BE

This is, if you've read the other reviews I've put up here, the third in a threesome of perfect albums from Pain of Salvation. And it, in my mind, completely blows the first two out of the water. This is, without a doubt, my favorite album out of all that I own or have listened to. There is just some almost intangible feel permeating the CD, a feel of desolation and destruction and birth and God and man and just everything. And that's exactly what the album is aiming for.

Spoken passages accentuate the concept (which, being about God and man and everything in between, happens to be the only concept that I feel boosts the quality of the music more than detracts from it), and musical interludes tie each song together in ways I could never have imagined. The actual songs themselves range from folk tunes to slave songs to Broadway performances to technical metal ditties to orchestral pieces. But all that just simply describes it, and the true power of this album sits beyond my power of actual description.

Special mention must be made of Vocari Dei, a track where fans called into a voice mail account and left messages for God. It gets me every time, pulling me as close to tears as I've been in ten years. Also, Iter Impius is about the catchiest, most appallingly explosive sleeper song, driven by godlike vocals from Daniel Gildenlow. And finally, the album's closing song, Martius / Nauticus II, rehashes some themes from throughout BE and then culminates in a thundering drumming outro that ends it better than about anything else ever could, as far as I can figure.

Yes. This album is amazing. Again, like all proper Pain of Salvation, completely unique. A bit hard to swallow at first, but definitely completely worth it. Maybe start with Remedy Lane, but this is what prog music should be. Just stunning.