in it. It is also their closest to a traditional metal album, but still has the trademark POS flavour all over it. It may require some patience and thought till it grows on you, so don't give up on it if it doesn't click with you right away. It will definitely be worth the wait.

Pain Of Salvation are band that for most part, people either love or hate. I often feel like I'm one of the few who sits in middle, admiring them for being a very good progressive metal band without worshipping the sun that shines out of Daniel Gildenlow's backside. One Hour By The Concrete Lake was the first Pain Of Salvation album I bought (a few years ago now) but its certainly not my favourite. In fact, I don't really think of it as anything more than decent.

As far as originality goes, the band seemed to have it from day one. Even on their debut (Entropia) they were doing things differently which is more than can be said for the majority of progressive metal bands who were content to just rip of Dream Theater (and not very successfully, I might add). However, despite being different, One Hour By The Concrete Lake has never really impressed me, with the exception of Big Machine, a song with a finale that never ceases to send shivers down my spine.

I suppose my main complaint about the album is the production - its so flimsy that moments that sound like they should be powerful and in face just kinda sit there doing nothing. If it weren't for the metal overtones, this could be forgiven - there's more to music than crunchy guitars. But when you have a band who are clearly trying to put forward a sense of heaviness from time to time in the name of dynamics, it can be a little frustrating.

The songwriting also feels a little disjointed at times. On Perfect Element and Remedy Lane, they had mastered the art of mixing odd rhythms and strange melodies tastefully, but on this album I find the sudden changes a little too overbearing. Too often it sounds like the band are trying too hard to be different.

Pain Of Salvation were/are clearly a unique band that any fan of progressive music needs to hear but contrary to the opinion of many fans, I find One Hour By The Concrete Lake a good album but not great. It showed the band's potential (which was fulfilled on their next two albums) but to my ears, they weren't quite there yet. Still a good album well worth picking up if you're already a fan of the band though, so four stars it is.

Pain of Salvation's 2nd album, "One Hour By The Concrete Lake", was IMO, a huge improvement over their first album, "Entropia". "Entropia" had some very complex, original, emotional, and overall awesome songs, but sometimes it just got a little akward. "One Hour By The Concrete Lake" is a much more refined and overall better sound.

This is a concept album, (like all PoS albums), this time about a man realizing how his job affects other people. Basically, he works for a weapons industry, and he realizes that he is part of a "big machine" of events, and his job directly of indirectly leads to such things as world hunger and war in third world countries. As always, Daniel Gildenlow's lyrics are great. He's done a lot of research to come up with these lyrics. Interestingly, he cites his sources in the back of the booklet, which is a cool thing to do.

The music on OHBTCL is so...PoS! I can't exactly compare it to other bands. The music can go from aggressive metal to acoustic guitars and piano ballads in a second. Technically, it's very complex stuff. The guitar riffs are often oddly timed, and the solos are friggin' awesome. The drums are also complex, sometimes using polyrhythms. The keyboards add that nice atmosphere, and are more present here than on other PoS albums. This is the least eclectic and "weird" of PoS' albums, so I would recommend this one as a starting point.

"Inside", the first song on the album, starts off with complex rhythm guitar work and emotional vocals. This sets the basis of the story, and is one of the more eclectic songs, going through some cool changes. "The Big Machine" is a dark, brooding metal tune, with some of Daniel Gildenlow's lower vocals. "Handful of Nothing" starts off with a blinding guitar riff in 21/8. This is really a sick song on drums. Imagine playing in 4/4 with your hands, and following a guitar riff in 21/8 with the bass drums! Despite the complexity, it manages to be a pretty normal sounding song (unless you're trying to figure it out on guitar - a tough task). "Water" is a perfect mix of heavy riffs and balladry. Daniel Gildenlow's soloing during the quieter parts is beauty. "Pilgrim" is a great ballad. "Inside Out" is the album's finale. It goes from heavy, exhilarating metal to beautiful pianos and acoustic guitar solos. (Is that Jordan Rudess on keys on the beginning? Frederick Hermasson is pretty damn good when he takes the lead!) The electric guitar solo is emotional and powerful. This song recalls many themes from the album, and brings it to a powerful finale.

I have only gotten into Pain of Salvation in the past few months, but they are one of my favorite bands. I highly recommend all their albums, but this is a great starting point for the potential fan. Also recommended: Other PoS albums.

THE BAND: Daniel Gildenlow (lead vocals, guitar), John Hallgren (guitar), Johan Langell (drums), Kristoffer Gildenlow (bass), Fredrik Hermansson (keyboards). A product of Sweden.

