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Pain of Salvation > One Hour by the Concrete Lake > Reviews
Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake

A bit more straightforward this time. - 100%

Evil_Tim, February 18th, 2010

Pain of Salvation's sophomore effort is, as the review title suggests, a more straightforward release, musically as well as conceptually. It's less funky and groovy than Entropia, being a little more along the lines of your typical progressive metal band, while at the same time it is nothing like any other progressive metal band. It's definitely progressive, but unlike some bands that prefer instrumental wankery instead of song structure (*cough*dreamtheater*cough*), the songs here are perfectly coherent, never sacrificing the song structures in the name of useless dicking around. Pain of Salvation are not simply showing off, but rather playing actual music. Neat, huh?

As previously mentioned OHBTCL is, like all Pain of Salvation albums, a concept album. The topic this time around involves war and its effect on the environment and people, such as the Native Americans. The story is told mainly through the eyes of a man who works in the arms industry who wishes to see what effect his weapons truly have on the world. As such, the music this time around is very dark and the guitars and drum work at times have an almost machinelike, industrial quality to them. Daniel Gildenlow’s vocals tend to be a bit lower on a lot of the songs, which works well for the music and subject matter presented. However, he does hit some very nice highs here and there (the one in The Big Machine is just amazing). Regardless of high or low, his voice is incredible, emotional and the highlight of this and every other Pain of Salvation release. Some may call it overemotional or over the top, but I must disagree quite strongly.

Probably the best thing about this album is how well all the instruments flow together. The production is really very nice, with guitars and vocals pretty much at the forefront, but the drums and bass are still there (though the bass may not be as evident as on some of the Entropia stuff. Sometimes you just have to listen). At the same time, no single instrument really feels like its taking absolute control. The songs don’t rely on any single instrument to carry them; all of the band members play integral roles in the construction of each song. This makes for quite an enjoyable, refreshing listen. When I don’t feel like listening to concept-heavy albums like BE or The Perfect Element, I fall back on albums like this one.

As for highlights, the incredible Inside, the high pitched vocals on The Big Machine, New Year’s Eve, Water, and the completely amazing Inside Out. Nothing here disappoints, though, and there aren’t any little interludes like the ones present on Entropia, not counting the album intro piece. Also, if you decide to pick this one up, be sure to (yet again) get the Japanese edition, as it comes with the two bonus tracks, Beyond The Mirror and Timeweaver’s Tale, both awesome songs and certainly worth paying the extra money for (or downloading, if that is your preferred method of music listening).

So what we have is yet another essential Pain of Salvation album, and one that may even please fans of bands like Dream Theater, despite the lack of uber technical, ten minute instrumental breaks. Highly recommended.

One hour with Pain of Salvation... - 99%

asmox, April 22nd, 2007

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. Fucking 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 masturbation; 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.

Brilliant! - 90%

Human666, March 24th, 2007

I ain't a prog metal fan, honestly, but I'm still enjoys some of the more well-known bands of the genre. There was a point when I was looking for another good bands which are good as my favorite one, Dream Theater, but I gived up too early and forget about the whole thing. One day as I rediscovered their astonishing album 'Octavarium', I searched again for some bands, hopefully I'll find something which can be a fair substitute for this band. Then I heard about "Pain Of Salvation"... though I only wanted something fair which will be close to DT....I found something much better than what I expected.

"One Hour By The Concrete Lake" is a concept album which follows a man that works in a weapon plant who begins to have queries about the morality of his occupation. He realises that he is just a "wheel" of a big "machine", and that it controls his life. He makes a New Year's resolution to discover what consequences his work has on the world, and leaves the "machine" that controls his life. I suggest you really read and concentrate the lyrics, they have a really big part of this album and when you got into it...you'll be amazed.

The vocals are the main actor here, the instruments does a great job here, but they are here only to back-up the vocals which are the core of this album. The melodies sounds a bit dull at the first listenings, but like many prog albums, you'll get into it after more than 3 listenings at least, and when it's click it's just sounds brilliant and you'll be sweep away with it for every moment.

