SCARSICK

This is a little deception for me!! I thought that more and more listening make this album a good one. But no...I think Pain return of source for this cd exept song like ''Disco quenn''idiocracy'' and maybe ''Mrs modern mother deay'' we can find a touch of new in this 3 song!! But unfortunately this songs are good but no more!!! For the rest of cd a good old vintage Pain with less mélodic part.Gildenlow is good , but sure can give better!!!l Overall that good but i expect little more for this tallent guys.

I thin this is one of POS most progressive albums, because of touching new grounds & reaching the limits of rock music in every way possible (Disco Queen - LOL :) Message in lyrics is great to, if you listen well & understand! Bottom line is that this CD is absolute masterpiece of oldskool rock, mixed with modern jazz metal, and filled with intelligent lyrics which you can explain in almost unlimited ways! Oh, yeah, The Ending on last epic "Enter Rain" almost shows us their next opus - Perfect Element Pt.2 with promissed huge orchestra by Mr. Daniel Gildenlöw!

Scarsick is a mediocre effort by Pain of Salvation, comparatively to their last album, Be. It is like Daniel Gildenlöw has lead his band into a sort of System-of-a-Down-like band, with heavy riffs along with rap singing, mixed with mellower parts. It does not bring much, if anything, of new or refreshing to the music panorama, sometimes taking their intents to exhaustion. Even taking in consideration the nice message of the album, or its lyrics, it is of little value opposing to the lack of originality or the sparse moments of sensibility of the album.

The compositions are made around a heavy riff, like in the tittle track, or built around a pop theme, like "Spitfall" or "Cribcaged". In "Dance Queen" it is like we're listening to George Michael or even David Hasselhoff at their best (!), incredible how they let this track stay on the album. "America" shows an interinting mixing of an 70-80's-like chorus with modern guitar work, though with bit out-of-date arrangements. This track, along with the simple but beautiful "Kingdom of loss" and the misterious "Ideocracy" are the best work of the album, insufficient though to be considered step forwards to the band.

Many have judged the pretensious side of Pain of Salvation with Be. Well, taking out the pretension, here you have the result.

OK, one of the most awaited progmetal albums of these days is here..

I won't write much about it because you just need to hear it by yourself and still, music is just a matter of taste but don't expect another "metal-ish" Entropia, a darkness of One Hour By The Concrete Lake or The Perfect Element, or an orchestral album with a deep concept like BE was. The closest album to Scarsick is in my opinion Remedy Lane because of its rather song-like structure instead of huge complexity and heavy arrangements of ie. The Perfect Element.

The album contains ten short to medium-long songs and some of them sound like nothing from Pain Of Salvation heard before. Some songs are kind of funny (America, Dance Queen), some are melodically very beautiful (Kingdom Of Loss, Enter Rain) and some sound very modern, with a touch of nu-metal, using interesting guitar and electronic effects (Scarsick, Spitfall). In my opinion the album has an upward trend and the second half is a little stronger, from the song Kingdom Of Loss to the very end. I can imagine that some people may find Disco Queen as "unacceptable" - at the first listening I was shocked as well - but after few more listenings I find it very funny and inspired. I wouldn't use David Hasselhof as a comparison because I think it's beyond his skills and despite of the Bonnie M.-like refrain it's still Pain Of Salvation - very sophisticated and complex.

For me it's not their best album (they haven't still surpassed The Perfect Element since that gem was released), that's for sure but I'm happy that their music is still progressive in a true meaning of this word and they can always bring us many surprises with every new album. Pain Of Salvation still demonstrate that they are one of the most original progmetal bands. Thanks guys, see you live in Vienna. 4 of 5 stars.

These guys now what they're doing.Their music is still very creative and nevertheless this one is a strong change from the Be work,this is very good rock.Yes this is not so progressive as the ones before,but a very good recording sound,nice instrumental arrangements and nice voice.

a very weird album, is like a mix of progressive disco rap country rock nu metal, but I know that Mr Gildenlow knows what he is doing, but still there are very nice songs and very good arrangements, but I was hoping something better, anyway a good album, but definetly not the one to start with, if you are about to start with PoS, buy the perfect elemnt o remedy lane, or any od the others, but this not.. GO PoS

Dirt, pure and utter dirt. This is such a disappointing release by the POS boys. I had such high hopes for their latest efforts, and considering the beautiful and masterful "BE" had been such a land mark i was expecting so much more, yet got so so so very little

To be blunt, this is just abysmal. Sure, the average music listener could pick this up and love it, but considering its POS, and they have such a highly respected track record, so because of this i had to give it such a low rating, they could/can do so much better.

Each song feels like its built around 1 riff. They seem to be experimenting in too many different directions, when they have a perfectly good unique sound/style already. They attempt to try rap metal (spitfall) to nu-metal almost emo'like song structures and vocals (Flame to the moth).

Each song is another dissapointment, one after the other

songs like: "Spitfall" (The rap-metal attempt, it made me cringe the whole way though, i almost felt sorry for Daniel) "Disco Queen" (awful song, feels like they tried a disco song, for what reason? i dont know) "America"(they lyrics are just so childish and stupid, so un-imaginative, maybe they ment this, considering they are aimed at America, but i wouldnt be surprised if they'er not) and i could easily just list all the tracks on the album, but i wont go on

the theme running through most of the songs is pretty much just America, and the POS boys taking cheap shots at the people and country, not that i have anything against this, its just very un-POS, the lyrics suffer because of this, each track more un-imaginative then the last, and as ive said very childish, theres no need to make a whole album around it

Overall, all i can say is, as a very big POS fan i was extremely dissapointed and let'down.

In essence, do not buy this.

Well, what can I say? My friend introduced me to Pain of Salvation a while back, first starting with REMEDY LANE. I liked it at first, but didnt love it. I then heard BE, and at first i was reluctant, but after a while i began to appreciate it for what it is. BE was an amazing spectacle; it had EVERYTHING! Needless to say, i was VERY excited for SCARSICK. The album cover made be squirm even more, since its just so cool. Throughout the album, i was shocked. POS will have so much fans for the wrong reasons after this. Its simply mainstream garbage. POS is capable of so much more.

1. Scarsick - The only decent song here. Nice bass/ synth? leads. Yet, its still pretty bad..thats how you know the albums gonna sniff ass 5/10

2.spitfall - WTF? Daniels trying to rap around the main theme of the whole anti-america. WE get it pos, not ALL americans are bad silly. -30/100

3. cribcages - The intro started out nice, very remeniscent to BE. However, it got all bad when mr. now-bad-guitarist tries to be all cool and step on his little distorsion pedal. The chorus is soo annoying. Mainstream garbage -2/10

4. America - I'll admit its CATCHY, but in the wrong way. It sounds like a soap commercial, or a commercial for bad teeth, which daniel stars in. Stop with this anti- american stuff...its played out! Anyways, this song has a repetive chorus/verse. I'll admit, another "favourite" on the album, and thats DEFINATELY not a good thing. 5/10

5. Disco Queen - An example of POS trying to be as diverse as possible. It was fine up to now, but with this song, this "uniqueness" fad feels FORCED. COME ON NOW DANIEL

6. Kingdom of loss: real creative daniel 5.32/39.1

you know what... the rest of the songs...there not worth being REVIEWED, even by me..a terrible ORATOR.

Memorable Tracks : the last second of ENTER RAIN because you know you will never have to listen to this rubbish again. Look out MTV, here comes PAIN OF SALVATION! I'll admit, when a favourite band of yours creates new work, you wish they won't be popular, and will have bad hopes. ie. Amputechture with the mars volta...

As every new album from Pain of Salvation, the very firsts listening are more than often the bad one. Don't review a PoS album on a first shot, it would be a mistake. SCARSICK is, as BE, a difficult new approch of prog music. With Spitfall, people give to PoS the attribution to be a System of a Down copy, with Disco Queen, people give them the attribution to be... hem... a PoS disco ? Well, give a good ear to SCARSICK to impress you, listen to the lyrics and travel on the music. This is not the best PoS work and I don't suggest any new PoS listenner to begin with this one, but I give him a 4/5 anyway.

Nice job Danniel !

I am really disappointed. I've been waiting for this album for so long and started listening to previous albums for some ear exercise. When I first heard Daniel singing I said "oh no not one of those big bands started rap singing". I hate seeing solid rock bands with their own style turn out to be a more commercial but worse bands. We've seen this many times but please not for PoS once more. To admit, this album still has catching tunes we remember from the previous albums, especially when Daniel stops singing rap or disco music. IMHO this band is not progressive metal any more with this album. Indeed, it is not heavy metal any more nor progressive in many ways. Only for collectors.