THE DISC: (1999) 11 tracks clocking in at approximately 59 minutes. Included with the disc is a 14-page booklet containing song credits, song lyrics, band pictures, thank you's and a brief description behind the meaning of the album ("Concrete Lake" refers to Lake Karachay in the Soviet Union - filled in with concrete due to extreme radioactivity levels... and one hour even remotely near it could kill you). Recorded at Roasting House Recording Studio in Malmo, Sweden. Label - Inside/Out Music.

COMMENTS: There's a plethera of music that hails from Sweden. Old music from Abba still finds it's ways on to certain radio stations. Newer groups like Roxette, Cardigans, Ace Of Base, and rockers Drain STH are here for an album or two and then quickly disappear. There are some genuine metal outfits that lean toward the extreme metal side... in the likes of In Flames, Entombed, Opeth, Dismember, etc. However, this is my first experience finding and listening to a progressive rock band from the same place as all the above mentioned groups. As soon as I found this one, I quickly bought "Entropia" (their 1st album, and a Japan only release until 1999 when they released it globally)... which is good, but by no means classic material. I also picked up "Perfect Element" (2000), "Remedy Lane" (2002), and "Be" (2004)... and with that being said - "One Hour By The Concrete Lake" in my opinion is the place to start. Here, Pain Of Salvation was a young band - trying to prove they can hang with other top progressive acts. No doubt, balls to the wall... giving it their all... I think they proved their chops hand over foot. My two favorite songs are "Water" followed by "Home"... the first featuring brilliant guitar work and amazing solos, and the latter featuring wonderful keyboards and Gildenlow's soaring vocals. Not only can they jam with the likes of other prog favorites of mine (i.e. Dream Theater, Enchant, Porcupine Tree, etc), they can definitely slow it down - check out the acoustic "Pilgrim" with touching lyrics and a masterful cello. Tracks 2-5 rock with great hooks that keeps the listener interested. The last song "Inside Out" is listed at roughly 6.5 minutes, but there's a 5 minute pause at the end of the song with a 1 minute jam at the end (the song lists at 12 minutes when played). Sound production is above average, but not in the ranks of the slick and polished Dream Theater or a Porcupine Tree. Maybe that's some of the appeal here. While still good sound, it's just a tad rough around the edges. Pain of Salvation is a great band with lots of potential. Looking forward to future releases for years to come. Great disc.

This album is a perfect example of what POS music is all about. An unpredictable prog masterpiece. Gildenlow's vocals are awesome, Langell tears it up on the drums, and Johan Hallgren's solos give me goose bumps. You may not drop over until 3 or 4 listens, but you will drop over! This is one of their best!

Around the time I was getting into Symphony X, Amazon linked me to Pain of Salvation. Actually, I bought the album without hearing any of it, and on first few listens, I wasnt very interested. (That seems to be a very common scenario with this album) I put the cd back on the shelf(in my room) after about a week, but listening to it on occasion. A few months later, I heard The Perfect Element and thought that I must own that CD. After listening to that for a while, I went back to this and have been addicted ever since. This wonderful album took about 8 months to fully grow on me and now i'm so glad I decided to get it so spontaniously in the first place.

Enough of my personal Story, lets talk about the music. It's very deep and complex so you'll almost never like it on first listen. Pain of Salvation is really some brilliant musicians. First of all and most importantly, David Gildenlow's vocal range and emotion is essential. Actually, 4 out of 5 band members sing (3 do backup vocals) which you will notice most of the time. There are a lot of vocal parts (such as in "Water"). The layers of guitars are powerful and beautiful at the same time and have some really great riffs and complex "solos". The bass lines don't stand out that much but are still essential for the complete sound. The keyboards are one of the most important things here, used very often, and little piano parts make the album so enjoyable. However, the percussion actually isn't anything special.

Now about the songs... The song structures are very well written. Nothing is ever repetitive. The songs usually go to very powerful to suddenly very soft, ESPECIALLY "Inside Out". The songs on this album "Flow" into each other like many other prog albums, sometimes if you just listen to the single song by itself it will sound very incomplete such as the end of "Water". If you listen to only that song it will sound incomplete and cut off at the end. "Inside" and especially "Home" have GREAT keyboard playing. It is very hard to pick a favorite, but "Black Hills" might be because it sounds so dark and the instruments flow together so well. There is just too many good parts in songs to mention and you have to experience it for yourself. I think this is a must-have for any progressive rock fan. Even if you're not a progressive rock fan this could get you interested in the genre.

