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Pain of Salvation > Road Salt One > Reviews
Pain of Salvation - Road Salt One

Blues, roots rock and gospel - 62%

Innersfree, February 23rd, 2013

This is a rather curious record. I'd never heard a progressive metal band attempt to fuse the blues into their sound. Jazz often, but maybe the blues was simply not 'progressive' enough. Or to put it rather plainly, not 'elitist' enough for the quagmire of odd time signatures, exotic scales and protracted song lengths that's characteristic of the progressive community. Granted anything was bound to surpass the band's previous ventures into sub-standard 'progressive' nu-metal, you still couldn't fault them for actually stretching out beyond their established sound.

Now this album shows a heavy influence from not just the blues but also other similar genres like roots rock, gospel and choir music. Anyone that actually believes this lingering influence severely detracts from Pain of Salvation's status as 'metal' band should remember that they never really were very evocative of metal anyway. Even during the band's heyday, which squarely ended with Remedy Lane - all they ever were was a rock band with some distortion thrown in for good measure, just barely ever earning their 'metal' tag. So I wouldn't say it reflects badly on the music here, and any discerning listener would be well advised to shelve any expectation of raging riffs and thunder double bass at the get go.

That said, while I do find Daniel Glidenlow's appropriation of the blues interesting in theory - the album falls prey to exactly what makes most of the blues itself so very indistinguishable, that of crippling mediocrity. The blues itself, it should be remembered, is a very limited form of expression. And it needs some great songwriting to actually make it sound varied and compelling enough to warrant serious consideration in the first place. While I couldn't fault any of the songs here, and they are very very competent takes on the genre - it still fails to stand out, at all. And the band's own instrumentation and talent sticks out like a sore thumb making a lot of the passages rather awkward, musically. Take, for example, the band's attempt at crafting a catchy single - 'Linoleum'. Not a very terrible song at the get go, it just sounds lacking where it should be catchy and too varied when it should aim for simplicity instead. It seems the thing that holds the band back, for whatever reason - is simply themselves.

Its only the more experimental parts of the album, that focus on tasteful and traditional use of the organ and Daniel Glidenlow's (still) very evocative vocals that do much to save it for me and make it an interesting listen. 'Sisters' coming up quite early in the tracklist is probably the most prominent example of this, but there's also the interlude 'Of Dust' that follows right after. And its ever so slightly demeaning when an interlude could trump actual songs on your record. There seems to be a very strong conceptual thread running through the album that shows musically, but isn't very apparent lyrically. On the surface atleast, it appears the concept is very much related to failed relationships and whatnot which is rather standard fare for Glidenlow and much better expressed on past attempts at the same.

In conclusion, while I do appreciate the band venturing into a style of music I've rarely ever heard sufficiently explored in progressive metal, I still think there's a whole lot of fleshing out that needs to be done to make for compelling listening. Its possible the band has rectified a lot of this in their follow-up to this album, which I have yet to hear and certainly will, soon.

Maybe I Am Just the Road, Dreaming That I Walk... - 95%

Twisted_Psychology, August 7th, 2011
Written based on this version: 2010, CD, InsideOut Music

Originally published at http://www.suite101.com

There is no doubt that Pain of Salvation is one of the most unique and controversial bands in the progressive music genre. They have changed their sound with nearly every album they've released and have drawn both praise and anger for their ambitious lyrics and songwriting.

Despite having gotten a preview of Road Salt One's sound with the release of the Linoleum EP last year, this effort still manages to be one of the biggest stylistic jumps in the band's twenty year career.

In terms of both music and lyrics, this album is a complete antithesis of everything that 2007's Scarsick stood for. While that album was driven by a metallic sound with a more modern outlook, this release features a more "old school" approach that could hardly be considered metal at all!

As many listeners have pointed out, this release makes use of a more basic band approach and shows a lot of influence from 1970s rock music. In this sense, it shows several similarities to the band's 1997 debut. But while that album was driven by funk influence, this album features a bluesy feel that is especially apparent on songs such as Tell Me You Don't Know.