First of all, if you're expecting something specific from this album, stop. You should know by now that Pain of Salvation is going to give you a few surprises. Here's my song-by-song breakdown... Scarsick - Really, I think this could be the main reason people are getting down about this album. Picture a little kid on Christmas morning, expecting to get some new video game system. His parents hand him his first present; the box looks like the box for that big present! But alas, he opens it and finds socks in there. What a dissapointment. He gets the video games later on that day, but the excitement was kind of killed. This song is the 'socks' of Scarsick, with later songs being the 'video games'. That being said, it's grown on me. - 6/10

Spitfall - Great song. Yeah, he raps...so what, it sounds damn good. Catchy chorus, verses that will be great fun to sing along to once I get my hands on the booklet for lyrics. That final verse goes on for a bit too long, but that's my only strike against it. - 8/10

Cribcaged - The first truly brilliant track of the album. I love how the emotion picks up as the song goes on. At first I thought the [%*!#] part was kind of silly, but it really drives the point home. Needless to say, I love it now. - 10+/10

America - Wait a minute! Upbeat, catchy and happy? I can't help but love this song. The lightness of the music contrasts the rest of the album so well, despite the serious message of the song. - 9/10

Disco Queen - Ahh Disco Queen...the 'guilty pleasure' track if there ever was one. I have no idea how this song fits into the album concept yet, but the choruses alone make this song worth it. - 9/10

Kingdom of Loss - I guarantee you, this song will sound boring and dull on first listen. Don't shut it out. Give it some attention and soon enough you'll find out why I'm rating it a 10. - 10/10

Mrs Modern Mother Mary - Weird, I liked this track at first. Now I end up skipping it whenever I listen to this album. I can't put my finger on it, but something about this song just rubs me the wrong way. - 4/10

Idiocracy - WHY CAN'T I CLOOOOOSE MY EYYYYEEESS??? The part around 5:30 is HUGE! This song is HUGE! 'Nuff said. - 10+/10

Flame to the Moth - Killer track. Heaviest on the album, IMO. The prechoruses are great (the parts where he screams)...they remind me of the choruses in "This Love" by Pantera. Seemingly simple song, but really well put together. - 10/10

Enter Rain - Well, if you're expecting another epic ending track like "The Perfect Element" or "Beyond the Pale," I've got some bad news for you. This song dissapointed me a little, which is bad for a closing track. I mean, it's a damn good song...sometimes it's even the kind of song I have to listen to twice in a row. It's not what I was hoping for the album to end on really though. A little anticlimax knocks this one down a point or two: -8/10

I think that if you're able to appreciate sarcasm, irony, and humor in music alongside the serious parts, you'll enjoy this album. Remember, it's thinking man's (/woman's) music. And please, whatever you do, don't be one of those guys that subconsciously decides to hate an album just to be cool and dissenting. I hate that.

aww. I was introduced to PoS by a friend of mine who Is a versatil guitarist, remedy lane great but i not entry the fan club, later Be, ohh, the greatest album I ever heard, excelent addition and adiction xD to my collection, i have it with the other jewels of prog, Scenes from a memory from DT moving pictures rush, neal morse testimony, floyd, the dark side, etc. this album be trapped me with its originality, its concept, the orchestra, etc. well i think i'm overtalking xP ,hehe

well ´bout this album... i am so sorry to get out from the fan club T.T but i had to... what i had in my hands is only garbage and nothing more, i ask to me, why?!?!?!?! why a genius like Gindelöw fall in that thing that he was against in BE.. the mediocraty. I am very disappointed by Gindelöw, falling in that (there is no other word to describe it, sorry) mediocre genre that is hip hop,( i knew that in Be he also uses that genre in diffidentia but it dont loose the progressive essence) that si one of the more horrible things that i ever heard... aaaa my ears are burning!!!

very bad album by a band that show me its genius members with be, this time show me a mediocraty that i never expected form Gindelöw the album is for hearing and crying

so disappointed PoS... T.T

i even doesnt give it two stars because i dont recomend it even for the fans because PoS will loose all of them...

i had a better image from you daniel, but now....

Well, I haven't much to say. Shortly, it's a cruel disappointment for me.

Scarsick is in my opinion a waste of time and money, so I would rate it with one star if it wasn't for the sarcasm and the grin that the funny disco and rap-metal tunes made on my face.

There is ''something'' in Scarsick though...aah, just the humour I reckon... But for very big fans it could have something worth listening to, and for many it could offer the knowing that Pain of Salvation has progressed with decadence and since the quite good (their previous albums being far better though) ''Be'' , suffered a downfall. Anyway, in the eyes of many fans Pain of Salvation has. And the ones who think so, have a rightful oppinion I think.

For die-hard fans only.

Well, to be honest, I think this album deserves a 3,5... but we don't have 3,5 here, so I going to put 4 stars to it.

Basically I think the album is different. Many people didn't got the sarcasm of it, and some aren't so open minded to handle all the nuances (and there are a lot) of the album. As every PoS album, you have to learn de concept of the songs to learn it right. This album is no exception. A lot of styles mixed together, as I've never heard before. People maybe aren't loving this album because of it, or the higher expectations they built around PoS. It's impossible to release just masterpieces, no band ever done this, and no band ever will. That's a good album, with good things and bad things.

Let's do a track review:

Scarsick: 5/10 - This track is maybe the weakest of the album, it's uninsteresting, non- melodic, the riffs are great, at least.

Spitfall: 8,5/10 - This one is the "rap" track. Well, I really don't understanding people hating this song, for me this song sounds like Diffidentia (from BE), with a little more rap. But the chorus is one of the best PoS melodies IMHO, the ending is awesome, the guitar (with a kind of filtron and duets) line is awesome too. It has a great heavy punch.

Cribcaged: 8,5/10 - A beautiful song, with anger inside. Nice touch, very BE-ish at first, very Floyd-ish too. But it gets not so interesting after listening to much. After 5 or so listenings it became normal, that's why 8,5.

America: 9/10 - This song is amazing. It remainds me a lot of TPE and RL (in the composition style side), those "dissonant" parts, mixed with a happy chorus, very funny/sarcastic. The riffs are pretty good and so is the entire song. At the same time it sounds very non-PoS (yeah, that's strange). Maybe the best one.

Disco Queen: 8,5/10 - That's one of the funniest song I've ever heard (from a serious band, obviously)! It has some great lines, the guitar work is cool, as is the bass work. The drum roll at the end of the first theme worth the entire song, it fits really really well with the theme. It's funny, but this song looses in itself. It seems that it got strange in some parts, just to fit the lyrics (I feel that on the end of Nihil Morari from BE). That's a must hear track IMO. Funny and dark at the same time.

Kingdom Of Loss: 8,5/10 - It's beginning sounds like Elton John's "Come Down In Time". Despite this, the song is beautiful, has one of the most "I can't take this melody of my head" of the album. It sounds very TPE-ish IMHO. The guitar solo should have more gain (I mean, distortion, punch) IMO; it explodes after the solo, I think it should explodes with the solo (the solo is beautiful BTW). Very powerfull song. Maybe it deserves a 9.

Mrs. Modern Mother Mary: 5/10 - This song is weak IMO. Nothing special and very repetitive, sounds very Queensrÿche-ish. In the middle there's a TPE melody, I don't know why.

Idiocracy: 8,5/10 - Another powerfulll song. Great guitar work at the beginning, as the keyboards. It sounds very PoS. The vocals are kinda strange, sounds like the "thing" (it seems a strange human) of the album's cover is singing. The pre-chorus/chorus is very TPE-ish IMO too. Very beautiful. Then we have that classic "dissonant" chord and some cool "metal" screams. After 5 minutes the song explodes in powerfull melodies. As always, Daniel's singing is awesome.

Flame To The Moth: 9/10 - A great track. At the beginning we have that "filtron" guitar (never heard it before on a PoS album, and it's in almost every track of this album). This song is heavy, with some awesome screams, and some kinda nu metal riffs. The vocals are great, some great vocal lines, very memorable. I think that every PoS fan loves this track. Maybe the best. Very powerfull.

Enter Rain: 6/10 - A strange track. Not a good way to end an album IMO. Very dark and repetitive. Drums are under overdrive, giving that sound. The first vocals are melodic, but the chorus is not so melodic (so do the lyrics "Enter rain, Enter rain, Enter raaaain"), sounding not so good IMO. The song is too big for what it has to offer IMO. As in the entire album, the parts that "explodes" (at 6:24) are the best of the track.

That's it. Some excellent and some good, but non-essential stuff.

Close to three years after the release of "BE", I think it's safe to say that "Scarsick" was/is the most anticipated follow-up of 2007 in both the progressive music and metal world. Unfortunately, the band seems to have become like one of those students who does very well only to get sick of the positive attention and then does horrible on purpose (I've done this several times...). It's almost as if the Daniel or the band has gotten tired of being top-notch. Let us expand upon that though.

The music: This is always the most important aspect of any album in my view. Pain of Salvation has been known to write music that is very enjoyable yet still tasteful compared to many other progressive metal bands. "Scarsick" represents a drastic decrease in enjoyability, compositional strength, direction, and general sound. This is all apparent from the very beginning with the track "Scarsick" as it's amelodic, repetitive, directionless, and drawn-out (not mention a rip-off of "S.C.I.E.N.C.E."-era Incubus). "Spitfall" channels Linkin Park with the rapping on top of heavy chords and single notes on the piano. And top it off with an annoying and clichéd rock chorus. Speaking of piano, the keyboards are barely on this album and the bass is practically non-existent as well. "Cribcaged" offers us some of the worst lyrics Daniel has ever written, "America" is incomprehensibly childish considering the band and people who wrote it, not to mention the way Daniel says America makes me want to punch him in the face. The song also sounds like something System of a Down might have written when they pre-teens. "Disco Queen" is annoying and grating. The fun-fact about the five prior songs is that they all sound nothing alike! That's a glaring compositional flaw as well as a startling lack of consistency. The rest of the album is a little more consistent, but the dark, brooding songs all sound the same after a while. For this band, such lack of consistency and quality is inexcusable.

The vocals: On previous albums, Daniel's vocals have thrilled and chilled while soaring to new-found emotional heights (see "Remedy Lane") and also doing an excellent job at playing characters on "BE" (Mr. Money is deliciously snobby). Here, that all falls flat. The well-written music and commanding vocals have always made Pain of Salvation for me, but here they just sound annoying. Not many outstanding moments vocally as compared to other albums.

The lyrics: Here is the biggest flaw in my opinion. Not only does "Scarsick" not mean anything apparent, but the rest of the album has a general anti-American and anti-capitalist theme to it. Now those aren't bad when done right, but here the lyrics sound like they were written by one of those angsty kids you see on debate teams. Immaturity and cheap-shots do not belong on a Pain of Salvation album. And neither does excess profanity; I was quite disappointed at Daniel's new-found potty-mouth. Also, it doesn't feel as if there is a concept here. But what could it be in the context of this album? Angst? Immaturity? Down with those capitalist pigs? That's pretty low-brow for this band.

All-in-all, this is the biggest disappointment of 2007 for me as well as one the biggest disappointments in the history of the music I listen to. I'd rather listen to Cradle of Filth's "Thornography" or AFI's "decemberunderground". And that's saying a lot. Although there are people who will enjoy this (hopefully not for the wrong reasons), but I can see this attract the entirely wrong kind of fan. This will be a major red-mark on the band's history that will be hard to overcome.

I was waiting for the next perfect element or another remedy lane. Everything was fine until i first listened to the samples. Suddenly the new album surprised me, there were even some kind of rap-song there, and believe me, i don't like rap.