A disillusioned man working in the weapons industry begins to bring the morals and ethics of his occupation into question, falling into doubt about what it really is that he's doing from day to day. He considers the justifications that have been thrown at him by the Big Machine, as it were - "The pain and hunger is not your fault!"; "You are not guilty!"; "Guns don't kill, men kill!" Finally, on New Year's Eve, he makes a resolution to discover just what effects his seemingly harmless actions back home are having on the world at large. He sets off on a journey around the world, visiting far reaching places (including some real world locales such as the Black Hills in North America) and becoming witness to terrible acts that go against everything he was once told. Civilizations ripped apart by war, lands left barren by environmental devastation, careless water consumption, and more.

In the last step of his eye-opening journey, he arrives at the desolate shores of Lake Karachay, a place in the former Soviet Union that was used to store nuclear waste for upwards of forty years and that was eventually covered in concrete to dampen the incredible amount of radiation that was present. Unfortunately, the concrete began to split open after several years. Consequently, a given person would only need to stand on the shore of Lake Karachay for a single hour before the radiation exposure would reach such levels that the person would die from physical injuries in approximately two weeks.

Horrified by his discoveries, the man heads back home. Considering his situation, he realizes that he will never truly be able to distance himself from the Big Machine because it is his home, and because the world is just a giant maze of machines within more machines. Instead, he begins to understand that a machine is only made up of its proverbial wheels, and he is such a wheel. He decides to stay inside his chosen machine in an attempt to change its direction.

...and that is the groundwork for Pain of Salvation's dark concept album, One Hour By The Concrete Lake. It is a tale of sheer outrage towards war, environmental pollution, nuclear industry, and man's inhumanity to man that stems straight from frontman Daniel Gildenlow's personal distaste for western civilization in the contemporary world.

Fitting with the mood, this is also Pain of Salvation's most "metal" album. Where Entropia focused more on experimentation with various musical directions, One Hour By The Concrete Lake is far more direct and determined in its approach. Where The Perfect Element I focused on expansive dramaticism and empathy, One Hour By The Concrete Lake is far more immediate and angry in its delivery. The guitars are crunchy and riff-heavy, the drums probably see more double bass abuse than every other Pain of Salvation album put together, the bass is a highly prominent member of the music and often soars majestically over the guitars, and Daniel's vocals are aggressive and desperate, quizzical and confused... almost pleading. None of this is to imply that anything about this album is dull or monotonous - far from it. It is still distinctly Pain of Salvation's brand of utterly unique progressive metal, where the focus is always on the message and the delivery of that message, with instrumental acrobatics melding seamlessly and unobtrusively into that delivery.

The introductory track, "Spirit of the Land", is a brief instrumental filled with ethereal keyboards. It does, however, have some fitting lyrics which are obviously not sung or otherwise present in the music, but are relevant in setting the mood -

"Sit for a while, why rush?
The beauty is all around.
The red sky of the morning,
the different colours of the landscape,
the freshness of the breeze.
So sit for a while and rest
with the spirit of the land."

- and so we come to "Inside", starting with a continuation of the theme from "Spirit of the Land" mixed with classical piano and ride cymbals, with the band coming in shortly after with Daniel singing in a pained voice - "I was told the pain and hunger was not my fault - how could they be so wrong?" This is the moment where you are made aware that the album is deadly serious in what its attempting to relay, grasping your full attention in a rather subtle way.

"The Big Machine" is dark and brooding, with an outro that leaves me shivering in my skin every single time, without fail - Daniel chants repeatedly, "...what if we lose control?" First over a menacing guitar line and tribal drumming, but soon the band comes in with dense chord progressions and keyboards, and Daniel's voice gradually increases in intensity and power, until it strains noticeably. Powerful.

"Handful of Nothing" sees an uncompromising yet deceptively complex double-bass assault providing a driving backdrop for somber and tranquil guitar melodies and a soft vocal delivery. However, things turn upside down around halfway through as Daniel releases a piercing scream of frightening proportions... and just like that the song breaks into a stretch of acoustic guitar arpeggios behind multiple layers of Daniel's crooning vocals. A brief guitar solo comprised of beautiful volume swells follows, and the song draws to a close with Daniel engaging in sinister, propulsive narration atop a pulsing kick drum pattern.