The production of this album is just amazing, everything sounds clear and solid.
the keyboards doesn't stuck with the same sound for the whole album, it's pretty varied and fits perfect the songs. I can even say that the keyboards takes sometimes the leading parts more than the guitar, they doesn't using only for these backing choirs or echos which suppose to make the songs sounds epic somehow [as in typical power metal, for instance] . The keyboards are pretty interesting and intense, it's just wonderful to listen to and increase a lot in the music itself. The guitars most of the time using a bare distortion and there aren't a piercing or technical riffs most of the time, because the guitars and this whole album are more emotional than technical and the lead guitars here are fucking exciting and outstanding! Not some improvised solos to show some technique which doesn't make sense at all, here the lead guitar has some of the most exciting moments I've ever heard and they really step up this album.

'Daniel Gildenlow' is the main songwriter, and also secondary guitar player and main vocalist. Jesus, he is maybe the best vocalist I've ever heard, and I ain't exaggerate even a little bit! He has a wide spectrum of tones and he has many different approaches with his singing. He can sing softly as a pleasant wind ['Water', 'Piligrim'], piercing as a buzzsaw ['Inside'], thunderous and savage like a thunder ['Big Machine'] , melancholic person['Black Hills] or innocent child ['Home']... and much more. He just varies his voice each time when it's necessary to deliver a certain emotion and he can sweep you with his vocals and lyrics and plant his emotions in your head...he is just incredible vocalist which makes this songs sounds exciting and brilliant and sometimes I can say he is kind of an actor and vocalist.

"Spirit Of The Land" is the intro for this album. It's a relaxing one, some choirs playing melodies from the last song...maybe it's suppose to be a connection between the beginning and the ending of the concept as it has the same theme, but I think everyone should decide whatever he think is right for him. Then comes "Inside", it fades in with a fast keyboard and then the guitar comes in together with the other instruments. It has some tempo changes and breaks till the first verse begins. When the vocals begins this song just accelerate with his emotions till the end without any unnecessary moments, it's just wonderful each second and progress very well. There are also some spoken facts here which suppose to give you aspects about our reality and the concept of this album. This is just a wonderful track and awesome opener which shows the overwhelming abilities of the band members.

I feel it's pointless to expose you the whole concept and music of this album because it won't surprise you as it surprised me when it's clicked me and I got into this album. I will just HIGHLY recommend you this album if you are looking for an exciting and sweeping experience and if you aren't a stupid poser which can't understand an intelligent music. Get this album, listen to it a lot and read the lyrics, I can promise you that you won't be disappointed even a bit. This is a really special and outstanding album from not a well-known band which everyone who likes prog rock/metal or even only metal must know.

Enjoy!

An Hour Well Spent - 90%

BleedingRoses, April 15th, 2005

I am a concept album freak. I am also a Progressive Metal freak. So, someone recommended the band Pain of Salvation. I now kiss his feet. One Hour by the Concrete Lake is a rampant journey through mind and music that sucks you in at the beginning and spits you out at the end. I’m not here to tell stories, so I’m not going to spit back the story line, but I will tell you that this CD is a story of nuclear warfare, environment, and wrongs of society, ad is as challenging to understand as it is to enjoy. It’s what I call “Intelligent Metal.” If you are looking for simple hooks, three-chord, distorted progressions, and screaming, inaudible vocals, look elsewhere. But if you are looking to be impressed and made to think by a story, a purpose, and technical musicianship that doesn’t back down, then you’ve come to the right place.

The first minute or two of the CD is an instrument lead-in full of classically influenced piano played masterfully by Fredrik Hermansson, and extremely Petrucci-esque guitar exquisitely executed by Johan Hallgren. Then the searing, melodic vocals begin and grab your attention like a slap in the face. Urgent and in-your-face, Daniel Gildenlow gives purpose to every lyric, meaning to every shift in melody. The rhythm section of Johan Langell on drums and Kristoffer Gildenlow on bass gives every song its power, its driving force, tirelessly displaying technical skills and heart-felt performances. It is a constant roller-coaster ride of hard-hitting, heavy tracks and smooth, melodic grooves, none too long to enjoy.