But enough of this sample crap and on to the album. I was getting ready for my first listen and as usual when it comes to progressive metal i wait until I've got the time to listen through the album in one straight run. My buddy warned me that this album is not what you think, but i was ready so Scarsick started to play on the speakers. What? ... what is this? Daniel sound like some swenglish (sweden-english) rapper with pronunciation problems. Still the song had some nice choir and it was an ok song.

Next up, Spitfall, the song i had really low expectations in. But still i kinda liked it, the lyrics are really fun and a great kick in the ass to all rappers, still it's a rap song, kinda funny. Once again some nice choirs. Well this one was better than i expected. Cribcaged, and well it's slow and nice, i kinda feel the "soul" in this song. Once again the lyrics really gets it to me and i dig it. Get some Tool influences with their Ænema song with all the "[%*!#] this", "[%*!#] that", but i like it.

Alright next up is my pre-favorite song, America. I knew this song before it started, or did i? Some nice references to the "we are the kids in america" song but in a funny way. Some of you guys think this song has stupid lyrics, but it kinda fits very well with the song, there's enough deep-[&*!#]-lyrics-songs so this one is a nice addition. Some very nice Jesus Christ Superstar singing in the end, Daniels influences really show off here. This song i really nice and doesn't get many listens to like.

Now the one i was most excited about, Disco Queen. What is this? What's with name etc. But, god, this song really is something! I doesn't feel 2000 at all, this one really gets the 80/70-disco feeling. This song has been playing a lot lately! The feeling is strange and the lyrics dark, interesting and funny. I love this song! Kingdom of Loss has a really cool name so this one should be good? Well this one needed a couple of listens. Once again i really like the lyrics. The talk part is not really funny, but still i like the lyrics here so it's not a problem. The melody is nice and when the talk part ends the song really grows. I like this one, not as an favorite but the feeling is nice and unique in a very nice way.

Mrs. Modern Mother Mary is for me the only weak track on the album. I don't like the sound at all, it's special and the lyrics is good, but "nah" i can't listen to it. This one is just not for me. But still it's a short track with some nice singing at some parts, but damn i really would like some nice daniel screams now! Next up, Idiocracy. Very low expectations after the sample. But .... the drums in the beginning, that strange dark feeling, the melody is nice. I know some of you don't like the "talk-like" singing parts, and their not my favorite either. But still that dark strange feeling surrounds the song and i must listen more. Then suddenly the song takes a 180 and when the "close you eyes" part hits in i just sit there paralyzed. I love this part, just LOVE it, and the second time its just HUGE. Maybe it's the strange sound with the balalaika sounding guitar in the background and Daniels strange singing that all together adds up in a nice way, i don't know. This song adds up as the best on the album for me, not perfect but damn close.

The next song has a strange sounding name, Flame to The Moth, so this can be good. And damn right. Daniel makes some really cool screaming here and it all adds up in one cool sounding song. Haven't got mush to say about this one so i step into what is the closing song of the album. Enter rain, a 10 minutes epic about .... rain. Well the lyrics once again makes me think about Tool. The song is a slow closer, not filled with variety, instead it follows a trail and grows slowly. Once again the feeling of the song makes me wanna hear more.

So after a couple of listens i think i have come up with a conclusion. First of all, this album is not like anything else released by PoS. It's progressive, it's unique and sharp as a diamond. Fans will hate and love this one, it's not for everyone. But take this album for what it is. Daniel doesn't sing in the same way as before and it's more melodic than before. But damn, this album couldn't be better. Instead of repeating them self they make something unique, again, and with a extra touch. This one will require a couple of listens and some will forever hate it.

This is a diamond shaped in fire and will be the perfect addition in the discography. Nice work guys :D .

Pain of Salvation has been such a consistent band and Scarsick continues that trend of high quality music. With this album POS once more pushes the boundaries of music, but still with a firm foot in the trademark POS sound that we've come to love. Unlike what some reviewers have said, this is not some major departure from the POS sound we in the progressive metal community have come to love.

The album starts with the title track 'Scarsick'is an awesome opener with crunching riffs. The song serves a s a statement of intent, this album will be angry and aggressive. The next song 'Spitfall' has quit a bit of rapping in it. Some have been shocked by this but this is nothing new, remember 'Used' from TPE. It worked on Used and it works on Spitfall. The third track 'Cribcaged' is a stunning song, one that could have easily come out of TPE or RL. 'America' is a fun song with tongue in cheek lyrics about the USA. 'Disco Queen' is an innovative song, showing POS pushing the boundaries of music. It has to be heard to be believed. And it's clearly a song full of humour, it's not meant to be serious. Again this unusual direction works and works brilliantly.

'Kingdom of Loss' reminds me of RL. It is a beautiful ballad and on of the stand out tracks on the album. 'Mrs. Modern Mother Mary' this is an interesting song, to me this is a weirder sounding song than 'Disco Queen'. At fist I didn't think too much of it but this one really grew on me after multiple listens. The chorus is awesome and there is nice heavy riff that goes throughout. 'Idiocracy' is simply brilliant, and is another song which could have easily come straight out of TPE or RL. It is a heavy song that builds up slowly and by the 5 minute mark explodes into life with melodic brilliance. I'd say this one is my favourite song on the album. 'Flame to the Moth' is the most aggressive and heavy song on the album. There's some great riffing and powerful screams from Daniel. It is POS at their most metal, I love it. It takes you back to the heaviness of Entropia. 'Enter Rain' is a haunting closer. Ito goes back and forth from eerie softness to sheer heaviness with a stunning chorus running over the top. It is an epic sounding song, the perfect song to close the album.

This is yet another brilliant album by Pain of Salvation. Like its predecessors the more you listen to this album the more it grows on you. It's not their best album but it isn't far off. It's a fantastic addition to the POS catalogue.

i was supprised by scarsick, its a great album, but the lyrics in this album are very angry and a tad corney in a few songs. all the other pain of salvation albums i could say i liked every song, but in this album, i can't say the same. i love this album dont get me wrong, its very progressiv, i just think pain of salvation took a wrong turn up at alberkerky. pain of salvation is my faviorite band, this album just takes aloooooottt of listining too.

this cd was very hard for me to rate, its very progressive, many styles, i just think you should hear it for your self, but this is what i think of it

1) scarsick - alot of people seem to not like this song, but its strange with pretty cool melodies, very good song 8/10

2)spitfall - okay, the lyrics in this song are pretty cool, cool and angry lyrics, but it sounds a lttle nu - metalish, and daniel raps in this song, wich is cool.. its a diffrent style.. just think he might have been a little too angry in this song.. f' this and f'that.. little insane 7/10

3)Cribcaged - this song is pretty cool, just the chorus is too much, i mean cussing is something in a song you are supposed to express in anger, but he just goes a little too farm plus the chorus lasts a while, but its an alright song other than that 7/10

4)america - this song started off cool, diffrent style than usuall pain of salvation, but it sounds like an emo rock song, plus daniel ... dude.. what the hell do you have against americans, haha i just think all that was a little too much, hes sick of america.. eh well im sick of this damn song.. this song was very very dissapointing.. 0.5/10

5)disco queen - weird song, its cool and all, i just played it over and over again, and i still think it is awful 4/10

6)kingdon of loss - ehh.. creative much??? umm.. you just have to hear this song for yourself.. 1.999/2

7)Mrs. Modern Mother Mary - okay song, just boring 4/10

8)Idiocracy - thats more like it.. but still, nothing like the perfect element.. thats why its called the PERFECT element 7/10

9)flame to mouth - this song is cool, cool melodies, its sounding more like pain of salvation, pretty badass once you listen to it alot 8/10

10)enter rain - okay song, just boring... 6/10

this album was creative, and i loved the techno and rap stuff.. thats was a crazy cool approach.. but that has nothing to do w/ the face that this album had no hooks and not the best of lyrics. a real boring cd.. =(

RIP - the amazing pain of salvation

This is true progressive metal. It seems that the true meaning of the word has been forgotten by many fans of progressive music. It means to progress, try something new and push boundaries. This is exactly what PoS have done hear.

Many of their fans were expecting to hear classic PoS in the build up to this album, a rehash of old ideas. I believe that PoS have taken the perfect direction for this album, making a truely modern progressive album. With influences from rap, nu-metal, pop, disco and screamo Daniel was able to take what is normally pretty ordinary music and transform it into brilliant progressive music. This modern approach is severly lacking in alot of progressive music which is simply not progressing any more.

Admittidly, it did take me a while to get into this album. As with many of their other fans I was expecting to hear something I had heard before, scared of any change. The change was certainly a shock. Rapping in Spitfall and Scissor Sisters-like beats in Disco Queen are certainly a departure but once I had grown accustomed to this new sound I really began to enjoy it. Soon I considered it PoS's most consistent effort with EVERY song contributing strongly to the album.

Production has improved as would be expected as it has a similar sound to BE apart from the guitars which sound better than they ever have. Daniels vocals are a strong feature, not displaying his range but rather his versatility, from rap to screaming to whiny falsetto.

I am actually quite shocked to read the extent of Scarsick bashing there is on the net. I would have expected more of their fans to except and enjoy innovation rather than bash anything new.

Now to songs. 1) Scarsick 7.5/10 - Initially one of my least favourite songs, I grew to like the unusual harmonies. The riffs absolutely rock. 2) Spitfall 8/10 - This one is unusal. I have to say Daniel is a damn good rapper. Despite not being a fan of most music that features rapping this song rocks. It grooves, sounds angry and has a very un-PoS chorus which is damn catchy. 3) Cribcaged 7/10 - This is a very beautiful song. I do find it a little repetitive but it has some very cool Muse-like chords in it. 4) America 6/10 - There is nothing wrong with this song, it is just my leasy fav on the album. Its a bit too novelty to be taken seriously but I think thats the whole point of the song. 5) Disco Queen 9/10 - Absolutely briliant! A rapid departure but pure genius. It is very cleverly written and I had all my non-PoS fans dancing along. There is nothing wrong with a catchy song as long as it sounds damn cool. 6) Kingdom Of Loss 8/10 - I love the King of Loss quotes in the guitar solo! A very intense, beautiful song that looks like it may be refering to TPE. 7) Mrs. Modern Mother Mary 10/10 - I love this song. The riff and the vocals are bloody cool and it builds up to an amazing climax. My favourite! 8) Idiocracy 9.5/10 - From heavy riffs to soft melodic flamenco guitar, this song has it all. This is very PoS 9) Flame To The Moth 9/10 - Daniel screaming? This is by far the most brutal I have heard his vocals get. This sounds alot like early PoS. A great chorus 10) Enter Rain 9.5/10 - A classic PoS epic. Despite running over the same riffs for most of the song, it has a beautiful sound with amazing soft harmonies in the middle. My only complaint is that it fades out too quickly.