The eighth track, "Black Hills", features my most beloved moment on this entire disc starting at approximately 3:40. Palm-muted acoustic arpeggios fill the scene along with Daniel's wordless vocal melodies; soon, the drums come in with sparsely distributed hits on the floor tom alternating with an open hi-hat; Daniel's vocals shift to a darker tone, with powerful exhalations that almost resemble a one-man choir; the bass escapes from its rhythmic trappings and lets loose several distinct notes opposite the drums, and then the scene culminates into phase two. Frantic ride cymbals augment the now slightly overdriven variation of the previous guitar melody; Daniel's voice begins to lose some of its structure and moves into a freer style; the bass turns into a full out melodic force, and the band comes together for a purely instrumental permutation of everything that had been building up to that point. This segment goes on for twenty seconds. Then, just as the music seems like it cannot possibly build any further - keyboardist Fredrik Hermansson comes in with an absolutely majestic classical piano, drummer Johan Langell brings in an absolutely fitting double bass pattern, and bassist Kristoffer Gildenlow really outdoes himself with soaring bass work that seems to pull at your very heart. End. Wow. I probably didn't do a very good job of describing that, but those are two minutes of truly staggering music.

The last two songs here, "Shore Serenity" and "Inside Out" are definitely the most frantic, to go along with the traumatic experiences being undergone by the protagonist at this final stage of his journey. "Inside Out" especially is an absolute monster that seems to cover everything previously heard on the album in the span of a single song. The double bass-led fury, the classical piano-led tenderness, the atmospheric and dense layers of sound punctuated by sweeping guitar solos, Daniel's multi-faceted vocal delivery, and even sections of flamenco-style guitar.

The ending also has associated lyricism that isn't actually heard on the album, much like the beginning -

"I dread the day my children will ask my why. I dread the day when I will have to explain to them that people thought it was acceptable to destroy the environment so that we could have jobs. I dread the day I will have to explain to my bright-eyed Joshua, who talks to dogs and listens to the grass screaming, that we were all too busy driving fast cars, rushing our children off to day-care, finding seniors' homes for our grandparents, and listening to the ringing of cash registers - We were all too busy to hear the grass screaming."

These unspoken excerpts are actually found all throughout the album, but I think it might be going a bit overboard to write all of them out in this review.

I read in another review that this album was conceived while Daniel was involved in International Relations and Nuclear Physics studies at school, and that the band decided to start recording this album after Daniel finished writing a very lengthy paper about the impact of music lyrics on listeners at a social level - and this is the kind of thing that separates Pain of Salvation from every last one of their peers, in my eyes at least. Their music has a sincere purpose. Every one of their albums screams out with beauty, emotion, awareness, and intelligence. Their music is not a vessel for instrumental [...]; rather, their instruments are vessels for the creation of worlds.

Pain of Salvation are utterly unique and original, and this album is yet another testament to the fact.

I have to admit, when I first listended to this cd I was not too impressed (usually for me that is a sign of good things to come), but as I listened to it more and more, I have to say, without a doubt, that this cd is fantastic!!! I have read the other reviews and I agree with just about everything said about this group. Yes, the bass seems to have disappeared somewhat in the mixing, and I love great bass, but so what? Yes, they may not be the best musicians, but so what? The singer has great range, the music is powerful and full of emotion, they mix it up so that you don't know what is coming next, each track will "catch you" sooner or like me, later.

I love this cd. This is now one of my favorites right up there with DT's Metropolis II, Symphony X's latest, & Ice Age (to name a few).

About the songs...Where to begin, they all flow seeminglessly into each other. "Inside" will get you going (the theme to that will reappear at the end). "The Big Machine" is haunting and powerful. "New Year's Eve" is deceptively delicate with strong delivery, setting things up for, "Handful of Nothing" - catchy, powerful...this begins the favorite part of the cd for, blending right in with, "Water" - to me the best song on here. The power and beauty combined is breathtaking. "Home" is another strong tune which leads to my 2nd favorite track, the American Indian tributed, "Black Hills" - that Indian chant that they perform while the power chords hit home just blows me away! "Pilgrim" slows things down, great tune..."Shore" & "Inside Out" wrap this whole concept album up with a closure of emotionally driven power rock with progressive slants. Well done! BUY THIS ONE!

...

Pain of Salvation is a breath of fresh air beyond the smog of Dream Theater clones. These days, when you pick up a progressive metal album, you can expect some hints of Dream Theaters Images And Words. Most new progmetal bands try so hard to impress that they somehow fail, but Pain of Salvation succeeds by offering a fresh approach. Their debut album, Entropia, was breathtakingly original, but the band's ostensible drive to experiment sometimes made for a disjointed record on the whole. One Hour... is -- in terms of songwriting -- the better of the two, though it is less novel in sound. It is closer to standard prog metal than any other PoS release, although it is still very distinct.

