THE PERFECT ELEMENT - PART 1

Pain of Salvation's third album The Perfect Element Part I is part of a planned two part concept. The Perfect Element is sort of a turning point in Pain of Salvation's career. Pain of Salvation moves further away from their metal roots and more towards a variant orchestrated project. The songs Idioglossia, Her Voices, and King of Loss are excellent demonstrations of Pain of Salvation's new pension for orchestration. The Perfect Element Part I is a leap forward for Pain of Salvation.

Daniel Gildenlow's peformances is better than ever before. Aside from composing this entire album, Gildenlow's vocals now showcase extraordinary skill. Gidlenlow's vocals are so variant. He can power a listener or finesse them with equal talent. He can scream and sing, but he can also rap. The vocal experience provided by Gidlenlow is as unique as they come. Gildenlow's guitar playing is interesinting too. He creates the perfect contrast with Johan Hallgren. The trading of solos between these two is brilliant. The solos are not as technical as they are emotional.

Johan Langell gives an excellentperformance on drums. Langell's use of cymbals is one of the most unique. The crashs and splashs on so many off beats keep a listener on his or her toes throughout the album. Langell's cymbal use is not over done. Langell's primary tool is his toms. He can roll across at a variety of speeds and always lands right on the beat.

Fredrick Hermansson's keyboards add an essential melodic support for the band. So many of these pieces would not have the same substance without Hermansson. Hermansson's synths are not the focal point of his playing. The piano interludes and melodies from Hermansson are his passion. For listeners who prefer the classic piano rather than limitless keyboard tones, Hermansson is the man.

Kristoffer Gildenlow does an excellent performance on bass. Gildenlow is quite skilled, but in much more subdued ways. Gildenlow is primarily a rythymn player who will also support the melodies along with showing off tapping and slapping skills. Gildenlow's rare slap spots are a breath of fresh air in a genre which rarely showcases slap bass skills. Gildenlow's rythymnic sense is unparalleled. Gildenlow is the perfect groove agent for Johan Langell. The flow of this album is made so much smoother with the way these two play togethor.

Johan Hallgren is the lead guitarist. While Daniel Gildenlow drops away from the axe in favor of rythymn guitar skills and his vocal abilities Johan Hallgren takes the guitar stage. Hallgren's melodic sense is amazing. His playing is so tasteful. Hallgren's solos are an excellent contrast to Gildenlow. Hallgren has a bit more shred technique in his solos, but they don't fail to retain that emotional basis.

The production is just amazing. Every note of every intstrument is clear and articulate. The balance between the instruments is something to behold. The production of this album is done with the entire band in mind. The drums however are the prize of this mix. The toms are so powerful and articulate. The bass drum is tuned just right for the perfect amount of depth. Excellent production for an excellent album.

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