Fortunately, the band continues to deal with the changes smoothly and puts on a great performance. The guitars aren't exactly aggressive on this release but still manage to shine in spite of sounding subdued. The keyboards and piano also stand out and end up leading the album on several occasions.

But like every other POS release, the vocals of bandleader Daniel Gildenlow are what stand out the most. Filled with charisma, Gildenlow shows off his signature wide range and manages to astound in places where others would've failed such as on the gospel-esque Of Dust.

He also seems to have dropped the rapping and most of the spoken segments that appeared on previous albums, an event that should delight those listeners that were annoyed by past songs such as Spitfall.

As expected, the songs on this album are varied and manage to flirt with a number of different genres. In addition to flirtations such as Tell Me What You Don't Know and Of Dust, the album is also made memorable by such songs as She Likes To Hide and Sleeping Under the Stars, the latter being driven by some demented waltzes.

But of all the songs on here, it is the beautiful Sisters that stands out the most. Featuring emotional orchestral touches and an even more emotional vocal performance, it's an immensely tragic tune that stands alongside Undertow and Vocari Dei as one of the most somber that POS has ever written.

Despite the changes, there are still some songs that sound similar to those on past releases. In addition to Linoleum having an opening riff that brings to mind Judas Priest's Raw Deal, opener No Way has a feel similar to ! (Foreword) from Entropia and the punky Curiosity is like America without all of that song's namedropping.

Speaking of name dropping, the lyrics on this album have greatly improved compared to the last few efforts. While BE and Scarsick showed a great deal of ambition in their attempts to focus more on social commentary, both albums were ultimately let down by a lost sense of direction as well as some incessantly preachy outlook.

In response, the lyrics here are similar to those on Remedy Lane and The Perfect Element in that they deal almost exclusively with sex as well as the conflict between lust and love. The storyline isn't as defined as usual but the words and themes are very well written.

All in all, this is a very strong album that showcases an ambitious band coming to a more manageable sound and delivering some classic songs along the way. In fact, this may be the best thing that the band has released since Remedy Lane came out in 2002!

Those expecting a thoroughly metal album will be disappointed but more open-minded listeners will find a lot to enjoy on this album. Here's hoping that Road Salt Two will be just as strong if it's still coming out this fall!

Highlights:
She Likes To Hide, Sisters, Tell Me You Don't Know, Sleeping Under the Stars, and Linoleum

I walk on - 80%

Darkes7_, June 4th, 2010

Pain of Salvation has proved to be a completely unpredictable band, and it seems like they've basically been taking a 180 degrees turn with every new album for some time now. Now, after looking at the entire society, illustrated by a very modern, dark and aggressive feel of the music on Scarsick, we go on a trip all the way back to the '70s rock. I admit I had been rather sceptical about this idea when I first heard about it – after all, why would a band known for progressing, completely out of the box experimentation and unconventional thinking return to the past? But well, since I belong to the (not so big, apparently) group which considers Scarsick a masterpiece, I decided to trust them. And it was, at least in terms of the musical style alone, a good choice. As you may expect from this band, you can't just summarise the entire album with a few words, such as “inspired by '70s rock” - it indeed sounds like the leading inspiration, but Road Salt One is far more diverse than that.

However, there are songs which definitely show the '70s idea very well – the opener, No Way is definitely the most obvious, with maybe a bit of a Led Zeppelin feel to it, and powerful, rocking verses contrasting with really calm chorus-like parts which definitely are going to make fans of “classic” Pain of Salvation feel at home. Another one is Linoleum (already known from the EP of the same title), which is one of my personal highlights of the album – song absolutely filled with emotion, again excellent contrast between heavier and softer parts, and vocals... ah yes, the vocals. This time, the songs are shorter, definitely less complex in terms of instrumentation (with one major exception) – and there's more place for vocals to shine even more than ever. I need to make it clear, though, that it's not Daniel Gildenlow alone here (although he seems to have played far more than the usual guitars in some songs, for unknown reasons) – Johan Hallgren is proving to be an amazing backing vocalist once again (again, Linoleum, or the chorus in Darkness of Mine), with his unique, powerful voice; the band's newly arrived drummer, Leo Margarit, also proves more than competent in providing harmony vocals, replacing Johan Langell well in this department just as well as drumming itself – which is definitely very decent on this album.