In stark contrast to many other progressive metal bands, PoS' music is not presented in a way that the members are showcased as individual stunning musicians. It is their flair for dynamic and innovative composition that makes them progressive, not technique. They establish originality by weaving a plethora of styles and seamlessly shifting between them. This is strongly illustrated by how vocalist Daniel Gildenlow will switch from a vicious metal growl to a quiet, delicate voice with an appropriate musical accompaniment. Sound strange? Indeed, but it works. Over the course many listens, you come to understand the band's frequently switching demeanor, and you get a feel for the band's originality. It can be ruthlessly heavy at times, and can be wonderfully soft and melodic at others. The beautiful chorus of "Water," for instance, juxtaposed with those heavier moments, makes for an engaging listen.

One Hour... is another concept album...err, theme album, I guess. It is based more on individual songs and less on the musical unity found in Entropia and their newest, The Perfect Element. There is no story, rather the album is tied together by three chapters making us aware of world issues such as war and environmental concerns. Daniel Gildenlow, the band's principal songwriter, generally works his ideas effectively into the lyrics, but a few overwrought moments border on being silly. The lyrics get, uh, ambitious when it says: "I never saw the relation | Between myself and world starvation." Cheesy little lines like this are impossible to ignore because of singer D. Gildenlow's habit for oversinging. I have seen reviews on the Internet that rip into Gildenlow's political beliefs expressed on this album. Really though, environmental destruction and violence in the third-world are serious problems. Although I disagree with Gildenlow's politics, the lyrics here work for me because Gildenlow presents them fairly evenhandedly. Still, he could use some economic lessons from the Austrian school, har har.

Despite that criticism, Gildenlow is probably the most impressive facet of Pain of Salvation's sound. He's a great singer, and he's improved HUGELY over Entropia. The reason is that he has much more control over his range. Still, he sometimes injects the songs with needless frills that hurt his performance. He often sings unnecessarily high and it just doesn't sound good. Nowhere is this more evident than on "Pilgrim," a lovely ballad (complete with cello), but hurt by the fact that he over-sing the refrain. More tasteful restraint would have benefited the song considerably. Wow, I sure am critical. Would you even believe me if I said Gildenlow is one of the most amazing singers I've heard? Hmm. It's great that he has refined his vocal stylings almost completely for the band's third album, The Perfect Element, and the fourth album, Remedy Lane.

This is a great CD for progressive metal fans. From the serene opening "Spirit of the Land," to the intense progmetal trappings of "Inside," from the gorgeous "Water" to the exciting thematic development in "Home," from the intricate complexities of "Black Hills" to the outstanding "Inside Out," with its blinding piano riff and fervent guitar interplay, this disc has something for anyone who digs the genre...and maybe for someone who doesn't but wants something different.

This new album by these Swedish prog-metallers took me a few listens to fully appreciate. Main songwriter Daniel Grudenlow seems to be desperately trying to deliver a message about society's demise. It is our responsibility to right the wrongs and it is in our powers to do so. Heavy goings indeed. Grudelow also sings with a very theatrical delivery which seems to enhance the depth of his commitment. The music is original and good. ALthough it is easy to classify it as prog-metal, I find it difficult to pigeonhole it as Dream Theater or Queensryche worship; Pain of Salvation sound unique. The lyrics remind me of Shadow Gallery's excellent _Tyranny_. Whereas SG's songs on _Tyranny_ deal with a whole story-arc, each PoS song stands on its own and is usually accompanied by a dreary quote. Another plus on this disc is the great, in-your-face, production. This is the kind of result I love: each instrument is crisp and easily recognizable, great job. There are also no traditional solos. I usually expect most of the instruments to lay low and let the lead show off here and there. On this disc the music is very organic, there is incredible complexity between the interplay of all instruments. And although the instrumentation is the traditional one for this sort of music, it works very well. Most songs are very heavy, with a lot of crunching guitars. Except that in most songs there are spots for the tempo to slow down and stay acoustic for a bit. Or, in the case of _Pilgrim_, to stay acoustic throughout. The song I could do without is _Black Hills_ where, in my very humble opinion, the concept tends to overwhelm the music (the song has a great middle section though). It is a heady album that takes a while to appreciate, but is ultimately a rewarding experience.