Overall this is an amazing album with every song being strong and memorable. I am a diehard PoS fan and they have really topped my charts with this effort. It is so different but it has an air of genius around it that will hopefully be appreciated in years to come.

Well, what can i say? PoS have been pioneers in the prog-metal scene since The Perfect Element, Remedy Lane was superb, 12:5 was an incredible live acoustic act and Be was a refreshing shock - superb. And now Scarsick. It is horrible to think that people are alredy abusing this masterwork. Can all you people who give it 1 star not see how much time and effort went into this album? I mean, i respect your opinion, but really this album is superb. It came as ashock at first, of course. When the Rage Against The Machine style rap-metal came in on Spitfall I was amazed, but i soon got used to it and realized it is very clever and accurately done. Kingdom of Loss might seem boring but it is utterly heart-wrenching after the first few listens. Each song has a clear personality wether it be rap-metal, up-lifting, totally mad, dark or whatever. Every song here is top stuff:

Scarsick 9/10 - Strong start, probably the heaviest song on the album, quite dark aswell.

Spitfall 10/10 - The one everyone hates is actully brilliant. The rap-metal verse and the up-lifting chorus...perfect

Cribcaged 10/10 - Lovely melody in this song, sad and lonely, yet strangely hopeful. Heard some Pink-Floyd type guitar work in this song.

America 10/10 - Happy, energetic, Gildenlow on top notch vocals here. Some people refer to it as a stab at commercialism, where it clearly isnt. It is a mockery of America, showing how America always puts on that "brave & partriotic" face, where in-fact it is capable of horriffic deeds.

Disco Queen 10/10 - Brilliant. Goes to show Pain of Salvation's diversity here. So catchy. You'll be singing "Diso Queen" in no time at all, with those BeeGee type vocals.

Kingdom of Loss 10/10 - Perhaps the best song on the album. It might seem slow and boring, but by the thrid listen the chorus will tear your heart out, twist it and then replace it gently with incredible beauty.

Mrs. Modern Mother Mary 7/10 - Probably my least favourite song. Has its plus points though, with a modern touch. Recurring riff sounds good too.

Idiocracy 9/10 - A dark song wich has a real hook to it and creepy vocals. Probably goes on just a little too long though.

Flame to The Moth 9/10 - Great heavy song with a tremendous beat to it. Love the vocals. Goes from a wisper to strange harmonies to the only screams on the album. Chorus sounds a little like something System of a Down would do - dont let that put you off though, they do it a lot better than SoaD.

Enter Rain 9/10 - Softish song, quite a dark motif/melody thrown in with some major chords. Sounds a little doomy to me, pretty monotomus, but it works well, we hear some distorted guitars at the end though.

This is not a guitar album. The guitar is used sparingly and in order to add effect and texture, though there is some good guitar work here, it is clearly not a main focus. If your looking for some prog-metal that shreds from beggining to end, look elsewhere.

As you can see, the first half of the album is clearly better than the second half, but it all needs at least two spins to get going. The production is superb, no flaws. The lyrics are though provoking and topical. I am wring this review to be helpful to people wanting to buy the album therefore i will list all the words that I can associate with the album below.

Heavy, dark, spooky, creepy, rap, metal, rock , pop, grunge, dance/trance, electrontica, happy, sad, up-lifting, heart-wrenching, doomy, proggy, origional, wise and thought provoking.

The main influence for this band is clearly their feelings and thoughts. The sound is still PoS and nothing else, they are just brings more sounds into theor own unique style.

Rating: 4.75 stars, rounded up to five

Pain of Salvation's 2007 release is a step backwards for this prog-metal band from Sweden. After producing several innovative, adventurous and dynamic albums one after another, it seems that POS is going through some sort of crisis.

Daniel Gildenlow, the band's leader, has become closer than ever to Eminem's style of hiphop-rap and endless chatter. The album is loaded with angry lyrics, spoken in a fast style with little attention to rhythmic subtleties, harmonic daring or symphonic ambitions.

Scarsick is a simplistic album, more pop-oriented than anything POS has ever done in the past. Most of the songs are built using traditional formulas, the lyrics are shallower than usual, and the general narrative (prologue to suicide) seems too bleak.

If, for example, the lyrics on the famous BE album dealt with grand subjects (ecology, culture and technology) - most of the Scarsick lyrics are far less inspiring. There's too much emphasis on America, Bush and more USA & Bush. We've heard these things before.

Although the musical production is no less than stunning (in the technical sense), the musical performance is less than satisfying. The drum parts and keyboard parts are weak, and most of the focus is on the vocals and guitars. After playing back Scarsick over and over, and then returning to past masterpieces such as "One hour by the Concrete Lake", one can only feel sad for the band's stylistic departure.

POS has not only lost its talented bass player: it has lost most of its progressive spirit. Scarsick is not a bad album in any way. It's just not as good as earlier POS stuff such as "The Perfect Element", "BE" and even "Remedy Lane". Good luck on their Scarsick tour of 2007...

Being a huge Pain of Salvation fan, I was obviously extremely excited about this album, especially after the masterpiece "Be" which has grown to become one of my favorite albums of all time. "Be" was recognizably a pretentious effort with a 'love-it-or-hate-it' quality which garnered positive reviews, but alienated some fans. "Scarsick" from the beginning was stated as more band-oriented album and very different from "Be", which in my mind always translated as more commercial. This, combined with negative reviews of the leaked album made me weary, but I gave the album a shot anyway.

Let me just say that I was actually pleasantly surprised. Maybe on the basis of all the negative reviews, I set my expectations quite low, but overall I came out really liking this album. Is it a new masterpiece? No, in fact I place it way below the amazing "Be", "Remedy Lane" and "Perfect Element." But is it as people say? Definitely not.

As with all Pain of Salvation albums, it takes several listens to gather the full scope of the album, and it's the same with "Scarsick."

GENERAL:

This is without a doubt Pain of Salvation's heaviest and darkest effort, with lyrical criticism on capitalistic society, etc. Lyrically, not as good as "Be" or other albums, but still amusing to listen to, especially Daniel's attack on rappers.

In terms of mix, the album is great, with a beautiful flowing ambience slightly remniscient of "Porcupine Tree." I would have to say that this album also has the best guitar sounds, with amazing distorted tone pushed by punishing 7-string guitar riffs. In spite of some scathing reviews, I also think that Daniel's bass playing was surprisingly good, especially on some songs like "Flame to the Moth." Of course, nowhere near as good as Kristoffer's playing, but not deserving of the flak it received, either.

Song breakdown:

1.) Scarsick (9/10)--

I think that this is the best opening track ever done by Pain of Salvation. (For all you fanboys, I'm *NOT* saying that this is a better song than songs like "Used." I'm just saying that it's more fit to open an album). With the dark melodies and build up into a really heavy section, it's also one of Pain of Salvation's heaviest efforts. In spite of proceeding into some rapping sections, I think it works for this song pretty well (and isn't quite as straightforward rap as "Spitfall.") The chorus on this song also has some of the coolest vocal harmonies I've heard from Daniel so far.

As I will repeat, my main gripe with most of these songs is the absence of guitar solos and instrumental sections, which did wonders for the band's previous efforts. "Scarsick" is no exception and begs for an instrumental break, however short.

2.) Spitfall (7/10)--

This song is sure to be a hard one to digest for many fans of the band, but I personally dig it. This is how rap *SHOULD* be done (and used to be done before crappy keyboard loops became the trend). Very heavy, dark, straightforward rap song with a really cool chorus. Seriously, this song has one of my favorite PoS choruses, not as good as classics like "Iter Imus" or "Trace of Blood" but still great. About halfway through, a really catchy guitar melody comes in.

3.) Cribcaged (8.5/10)--

I would describe this as pretty much a classic PoS song in terms of melodies and all that. Very pleasant intro, and a build up into a distorted part that, in terms of lyrics, you have to hear to believe. I'll just say this--this song is the reason that the album features an 'Explicit Lyrics' label. Very good song nonetheless.

4.) America (6/10)--

While one of the more popular songs from the album among PoS fans, this is one of my least favorite songs from the album. It's by no means bad--definitely creative, with a sort of Chili-Peppers meet West-Side-Story vibe, but I'm no fan of West Side Story in the first place and stuff like the chorus irritate me. Again, it's a personal thing, but in my opinion, one of the weaker efforts from the album.

5.) Disco Queen (9/10)--

Yup, chances are you've heard rumors about this tune, and indeed they're true--this song has to be heard to be believed. If you haven't heard it, I won't spoil it for you, but this is definitely a song that will rub many fans the wrong way.

For me, I would describe this song as a guilty pleasure--not something I'd want to be caught listening to outside, but in some sick way, I do like this song. As long as you approach this tune with a sense of humor, you shouldn't have any problems. The outro is unbelievable. At the end of the day, I give props to Daniel for having the balls to do something like this, and for trying something new. If this isn't a weird, un-commerical song, then I don't know what is.

Again, approach with a sense of humor.

6.) Kindgdom of Loss (9/10)--

Another typical PoS song with a slightly folky vibe in places. Great melodies, and the only guitar solo on the entire album resides on this song. It's an amazing solo and I wish PoS had done more on this album. The solo leads into one of my favorite PoS outros ever. It's a pity that the outro ends so quickly.

7.) Mrs. Modern Mother Mary (6.5/10)--

This is a song that if you're a musician (like me) you will appreciate, and if you're not, you probably won't like.