One Hour is an hour well spent… and turns into three hours. It is impossible to listen to this album only once and be able to get its full effect. It must be listened to, heard, then listened to again… and again. You need to read the lyrics, then read them again, from the first track to the last. The final track, “Inside Out,” is an incredible display of all of the musical influences this band uses in their composition. Filled with everything from Classic Metal hooks, to Progressive Metal complexity, to the warmth of Spanish Flamenco guitar, it takes you sense of hearing on a journey through time and space; a journey you’re likely never to forget. In the vein of classic concept albums like Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime and Dream Theater’s soon-to-be-classic Scenes From a Memory, One Hour is a definite pick for those of you who like to think when you listen to your music. Although not for everybody, for the fans of “Intelligent Metal” like Dream Theater or Fates Warning, Pain of Salvation’s One Hour by the Concrete Lake is a must have.

Progressive Masterpiece, greatly grows on you - 98%

IcemanJ256, December 3rd, 2004

Around the time I was getting into Symphony X, Amazon.com linked me to Pain of Salvation. Actually, I bought the album without hearing any of it, and on first few listens, I wasn't 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 I" and thought that I must own that CD. I enjoyed that album very much, and remembered I still had their old one and I must have not given it a good chance. So I started listening to this again 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 spontaneously in the first place. Also, it is way better than "The Perfect Element I," in my opinion, which I thought was better first.

Enough of my personal Story, lets talk about the music. It's very deep and intricate so you'll almost never like it on first listen. Pain of Salvation are really some brilliant musicians. First of all and most importantly, David Gildenlow's vocal range and emotion is essential. He goes from the softest, most emotional high-pitched voice to low, aggressive vocals. 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 with subtle instrumentals (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. The keyboards are an important component in the music. At heavy parts, they are usually in the background, and while they might not stand out too much, the songs would sound empty and sound as if there was something missing.

The lyrics on this CD are so excellent and very well thought out; this has some of the best lyrics in my whole collection. It is a concept album about a man who works for a weapons industry who realizes how his job affects so many people around the world. The band talks about foolish things mankind does and how people can be so blind and ignorant. They are extremely anti-war, and they talk about that along with weapons, pollution, starvation, and wasting (and lack of) water. Daniel has put a lot of research into the lyrics, and the sources he used are even listed in the back of the booklet. In the song "Water," they say how most developed countries waste so many gallons of water on irrelevant things when some other countries have an enormous water shortage and they use a very limited amount just to satisfy their thirst and sanitation needs.

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 and 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 are 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 - it was certainly one of the building blocks that have shaped my music taste into what it is today.

It's PoS... Enough said - 100%

PsyKoCracker, April 17th, 2004

This is Pain of Salvation's second release, and their first full concept album. This CD may not be the best place to start if you haven't heard PoS before. It's probobly the least accessable album of theirs, and of their 4 LPs is probobly tied for the worst. Don't take this wrong though, Every PoS LP is a solid 100, since Gildenlow and crew are perfectionists. I highly doubt they ever will release anything less than amazing in their career.

So first, the concept. First let me say, the concept, the album title, and what it was based on just works wonderfully. The name One Hour By the Concrete Lake was named after Karachay lake in Russia that was used to dump chemicals for over 50 years, and is now covered in concrete. It's said that if anyone stood by it for 1 hour they would die.

The concept is about a civilization in the future that has pretty much lost all touch with it's roots, and has become extremely industrialized. The people of the civilization are pretty much drunkards, finding no other way to stay happy. It isn't long before the underground water reserve becomes poisoned from the industries. The civilization goes out of control, having to dig upwards of 10 feet into the ground just to get a gallon of water each day. They began to realize how much water was wasted on the industry, with lakes full of freshwater being used simply as a dump for chemicals. The people are faced with the decision to try to live with the difficulties, or to leave their homes. The main character decides to leave his home and his past behind, and travel the world, but sadly, he finds only more contaminated cities (or machines, as he refers to them as) The man begins to go insane, until he ends up returning to his Home, and realizing that despite the struggles he'll have to face, home is where everyone belongs.

So on to the music. Most of the songs on this album are less technical and progresive than say Remedy Lane. Not that it doesn't work, because we all know PoS is based on Gildenlow's vocals.

I don't feel the need to do a song by song review here, this album was meant to be listened to the whole way through, much like their next album The Perfect Element. If you like PoS, you'll love this album. If you dont like PoS, you may like Home and Inside Out, but otherwise this album probobly isn't for you. This is a classic album for those who love amazing vocals and excellent lyrics and concepts.

Highlights: Inside, Home, Inside Out, Shore Serenity, Handful of Nothing