SCARSICK

To me Pain of Salvation was one of the true symphonic metal bands out there. One could consider their music to be a metal rendition of classic 70s prog anno the 21st century. Lengthy, epic, conceptual pieces of music, sometimes woven fluently into one another, odd time signatures and an abstract-minded approach to contemporary music standards.

However, most of those elements seem to have vanished, for with "Scarsick" this band delivers perhaps their most non-prog work up to date. This doesn't necessarily mean that the music's utter crap... not at all per se (although, there's a few exceptions..), just not as innovative and 'proggy' as Pain of Salvation's classic albums "Remedy Lane" or "The Perfect Element: Part I".

Not there's missed opportunity #1: This new release appears to be the follow-up to "The Perfect Element: Part I", yet contrary to "Part I", the music included here is more reminiscent of popular hardrock/nu-metal outfits than it is of let's say King Crimson or any other prog music group.

Missed opportunity #2: Whereas I thought up to now that most of Pain of Salvation's output featured pretty decent lyrics, here it's mostly written with an anti-everything attitude from Mr Gildenlöw point of view. It's pretty difficult to find a positive note in a song on this album. Sure, PoS has never been the most happy bunch of musicians (at least on their albums), but they've surpassed themselves this time around. (F*ck the... ² to quote a certain bit of lyrics...)

Not let's not be all too negative on this release, even though I felt rather underwhelmed by most of it... I expected so much more than this... Ah well, whenever I'm in the mood to listen to a popmetal album that deals with world issues and MTV mania, than I know where to find my copy of "Scarsick".

And yes, there are several sections on the CD that could please me rather well actually... For instance the trademark PoS ending to the song Kingdom of Loss ("As you're tearing down our world, please just try to do it gently, there's still love inside") with its heavy metal guitars as well as some eerie keyboard sounds. This song is by the way perhaps the sole direct link to the first "Perfect Element" album. (King of Loss --> Kingdom of loss).

Idiocracy is another quite good song, even though it's rather like a simplified version of what PoS were capable of on their previous albums when it came down to playing a heavier piece of music.

If you want something taht rocks, but that's not overly complex and... well, actually quite in-your-face, that I'd suggest listening to "Scarsick". However, if you're to expect those off-beat instrumental sections as featured on previous PoS album like "Remedy Lane" and you seek a challenge in listening music... one word of advise: stay away from this as far as possible...

Share this PAIN OF SALVATION review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Tristan Mulders
• Report this review (#118859)
• Buy PAIN OF SALVATION music online with PA partners
• Show all PAIN OF SALVATION MP3/Stream
• Go to PAIN OF SALVATION page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Scarsick page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for PAIN OF SALVATION related discussions