The song employs some Meshuggah-style polymetrics with over-the-top vocals/melodies that remind me of Steve Vai's "Sex and Religion" album. Even though, much like "Sex and Religion", the vocal-line seems forced, and even though the entire song is based on the repetition of the exact same riff, I found it refreshing to hear polymetrics used in a different context from what Meshuggah are doing, and I liked it. It's certainly different from anything Pain of Salvation have done before.

8.) Idiocracy (6.5/10)--

This song is, in a way, symbolic for the entire "Scarsick" album, in the sense that it had potential, but this potential was not realized to its full extent. Even by employing fairly little distortion, this still comes across as one of PoS's heaviest and darkest songs. All the instruments are great, but for the first 5 minutes I just don't 'get' the vocals. They have an experimental almost Primus-esque vibe that I really didn't like. The song picks up and sounds amazing around the 5 minute mark, but unfortunately by that point, there's only 2 minutes left of the song to enjoy. It has a short but great piano/accoustic guitar outro as well.

9.) Flame to the Moth (9/10)--

Without a doubt, this is another one of my favorites from the album. Very heavy and dark, this song utilizes a somewhat folky feel in a dark, moody song, with a chorus somewhat remniscent of "To The End" from "Entropia" (which is a good thing). This song also is, in my mind, the perfect example of how screaming should be integrated into music--that's right, Daniel screams a bit on this song, but it's used very well in that it provides punch to the parts that need it, but does not dominate the song. Excellent song.

10.) Enter Rain (7/10)--

After hearing samples, and knowing that this song is 10 minutes long, I expected an epic with the likes of "The Perfect Element" or "Beyond the Pale" and so I was disappointed. While it does fill the 10 minute mark, the amount of melodies going into the song is probably 10 times less than the aforementioned epics. Indeed, it feels like PoS took several good melodies and stretched them to fill 10 minutes. Because of this, the song feels very loose and insubstantial in many spots.

The song sports a slight Pink-Floydish vibe, and while there are some good moments, it's not an epic worthy of being placed alongside other PoS classics.

THE VERDICT:

The main point I would like to get across is that, while one of Pain of Salvation's weaker efforts, this album is still not as bad as many people make it out to be. Definitely not a good album to get started on, but there are plenty of great songs and moments on this album, and it should by no means be neglected. If I could, I would rate the album with 3.5/5 stars. While not as essential as other albums, I do believe that it's an excellent addition to any prog selection. Also, this album remains better than most of the music out there nowadays, hence why I gave it 4 stars.

I've been a POS-fan for quite a few years now. I got to know them with "One hour by the concrete lake" and every release after that one has been in my collection from the day it was released. The band was better than DT when they played as their support in Belgium. Their last release "Be" was rather hard to get into, but it was worth listening to over and over again. And, though there are many reviews here that keep contradicting eachother, I think that you should give this one even more listens than "Be" to fully appreciate it. I've heard about 10 times so far (by far not enough). And I must say that I like it. I realize that everytime the album ends, I get this urge to start playing it again. It's perhaps to early to call this a masterpiece, but I dare to say that it is a damn good album. What's really exciting is that they didn't go for the easy way out (if they had released a mixture of"the perfect element" or "remedy lane" everybody would probably have loved it). No, they are taking risks on this album, sometimes by playing songs that were built on merely one riff (but if so, the riff is amazing). Sometimes by adding musical elements that are 'not done' in metal or prog. Yes, I'm referring to the song "Disco Queen": it's a real catchy song, it's funny and it's heavy at the same time. So that's an experiment that turned out allright for me. And isn't taking risks and exploring new musical territories something that progressive music should be about? I also believe that the record is full of emotions, something that often is hard to find in 'progressive metal'. So, all in all, I think that this is an excellent addition to any POS collection. 4 stars without a doubt and maybe I'll award it another star in the future (in a few months or so, after another 145 listens)

Belgian Dream Theater Fan

I've been a PoS fan since Remedy Lane was coming out. I've heard all this bands albums and I've loved all of it. However, a lot of it I didn't even really like at first. And that's exactly how I felt about Scarsick. But you all know how this works. It's like a habit now though. You pick up a PoS album and you automatically know from previous albums that there's a lot of material to sift through and certain passages that may have not made sense the first couple of listens began to be realized later on. In this respect, this album is no different from any other PoS album. Like all of their music, it's not an all at once understanding of what's going on. Understand this if you decide to pick up this album and give it a spin. Realize that it will probably take several listens to at least find what you actually like and dislike about the album

This album is very interesting in that it's themes kind of connect the themes from all the other albums together. I know it may not seem so, but if you remember Gildenlow's idea about a fractal window, it seems that the discography could be summed up with that idea. What this album tells us even more so than before is that all the stuff talked about earlier has to do with our lack of motivation to try to fix the problems. This is why I think a lot of people are sour with the reviews. I also think Gildenlow made this album the way it was in hopes that he may deliver the urgent message in it to a more general musical sphere. This doesn't mean this album isn't for the aurally inclined. There are still a lot of musical treats within this album that make it very progressive.

To me, this album also flows the better than many of their previous releases. The themes, tone and general mood of the album really help express what Daniel has to say. What does Daniel have to say? It's one of those simple yet complicated things that can be summed up in one word (Sick) and into many paragraphs or even into an entire album (hooray for scarsick) but the thing I gather from this album more than anything else is that he is fed up with how the world is running. He thinks humanity is making things worse and the different songs are the different factors that piece this puzzle together.

Song by song analysis time!

Scarsick - basically this is the summary of the rest of the album. that's about all that it does. musically it's dark and brooding with interesting harmonies. Daniel's voice really has a disgusted edge to it that really relates to the song. the tone of the guitars in this song as well through out the album is top-notch matching the lyrics and the rest of the sound very well.

Spitfall - I really liked this one straight off and I'm definitely one who shuns away from poor quality hip-hop (which for me is a vast majority). For some reason Daniel uses his rap-like prose in a progressive way in the truest sense. This is Daniel criticizing recording artists who sound the same; who claim that their life was a life of near poverty and that they had hard times throughout their life. He basically says that their "hard life" is nothing compared to the lives of some and that he is sick of hearing filthy rich recording artists that rap about the high-class things they had and yet not doing anything for the benefit of people who have it horrible.

Cribcage - Another interesting piece of the puzzle that is part of the brain child of angry, disgusted Mr. Daniel Gildenlow. The thing I like most about this one is it's reference to Entropia "entropiople". That's where a piece of the window comes in, through the refrensing of Entropia we can relate it to what has been of the album thus far. Daniel really brings out the swears in this one, I think it's tasteful when putting the lyrics into context with the concept of the album.

America - Simple. He's sick of America with it's promises and promotions of freedom while only poorly living up to the idea that gave it it's inception. I think Daniel agreed with what America was supposed to stand for but I don't think what America is doing is what America was supposed to stand for. I would elaborate but the lyrics can do that for me :P.

Disco Queen - This one really stands out musically and conceptually. I was very surprised with this song. It was one of the songs where I first said, "Nice one Daniel" in a very sardonic tone. Now, after putting the themes that occur within the music, the consistent dance beat from the chorus, the dark, awesome tones from the guitar and the general crushing power that is the melody and harmony through out the verse combined with the nature of the lyrics make this song a very well thought out idea by DG. This deals with the way how a girl goes to a disco (but it could be club or a bar or any other big public gathering with loud, thumping music that was made for dancing) and is basically taken advantaged of by a man. I think this song has a very real and dark message behind the surreal humor behind the concept of disco-prog metal (but don't people make clubs and bars out to be great places to be which could easily represent the initial humor of funny high pitch voices heard through the track)

I would very much like to review the rest of this album, but there's so many details within each track and I only talked very briefly about the songs already mentioned. I would like to go over one more track, one that didn't really mean anything to me at first but slowly grabbed my attention and is now currently one of my absolute favorite PoS tracks.

Idiocrasy - There's something about this song. To me it's the climax of the album (yeah, i know, a lot of people are screaming "Flame to the Moth!") but just hear me out (a little more right :P) but it's more than that. The guitar is spot on perfect in this track reflecting powerful emotions through the lyrics. DG does things with his voice that amaze me. This is him trying to ignore the things he's sick about and try to live with it... but he can't and it makes him detest it even more. The drums, keys and strings (i strings are keys as well) also really set this mood.

In ultimate conclusion, this album is best to be listened by headphones undisturbed with an open mind and patience. If you don't get it the first time, don't fret, it'll come. Pain of Salvation always delivers. I predict that a lot of reviewers will change their minds over time and realize that this isn't a water down Pain of Salvation just a different incarnation.

I'm giving this album two stars and it's lucky to get that. I believe Pain Of Salvation to be an incredibly talented band, but find this to be their weakest offering to date. I think "TRoTZ" summed it up well by saying that the compositions seem to be mostly built around a heavy riff or pop theme. Because of this, the album is somewhat stale and gets old quite quickly. It to me, is definitely their least progressive record. I almost get the feeling that they got half-way thru writing this album and then got bored and wanted to finish it up as quickly as possible, just to get it over with. In comparison to such earlier works, such as The Perfect Element Pt. 1, Remedy Lane, and BE...this album definitely pales in comparison. Many seem to prefer this to BE, but I thought BE was a great work of art. Scarsick simply does not have the "majestic" quality that is found on BE.

Now, don't get me wrong...Scarsick is listenable. I just wouldn't consider it to be a PoS epic by any means. Standout tracks for me are "Spitfall", "Cribcaged", "Kingdom of Loss", and "Idiocracy". Many complained (as they have in the past) about the rapping that is found on Scarsick. It doesn't really bother me so much, although I prefer him to sing more than rap. I thought Daniel did a great job with "Spitfall". The lyrics to that song are so true in so many ways. But, I though most of the lyrics to be dull and uninspired on this album compared to past PoS albums. Besides the writing of this album, I also found the guitar tones to be the worst of any PoS record. What can I say, ...there are many things that just don't sit well with me while listening to Scarsick. In reference to the writing being 'half-assed', take "Enter Rain" for instance. Another song on Scarsick that to me had tremendous potential for being an excellent song, but fell very short in the end. This to me is most apparent in the chorus of the song. Like they wrote some great verses and then just drew a blank on the chorus. Very anti-climatic in my opinion. All in all, I find Scarsick to be a huge PoS disappointment. I really thought this album would be totally slaughtered by fans of PoS. Surprisingly, I seem to have underestimated how many fan-boys they seem to have. Anyhow, I know epic albums when I hear them...such as the PoS albums I mentioned earlier. This is the first time PoS has ever disappointed me. Hopefully, they will rebound from this and do better next time.