But in the end, it's obviously Daniel who keeps the central spot. If you disliked rapping and all other unusual vocal experiments on Scarsick, good news: they're (mostly) gone. I consider him to be my all-time favourite vocalist, and once again he proves to be entirely worthy of this position. The singing here is absolutely flawless, and the amount of skill and emotion displayed here is more than impressive – listen to Of Dust, with the really low bass singing (yes, it is also him according to the credits...) and then Where It Hurts with the extremely high-pitched screams at the end. He has even more space to prove himself on this album, and without doubt, he uses it well. If you're one of those who can't stand his singing, I don't give much chances this album is capable of changing it; but if you aren't, you'll be far more than satisfied.

The greatest highlight of his singing, as well as the greatest highlight of basically everything else and maybe one of the new highlights of the band's entire discography, is a song called Sisters. Contrary to the '70s “rocking” style of songs like No Way or Linoleum, this one is more reminiscent of older Pain of Salvation (I particularly feel the inspiration of the almost legendary song Undertow here). Still, it's something entirely new – led almost entirely by piano with a subtle bass and electric guitar appearing later, it's just incredibly subtle and emotional, creating an amazing atmosphere since the first note. Near the end, however, it becomes one of the most powerful moments of the album, with some monumental string arrangements (yes, real strings). Another song filled with atmosphere is the minimalistic title track, Road Salt, which is also one of the highlights of the album for me – with just some very subtle keyboards and vocals, it keeps the whole focus on singing, and it works perfect. Of Dust is another one (slightly reminiscent of the track Nauticus from “BE”) of those, with a fairly dark feel and excellent layered vocals.

On the other hand, though, there are songs which are more focused on instrumentation and complexity. The closing track, Innocence, is probably one of the most complicated and unusual things the band has done – complex riffs and vocal arrangements (the chorus is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard, to be honest, but it has a certain magic to it), plenty of chaos and something that sounds like an instrumental improvisation – can't recall any other PoS song ever have such thing, but I might be wrong – near the end, once again featuring strings. Curiosity is a bit simpler, and maybe the most energetic song here, with some really powerful drumming (definite highlight of Leo Margarit's performance) and dynamic riffing. It's fun to listen to, but... I've been only praising the album this far, and this is where we reach my main complaint about the album.

For the first time ever, I feel like a Pain of Salvation doesn't really know where is it going – it feels like if the band didn't know if it was meant to be something really serious like normally, or something that's just fun and rocking, and ended up with something that's both at once and with something missing here. There are some really serious, emotional moments, like the songs mentioned above – Sisters, Road Salt, Of Dust – but there are also tracks which are hanging somewhere in between and those who just go for full-on comedy (such as the aforementioned Curiosity or Sleeping Under the Stars, which has dethroned Disco Queen from the “weirdest PoS song ever” spot – this time no disco, more like a cabaret taken to a new level of insanity). Of course I don't need every album to be a philosophical debate, but here it really sounds inconsistent. The band calls their albums “worlds”, and in case of masterpieces like The Perfect Element, Remedy Lane or Scarsick, this name really fits, they really do feel like a world in itself – real and perfectly constructed. Unfortunately, here the whole thing kind of falls apart, and after moments of reflection we have something like “enough thinking, let's ROCK”. Some of these ideas definitely work – the beginning of Linoleum cracks me up every single time, there are many moments that bring a smile to my face, but... it just feels chaotic and disjointed.

It's an album with many great or at least very good songs – from those not mentioned yet, Tell Me You Don't Know is a really nice and simple song (with also a bit of '70s feel); Darkness of Mine greatly handles contrast and combines subtlety with emotional power; Where it Hurts is also a very serious, emotional piece (there's one exception, however – She Likes to Hide, which unfortunately is the only really weak point, since it's rather uninteresting and repetitive); it's not an album that suffers from lack of good compositions. But unfortunately, it lacks the ability to grab the listener into its world and make everything feel real (there are also a few problems with the lyrics, such as No Way or She Likes to Hide again... did Daniel really write this?). And that's something this band seems to have mastered on the previous albums. This definitely isn't a bad album, not at all – and definitely, once again, requires several listens to show some of its magic (I'm writing this during the tenth listen. I believe it's enough). The band definitely hasn't lost their creativity, it's just that the depth that is missing somewhere. It's not the '70s-inspired sound and production which is the problem, as this has been executed perfectly. I don't know where the problem is, and I don't know if I will ever change my opinion. Either way, I'm still more than interested in hearing Road Salt Two...

Ravaging - 100%

jeanshack, May 23rd, 2010

Press play and get ready for a bewildering time travel, then you start wondering and just about then realization dawns, this is Pain Of Salvation and they can get away with almost anything. No stretch of imagination can bind this record to any boundaries defined by time or genre nor by the rules that defines commercial music. Gildenlöw has created something unprecedented, taking pieces of musical influences from late 60s and 70 and combining them with some serious lyrics has concocted a deadly portion called Road Salt One.

When I listen to the sound of Blue Oyster Cult, Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly and Jimi Hendrix, i see depth in music expressed with surprisingly simple retro lyrics. It won't be an overstatement if I say that Gildenlöw has spawned a new path for the evolution of music, he went back in time took the musical trends of 70s removed the seemingly shallow attributes and replaced them with the depths of Pain Of Salvation. Here the music is mostly simple with some refreshingly dark lyrics exploring the psyche of a man mostly driven by deception, carnal tendencies and at the same time exhibiting a tinge of conscience. The real brilliance of Gildenlöw lies in camouflaging such lyrics in a package of seemingly harmless style of musical inspiration. Even the song names do not give away anything, couple of listens and you get a feel that the psychedelic and the blues influences are used in a uniquely strange way, it actually intrigued me to dig more deep which ended up opening a Pandora's box.

The lyrics cracked opened a whole new dimension to the Road Salt experience which literally killed my initial impression of music being a tad shallow. In fact, the unparalleled intensity of the lyrics is matched only by the vocals, the experience is almost like watching a movie shot in an uncomfortably silent mansion deserted following a violent death. The songs tend to accentuate a tussle between the sense of morality and dark eroticism. The lyrics are blunt, blatant and shows no discretion when expressing the train of thoughts plaguing the subject's mind. The frivolous old school romance is replaced with imagery created by poetry describing the desires which can find a place only in the lyrics of a black metal album.

This record does seems to tell a story, the starting is revolving around the thoughts of a character who loses his girl to another guy, the lyrics emphasize how the reasons for his abandonment is not clear to him even though deep down he seem to know them but still prefers the mode of denial. "Sisters" is a kick ass haunting track, complete funereal like ambiance writing about the events and thoughts which seems to make the guy get infatuated by his ex-lover's sister, this is a really extreme quality creation, totally sets the mood. Following tracks unravels and explores how his desires over power his conscience and turns into complete prurience, the lyrics tend to reiterate the feelings of the guy as mostly physical but with intense passion. The two songs "Sleeping Under The Stars" & "Darkness Of Mine" signify the craving for lecherous dark eroticism but the same is not the case with the female who seems to get hurt for reasons which are possibly related to the one dimensional instincts which the guy exhibits to her, this is very much emphasized by the track "Curiosity". The record does end with a feel of contemplation amplified by the song "Innocence" but hardly undoes the carnage of the previous eleven songs.