This is the third time I try to write this review. Over the past years PoS are growing rapidly in me and I still need time to understand them. BE is a masterpiece, so are the previous albums. Remedy Lane is deep in my heart and I am sure that it will never leave. It is just the simple straightforward way that PoS music and lyrics speak inside you. I believe that their success lays in their ability to pass you the message of their thoughts. And they use innovative music to achieve this. But this album is different.

Maybe their music is the reason that this band has a place here. And many people especially prog fans labeled Scarsick as "simple and naive" only for the music. They didn't like the new elements (disco). After a couple of hearings I agreed with them. And if your main concern is the music you will be disappointed, especially for a PoS album. But let's not forget that music is the means to the message contained in the lyrics. Many prog bands of the past used simpler music to pass the idea of the words. And if you read the lyrics everything changes. You discover feelings.

The music is simpler because the feelings have come to the surface: Anger, disgust, lust, hopelessness, sadness, hope. This album focuses on the lyrics. And the lyrics are like a fist in your mouth. They make a lot of people, especially a lot of their fans unhappy and angry. Why? Because you disagree with them. Because you feel offended. Because some words spoke of the sad truth inside of all of us. Maybe you think that this is a "YOU" album. The truth is that this is a "WE" album. PoS are (scar) sick of all the things that surround them and us. Things that are part of us, of the modern world. The American way of our life, the popstars, the posers, the politics, the consumerism and the capitalism, sex and crime, inhumanity, everything is here. They don't say something new if your eyes and ears are open but at least they succeed in making you think. In every song, PoS use the music style that fits to the theme of the lyrics (disco, rap, pop-rock). And in their last songs where exists the true meaning of this, they use their known style. That's how they perfectly dressed it up.

It is a common reaction for some people to try to find the hidden motives of the artist. To criticize him for being just another part of the machine. I don't know if PoS thought that now they have the means to pass their manifesto or just bark to be in fashion. To be honest I don't care and I would like to focus at the lyrics itself because that is what they delivered to us. I TOTALLY agree with PoS in all their concerns. They passed their current thoughts to the music and their lyrics. Their message is clear to me. This is a deep album, far beyond the "parental guidance" label in the front cover.

If we are to review an album for the message in it, then this is Album of the month, of the year perhaps. On the other hand this is a progressive music site and the review must be made as for the prog part and for the music too. So maybe this review and this rating doesn't belong here for I decided to give it 5 stars. This is how I feel. PoS did it again in a new way. It just takes some time...

(4.5) Awesome. Those trashing this album as "commercial, mainstream, and pop" are really really missing the point. Every single song ultimately works because flaws are overcome by each song's unique strong points. Mrs. Modern Mother Mary seems to be one of the least favorite tracks on the album for fans, but I think it has some of the best lyrics on the album. Dancing Queen just has such a great concept, and though Enter Rain contains some of Daniel's weakest lyrics to date it also sports one of his strongest vocal performances. For such a diverse work its remarkably consistent and overall just refreshing. While bands like Tool age and mature musically, and bands like Opeth evolve and progress, Pain of Salvation changes are abrupt revolutions. It seems most fans, especially those a little disappointed by Be particularly, were hoping for Perfect Element Pt. 2 and instead we got this surprising outing. In the monotone, formulaic, and boring state of modern music, the very notion that this album criticizes, what better way to augment that message than to make something so unexpected?

I guess there's something wrong with the world today.I have no other explanation seeing so many 5-star reviews for this album.Or maybe Daniel pays them all? :lol: PoS tried to sell out but even that attempt failed.I never much liked them - too much power-metal and thrash-metal in that prog plus hardly bearable vocals.This time PoS released even more uglier effort.I listened to it few times (yes,I'm kinda masochist ;) ), not more - I want to stay sane for future years. The only good thing here is cover's character, which displays reaction of every PoS-fan on this album :) The album itself has nu-metal ("Scarsick", "Spitfall", "Flame to the Moth" - almost stolen from LINKIN PARK's "From the Inside" actually), METALLICA-like derivative ballads ("Cribcaged" and "Kingdom of Loss"), 2 "parody" songs which both fail to amuse ("America" and "Disco Queen") - PoS lame even in making parodies, even self-parodies...It ends with pseudo- epic entitled "Enter Rain" (10 minutes in 4/4 based on 3 or 4 chords). When it ends, you feel yourself happy. Well, this is not Prog at all. Yes, there are few "odd" signatures (like 7/8 and - oh god,it's complex! - 5/4), but MUSICALLY every second-hand Nu-metal band is more progressive and challenging. Lyrics are pretentiously anti-american - sorry, guys, but that's not THAT fashionable...GREEN DAY did it better... Imagine yourself standing with you $ and looking at the cover of this album in your local store.Done? Now, DO NEVER MAKE THIS DREAM COME TRUE!!! Spend your money on helping poor.I won't even recommend to download this one, because it is ugly. "Golden Razzy" to Scarsick, it fully deserves it!!!

Pain of Salvation has established themselves as one of the most innovative and consistent groups in progressive metal. Widely regarded as such, the band bears the burden of expectation. Though their fans know they don't make two of the same album, they had no idea that 2004's Be would be what it was. It was the most difficult and incomprehensible album prog-metal had quite possibly ever heard, at least at the highest tier of fame in the genre. Taken with a widespread of feelings and views, it's hard to tell whether or not it was successful. Many listeners stuck with it long enough for it to click, and that patience should have rewarded them possibly more than any of the group's releases yet. Be, though controversial and/or too pretentious in concept, was a masterpiece in a different way than Pain of Salvation listeners have accustomed themselves too. But after such an album, where was the band going next? Regardless of what fans thought of their previous album, they were all expecting something great. There was even talk of the next album being The Perfect Element, 2 "in diguise." Word of a song on the album titled "Kingdom of Loss" would only support that notion. This got fans even more excited. And all of the suspense led up to the moment that the files leaked. A lot of fans were adamant about saving every second of it for when the album was released, but when everyone who caved came back with empitness and dissatisfaction, many of the hyped-up fans got worried, and had to listen to the leak themselves before they would have liked to listen.

If anyone thought Be was controversial, Scarsick will make you forget about it, for it has one-upped it. The entire album is rage-stricken and is filled with finger-pointing and bashing of people and places (particularly America). In the album you will hear Daniel slamming the government, the industry, and the people of America. The man refuses to even set foot in the country. It will be a real turn off for many, and it's not like everything he says is truth; his perspectives are very sharp and sometimes way over the top. At the same time, the album isn't totally devoid of truth. He does make a few good points. Lyrics aside, though, what everyone is even more concerned about, how is the music?

If anyone thought the concept and lyrics of the album were a turn off, the music will only further confuse or drive you away. The music is incoherent, and just plain weak. Before, each album had certain sounds and tones throughout the album, but this album is all over the place. We have rapping, pop-rock, and even a disco song. It seems like Daniel was too angry and preoccupied with his lyrics too spend time writing worthwhile music. The songs lack the usual highly technical, highly melodic, highly enjoyable, powerful, and just plain awesome qualities we grew to love. There are barely any guitar solos either. Sure, there are a few memorable melodies, riffs, odd times, and moments to enjoy, but they are so few and far apart. Only one song is under five minutes, but the songs don't seem to house enough ideas for the lengths that they occupy. Upon listening to the opening track, the title track, one would wonder how what they just listened to was over seven minutes long. They may muse on songs like "Used" that were in the same vein, but did so much more, literally and intrinsically, in less time. The next two songs are on both ends of the spectrum: one is a rap-metal song, the other a ballad, but both are still riding the same rage. You can tell by his constant use of the f-word in a segment of each song. "Cribcaged" could have even been a decent song without it, albeit still not at their level, but the foul language serves as a deterrent. Some may argue that it gets the point across, and it does, but it is not a point I care to hear. Next we have the most obvious bash of America over a goofy pop sound. "Disco Queen" is actually not bad. At first you'll raise an eyebrow and wonder what on earth you're hearing, but it's going to turn out to be the album's novelty track that you can have much fun with. Other than that, the only other saving grace on this album is "Kingdom of Loss," and it better have been bearing such a name. It will send chills down you spine by the end. From there until the end, you'll notice they start sounding more like themselves again, though functioning and a lesser level than they are. After boring you with the following track, "Idiocracy," "Flame to the Moth" and "Enter Rain" are decent, but they could have done so much more with them. Especially the last track. It's just over 10-minutes long, but it seems like nothing really ever happens.

I never thought I'd actually say this, but Pain of Salvation have failed to perform this time around. I've given it multiple listens, and my opinions haven't really changed since the first listen. I may tag on an extra half-star at this point because there are a few things to enjoy here, but so much more is to be had from their other albums, that this one doesn't really have a place in many collections. It may be worth two stars, but because of the dreaded expectations and me being subjective and comparing it to the brilliance they have dazzled us with before, it's only for completionists.

I've always been a huge Pain of Salvation fan, I've always loved how they never sound the same on two different records and you never really know what to expect.The music are Scarsick is very creative and is a big change from their last effort Be. Scarsick is part two of The perfect Element and follows a very interesting concept; I won't go into the concept or we could be here all day. The album can sometimes be quite weird but POS somehow make it work, there is everything from disco to rap on this album and I find it works quite well. The album is full of well written music and great arrangements.

The album is different and probably wouldnt be the best album when first getting into PoS. Its definitly not like their other stuff but thats why they call it Progressive rock, they progressed into other forms of music this time around and I think it works quite well for them.