Gildenlöw made music even more enigmatic, i could have never imagined how lyrics can subdue the ambiance created by music, how a seemingly simple rock music record can burgeon into an inferno. The mastery of Gildenlöw is visible in the method in which he made his point, this record proves beyond doubt that the soul of the music is the feel not the genre influences, in other words an old school blues influenced rock and roll mixed with ample lyrical imagery can do the same job as black metal record. The vocals are beyond the description of words, this is exactly what makes you analyze the music more, the immense feel is like a ticking nuclear arsenal which creates a holocaust when you explore the lyrics.

The compositions are simple, there are no progressive elements at all, no riffs, no lengthy songs, we can see a good deal of Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin & Blue Oyster Cult influences. "Curiosity" is one of those songs which also has a very heavy alternative rock influence, mainly due to the vocals and drumming, same is the case with "No Way". It won't be an over statement if I say that the bluesy "She Likes To Hide" is like Gildenlöw's retort to Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" and "Sleeping Under The Stars" could be how the "Whole Lotta Love" would have been made if it was done now. In the end when you get lost in the transcending spirit of this creation the relevance of all the musical influences pale in comparison with the sheer brilliance of vocals and lyrics which together form the crux of this ravaging record.

A child of the wild - 100%

Evil_Tim, May 20th, 2010

Pain of Salvation strike again in 2010, this time with the first part of a planned double album, the second part of which will come out later this year. And boy, does it kick ass. It's a frenzy of hard rockin' fun courtesy of Daniel Gildenlow and company, with plenty of 70's hard rock influence (among other things!), but still with the flair, style and general feel of Pain of Salvation at the core. As is the case with this band, this album is very different from the previous installments in the discography. As such, one generally has to get used to the new style that greets their ears with the first listen. Some people greatly dislike the new styles, while others love it. Hopefully, this new change will please a few ears that (sadly) were not so pleased with the orchestral bombast of BE or the modern, angry assault of Scarsick.

So what does this new album sound like? Well, as previously mentioned, there is quite a bit of apparent 70's influence, stuff like Led Zeppelin and the like. If you heard the Linoleum EP, you have a pretty good idea of what this album sounds like, even though the only track from the EP present here is Linoleum. The other three tracks from that EP are not present here, perhaps to be present on Road Salt Two, or perhaps not. Either way, the sound and feel of that EP (edgy hard rock with a taste for intricate melodies weaved in and out of otherwise powerful, straightforward material) is definitely present here.

The album kicks off with What She Means to Me, the intro track from the limited edition, which features harmonized vocals over a nice piano bit, with some guitar coming in later. It leads nicely into No Way, a powerful first track very much in the vein of Linoleum. Definitely an album highlight. From here, the songs vary greatly in style, from the bluesy sounding She Likes to Hide, the upbeat and almost pop sounding Curiosity, and the dark and brooding Darkness of Mine.

Other songs of note are Of Dust, which reminds me of Nauticus (Drifting) from BE. It's a slower number with a lot of chanting and some spoken word. Then there is Sleeping Under The Stars, probably the wackiest, most avant-garde thing Pain of Salvation have come up with. Remedy Lane had Fandango. Scarsick had Disco Queen. Road Salt has this. It's like a carnival gone crazy, with some Italian sounding guitar and rather... interesting lyrics. Don't let the thought scare you, it's really quite a great song.

THE highlight of this album has to be Sisters. This song is absolutely amazing. It starts with a slow piano melody, and builds and builds until it explodes into an amazing crescendo of vocal melody and a myriad of instruments, featuring Daniel in one of his best performances ever. Definitely my new favorite Pain of Salvation song. The piano and vocal melody is also reprised in Where It Hurts, another great song.

The album closes in true PoS fashion with Innocence, a grand epic and serious competition for best song on this album, but falling just short of the awesomeness of Sisters. Very strong close to the album, almost as strong as The Perfect Element and Beyond The Pale. All in all a magnificent album with no weak moments. Fans of pre-BE material may find this a refreshing and appealing listen, but I encourage all PoS fans, new and old to give this a listen, especially if you didn't like (or "just didn't get", perhaps) the last one or two albums.

This band still has a lot of life left. I can't wait to hear Road Salt Two and whatever comes after.