According to Daniel Gildenlöw's own words cited on Inside Out's website for understanding concept, message and direction of their latest work it's essential to put it into the context of all their previous releases. Daniel said that he'd known all the time that this album will come one day . and sociocritical topics, songs about psychological aspects and general questions about human life have been always an important feature of their albums. 'Scarsick' is a direct reaction to that. - Well it's not that easy to follow those trains of thoughts but Daniel wouldn't be Daniel if this would be the case. For sure after the critically acclaimed love-it-or-hate-it 'BE' which had been blamed by many people for being too pretentious this one is a very surprising work and almost the opposite to it. Never before had PoS sounded that modern, accessible and versatile.

Being an admittedly dedicated fan of this band and having all their previous releases in my collection I must say that 'Scarsick' fails to hit my attraction and obviously I'm not the only one. I loved all their previous albums, especially their earlier heavier ones and 'BE' but this one here - I dunna know - sounds to me like kinda PoS vs. Linkin Park vs. Metallica vs. Kim Wilde vs. Abba. As far I can get the message of this work it's against America and against modern materialistic, selfish and superficial society. But I'm really wondering which audience Daniel intends to transpose it to. At least to me it doesn't appeal the way it's packaged because for me the crucial point for liking an album is always that the music appeals to me and if this is the case then it's a nice extra feature if the content and message is an interesting one as well. I can follow Daniel's critics and kinda agree to them, just I don't like that much the way he's expressing them, just too many repeats of the f-word and moreover I hate rap. But actually the first two songs are by far not the worst ones here, I couldn't tell that I find them enjoyable but at least they're okay for one or two spins, the same applies to 'Mrs. Modern Mother Mary'. Now the really low bottom of this disk is 'America' and 'Disco Queen' (at least placed one behind the other). Those two songs are just awful - I mean, I love mixes of multiple styles when they're well-done as by Subterranean Masquerade but that's not the case here, this just sounds unbearable to my ears after repeated listening. The most striking fact for a complete failure of this work (at least for the standards of a band like PoS) is that there isn't any song I could call excellent or even very good since the rest of the tracks are just from mediocre to fairly good but anything outstanding. I would say for any standard modern alt rock band this album would be a decent or even good work, for PoS it's even not a run-of-the-mill one but rather a disaster. Nonetheless they'll stay one of my fav bands and I'm looking forward to see them live in Germany in March hoping they won't play too many songs from this album. Try better next time, Daniel!

Finally my ratings for the individual tracks:

Scarsick 3/10 - Spitfall 4/10 - Cribcaged 6/10 - America 2/10 - Disco Queen 1/10 - Kingdom Of Loss 5/10 - Mrs. Modern Mother Mary 3/10 - Idiocracy 5/10 - Flame To The Moth 6/10 - Enter Rain 5/10

Total: 40 % = 2 stars. I wouldn't have thought that I'd ever give such a low rating to a PoS album, but honestly I don't have a better choice! I can just advice any newbie to get first all their previous ones before giving this one a try!

Hogwash.

I'm just curious, was Krystoffer the only songwriter in this band, because he must have had some type of control, this isn't the same band at all. This is some of the most uninspiring material I've heard since Octavarium. It appears that PoS have also attempted to fuse many styles of different bands into their own sound, and as we know, that rarely if ever works well. Rather than being true to their sound and the direction they appeared to be going after the release of BE, perhaps one of the most pretentious albums in the history of music, we see PoS try to become a fuse of several of today's top radio acts. It isn't a pretty picture.

We hear influences of all across the rock and metal scene, and I'm almost glad that the band has no intentions of coming to America to tour; I have no desire to hear them play this drivel in concert. Bear in mind that this has absolutely nothing to do with any of the bands political ideology and 100% to do with the "art" they put on this record. Judging from a purely musical standpoint, it's a rehash of ideas already done and easily the worst record from PoS. What makes it worse is the obviously rudimentary understanding this band has for any world matters and serves only to make OHBTCL worse, almost invalidating its shocking message which was delivered with much more artistic and musical vision.

The angst filled and boring melodies of Scarsick, the rap metal of Spitfall. The Tool stolen ideas of Cribcaged (whining baby), the radio friendly and absolutely awful America, the laughable and quirky Disco Queen (which sounds even worse than you'd expect), the rejected material for TPE (Kingdom of loss), the 4 minute riff that never changes in Mrs. Modern Mother Mary, the radio metal sound of Idiocracy, along with the attempt to rip off Opeth's style from their terrible radio release of Grand Conjuration (heavy chords and whisper effects - credit to Geck0), the catchy but ultimately unfulfilling Flame to Moth, the slow and uninspiring Enter Rain (which makes the closers of TPE and Remedy Lane look even better). All in all, it's unoriginal, boring, and useless drivel.

One begins to wonder if maybe Daniel wasn't the brains behind the whole operation, and that it was actually Krystoffer who was the gifted songwriter. On top of this, it's easily the worst vocal performance in Gildenlow's career. Daniel is an eccentric guy, so maybe he's due for one hiccup. We can only hope that the next album is better and heads in a different direction than this.

Whenever a new Pain of Salvation album is released, there are those who love it and hate it, but rarely are there those in the middle. For Be I was in the middle, I thought musically there was some good stuff here and there but the pretentious concept ruined it for me. The same case is for Scarsick, there's stuff to enjoy here, but there are other elements that only hurt it rather than help it. But the most important thing to understand when you listen to this album after listening to the rest of the group's body of work is that they were trying something a bit different here. Some like this change, some hate it, and for the most part I think it is effective (to a certain extent).

Musically, forget what you heard on the older Pain of Salvation albums, you'll find nothing like that here. Scarsick features no blistering time signatures (besides brief excursions into 7/8), overly intricate melodies, or even songs that show the softer side of the band. They're all hard hitting, right to the point, and they don't feature the same sophistication that previous songs on previous albums did. It's a completely different feeling that this album conveys when you think about it.

What I didn't like about the album was that lack of sophistication that was on all prior albums. The sensitive and emotional lyrics and vocals of Gildenlow are replaced with disdain, frustration, and cynical criticisms, with no poignant or even... dare I say it... beautiful moments to help lift the sullen mood that the album seems to be deadlocked upon. Also, Disco Queen is a completely out of place song that is more the band screwing around than anything else (at least that's what I think it is).

There are some tracks that I really did enjoy, though. First off, I really liked Cribcaged. It's simplistic approach and effective lyrical approach drive the point that Gildenlow wants to convey across quite well. Kingdom of Loss is definitely the best song on the album, in my opinion. From it's powerful guitar solo by Johan Hallgren, to it's undeniably true message, I can't help but like every second of this song.

People need to learn that no group can always release a masterpiece, it just isn't possible (unless you're a complete fanboy and think anything an artist does is God's work), and that is definitely the case with Scarsick. Some of the other reviews (in my opinion) are a bit too critical of the change in Pain of Salvation's sound and aren't paying much attention to what is actually being played. I don't think this is by any means a bad album, it's just something a bit different. And isn't that what artists are supposed to do, try things differently?

I have never been a huge fan of Pain of Salvation and I haven't really liked their previous albums. They have a few nice songs here and there but that's about it. Scarsick, however, changed my opinion totally.

To put it shortly: Scarsick is a masterpiece, the album of the year, no doubt about it.

I don't understand the critique this album has recieved. People don't seem to like it because it sounds so different than the previous albums. I, on the other hand, love the new sound and the great mixture of different styles. Isn't the whole idea of progressive music to progress and reach the boundaries of styles and try to do something new? Well that's exactly what Scarsick does - and boy, it does it well.

The lyrics are the other part people have critisized. For me, a whole new layer of the songs opened up when I got my hands on the booklet and listened to the album through while reading the lyrics. For example, Cribcaged, the "???? all" -song, has a deeper meaning to it.

I had no expectations at all and got totally surprised by it.

"Scarsick" album for a "Scarsick" World.

This time PAIN OF SALVATION cynically describes this "Scarsick" world with a cleaver metaphor pointed to people that believe that the world is "in good health" (particularly in politics).

PAIN OF SALVATION had proved that they are a gifted band. Their musicianship is intact on "Scarsick". Maybe, some parts they would sound "mediocre", but this is part of their "metaphor". Do not believe narrow critics.

This album was made with angry and sadness. However, this is the music that we expect from a band called PAIN OF SALVATION thrashing out an important topic as the health of this World.

I totally suggest this album. Four ¾ stars...

I haven't been on progarchives, much at all lately, but I can't resist and oppurtunity to express what I think of Daniel Gildenlow and Pain of Salvation's latest work, Scarsick.

Scarsick is a completely different animal from the res tof the Pain of Salvation repitoire. Once again, the album is completely concept centered, and there are some odd pieces which are not on the album for musical excellence, but to advance the message of the concept. I really love how Pain of Salvation does this, an album like Be had necessary pieces in songs like Vocari Dei, Nauticus, and Omni which really made the album a unique and special listen.

This time around it's songs like America, Disco Queen, and Spitfall, and although their purpose is that to advance the message and attitude of the concept, they actually have some very interesting moments where the listener can't predict what's coming around the corner.

There are some excellent musical pieces on this album as well. Kingdom of Loss, Enter Rain, and Idiocracy showcase the bands tasteful creativity.

I love the concept. Daniel Gildenlow has shown the ability to make great concepts regarding the fantasy, the metaphysical, the environmental, and now the social and political. He's music's philosopher, and I have nothing but respect for what it is he succeeds in doing.

4.4 Stars

I'm Speechless! I do not own many albums of this band, but if this is the so called least inspired album from theirs, I have to get the rest of their discography! The music here is not that virtuosic, though you know the musicians are really talented. What they are focused on is emotion, melodies, and songwriting rather than very technical solos like Dream Theater. Speaking of solos ... this album has only a few and no song has 2 solos. The showcase here is Daniel and his vocals/lyrics more than anything, though the musicians complement the moods brought by the leader perfectly. The result is it being one of the most emotional albums I have ever heard; it really moves me. As this seems to be the second part of the Perfect Element, I don't know the introduction and I'd rather review the music more than the lyrics, which covers many different styles.

Scarsick: a synthesized guitar riff begins the album. There's a quick buildup until Daniel screams one word: "Sick!!" and the music turns very heavy with electric guitars and unusual effects. That's it, I was hooked in the first minute! Afterwards, Daniel starts rapping under really cool instrumentation which shows how rap should sound like. After the heavy riff that reappears, an extremely catchy chorus with anguished vocals and instrument arrangements that are a work of genius. Similar riffs and themes appear again but in a heavier format. The chorus sounds even more depressing than in the first time. The range of his vocals is impressive as he can sing really high/low notes, any style he wishes, and can portray moods so proficiently. Finally, the song's themes meld together and turns incredibly heavy and angry with the character of the story screaming how sick he is at the society he lives in. 9/10

Spitfall: What a shock! It begins as pure rap. I never liked rap, but the rapping here is very well-written and performed. I'm sure this particular style is played to show the message Daniel is sending to the listeners in the eyes of the story's character. This aggressive rapping really fits with the doom-metal behind it. The chorus is also very surprising and well-done: upbeat, angry, metal, pop, it is quite complex. After the second chorus, the music and the rapping changes, yet it is still as good. The third chorus is also different: it is mellower and its ending features an addictive guitar/synth line that is really memorable. It leads into more rapping with a frenzied guitar solo in the background. Really mindblowing stuff! The song ends with an extended chorus that plays that guitar line at the end, making it's ending a satisfactory one. 9/10

Cribcaged: Starts as a very simple laid-back tune with gorgeous and sad vocals that later turns angrier "I'm sick of homies, I'm sick of ..." and makes a bit of a list of stuff he's sick of and the first chorus plays which has a very neat electric guitar melody in it. The vocals continue and become angrier as well as the music. Daniel suddenly starts using the F word in every single line and I think it works well. This obscenity-overkill serves as a buildup to the second chorus which is much more powerful than the first one. I love the vocal performance in it, with vocals in the front and vocals in the background. 9/10

America: America, the controversial song. I know that Daniel doesn't like the country too much currently. He never tours the country, refused to do so when he was a member of the Flower Kings, so he bashes the country a bit with a mixture of punk, metal, pop, country, with very 'american' song elements. It sounds weird and was a turn off to me at first listen, but I think it works well. The second half shows that he really doesn't hate America, he hates how it is now:

don't you walk out on me just wait a second now please hear me out oh I'll do my best to love you oh yes I will I know you're out there c'mon raise your voices don't let them ruin your reputation don't let them wreck your constitution not out of fear not out of greed

An American could write lyrics like this and in my eyes, it seems like the lyrics of a patriot who speaks out when something is wrong with the government. The moment when he sings those words is the best moment musically, with lots of innovation in it. The rest sounds a bit weird and the chorus "I'm sick of America" is quite annoying. 5.5/10

Disco Queen is even weirder than America. Like the title says, it is driven by a disco beat, while it also contains prog and metal elements. As a result, it sounds like a very weird mix that sounds funny at first listen. However, after multiple listens, you begin to realize the genius behind this song dealing with prostitution. It just doesn't sound weird anymore, it sounds unique, coherent, and natural and contains a chorus that is embarrassingly catchy and sing-along: "My Disco Queen, Let's Disco!". This is a guilty pleasure track of mine. 9/10

Kingdom of Loss: I am at a loss of words. This song is just perfect. I can't even describe accurately how this song moves me. It has a dreamy atmosphere and a very memorable melody in the verses where Daniel sings passionately or talks about the irony of human society. It seems there are two types of choruses here. The heavy "All for Sale" that is one of the most powerful musical passages I have ever heard in prog metal. The "welcome down to planet Earth" chorus has some of the best melodies I have ever heard and subtle instrumentation with acoustic strumming. This chorus continues with another strong melody "If you're tearing down my world, please try to do it gently". After the second chorus, a guitar solo full of feeling and melody takes over and when it finishes, the "If you're tearing down my world" chorus reappears with more layers and a heavier and more symphonic sound and repeats for a minute until it fades out. Perfect song, one of the best non-epic songs I have ever heard. 11/10

Unfortunately, nothing will come close to the quality of Kingdom of loss afterwards, but it is still very enjoyable music.

Mrs Modern Mother Mary: a funky metal song driven by a simple guitar riff played under a time signature I cannot figure out. The riff plays during the choruses too but it doesn't get old. The vocals are the main interest of the song, with Daniel singing with a lot of variety. 7.5/10

Idiocracy: Powerful guitars and keyboards and lots of innovation once again. The vocals sound very different in this track from the others, proving how flexible his voice can be. The chorus is gentle, dreamy, and very moving, while the second chorus sounds heavier because the character can't accept the society he lives in, though it's slow tempo does not make it very loud and aggressive. The song ends acoustically. 7.5/10

Flame to the Moth starts brilliantly with a fast tempo and an amazing riff. The vocal performance here is stellar though I am not a big fan of the growling in the refrains. As virtually everyone seems to enjoy his growls, don't pay too much attention to my criticism here. After all, he uses it with a purpose. The outro of the song with gorgeous piano and 'the riff' is great. Overall, an above-average track with the style of the band, recalling their "remedy lane" era. 8/10

Enter Rain uses a drum line throughout the majority of the song. I believe the verses are beautiful. They are dark, atmospheric, gloomy and bring tension. The choruses are heavier and contain a memorable hook. Once again, Daniel sings tormented vocals in the background. After the second chorus, there is a new section that sounds more depressing than before and then, the last chorus plays and the character dies. 7.5/10

As you can see, this album is very diverse and emotional. Rather than focusing on complexity and virtuosity, Pain of Salvation chose to focus on the music, the lyrics, and the vocals. This album divides fan, but I recommend you to take the risk and see if you are one of the listeners who can enjoy this album to its fullest.

A modern highlight, Highly recommended and essential to prog metal fans.

Dang.

After BE and Scarsick, Pain of Salvation has entered into the realm of (and I hate to say it) OVERRATED.

To those who say that you need to listen to an album a few times before reviewing it (I have listened to this twice now) I say this: I know what garbage looks like when I see it once, so I know what garbage sounds like when I hear it once. And Scarsick, is pure trash.

OK- so not all songs are that bad- but there are a few tracks that are enough to bring it ALL the way down.

Spitfall- horrid vocals- yeah "G"

America- bad music- HORRIBLE vocals. I don't want to listen to America bashing- or any heavy political song for the matter- that why I HATE System of a Down. Hey Daniel, maybe if you put a bit more positivity in your lyrics the songs would turn out better- and "Dr Phil and Diet Coke?" Geeze.

Disco Queen- a laugher. And this is what I mean by "laugher" POS is laughing because you and I gave them money for hearing 8 minutes of CRAP. Why? Why? Why??????? Maybe the worst song I have ever heard.

Flame to the Moth- badmusic, HORRID vocals. Very annoying.

And Enter Rain- the ever-so-famous last track we all enjoy from them- until now. This track is seriously boring, and not worth listening to a 3rd time in my opinion. Come to think of it- I don't know if ANY of the album is worth listening to AGAIN.

My main reason for this album being 1 star is this- this band has TALENT. I has low expectattions going into this and I found it was even worse than I imagined. Set up defeat -again. Bye bye POS- you are no longer one of my favorite bands. There is just too much good stuff out there. Scarsick = GARBAGE.

I always thought that POS were a band with great ideas, but they have not enough money to have a great production on their albums (with the exception of BE). On this album seems that they finally did it.

This album opens with one word SICK! and no one word could describe this album better

CAUTION: THIS ALBUM BECOMES MORE ADDICTIC WITH EVERY SINGLE LISTEN!!!

Ok througout this album you will find nu-metal, singing full of clichés, a 70'S Disco Song, a banjo solo (brilliant!), babies laughing, mandolina and some other eccentricities. But also there is dark vocal arrangements (classical vampir-esque Daniel Gildenlöw), very well developed atmospheres, a production full of details.

Conclusion: We are in front of a very brilliant and controversial album (take it or leave it!). This is a very exciting journey of music. Daniel Gildenlöw is a very versatile singer and musician.

PD: Give several listens to this album before trying to make a review.

My Rate: 4.3 Stars. (Not giving 5 Stars because of the Linkin' Park and Korn sections)

The FIVE STARS goes to BE LIVE!

This album is definitely a grower. I listened to it for the first time like two months ago and thought it was crap, like PoS went down really hard. But then picked it up again a few days ago and payed attention well to everything behind the music and....wow!

Each track begins to grow on you everytime you listen to it. Ok, not ALL the tracks, there are ones that i don't like very much like Mrs. Modern Mary and Scarsick (this track could be good if it lasted a little less).

Then, the concept in some songs is great, like a Spitfall that is the best F*** you to all the rappers on the mtv it's sang rapping. And, Disco Queen that hits the...well, prostitutes who sell in clubs, that take you on drugs, etc. its sang and played like a disco song with some heavy touchs. Then America, a song that hits that country and its played with a very american-ish style.

Kingdom of Loss and Cribcaged are the most beautiful songs on the album, with the best lyrics and a very emotional music background. Flame To The Moth is the heaviest and, yet, another of the best tracks. I love the line "I once had blue eyes, hungry and wise, now they are black from this dark age of lies."

Scarsick - 7/10, Spitfall - 9/10, Cribcaged - 10/10, America - 9.5/10, Disco Queen - 8/10, Kingdom Of Loss - 10/10, Mrs. Modern Mary - 4/10, Idiocracy - 6/10, Flame To The Moth - 10/10, Enter Rain - 6/10

Conclusion: I find this album truly progressive, with the band exploring new musical grounds, and i too think that this takes the word 'prog' in new directions too, standing on the edge of what is mainstream music, its a way to open minds to the new era of progressive rock.

An Album that I cannot stop playing it .

Am I a great fan of Pain of Salvation? Not quite sure on this. Let me put it this way. As far as enjoying the music, I always like their music offering. You can check my rating on all of the band's albums here at this site. But as far as following-up with the band and monitoring what's going to come up next, I have never done it. I'm too lazy following- up the band's activities through their official website. In fact when the local mailing list down here at my country, talking about the band's search for new bassist, I did not really pay into attention about it. And .. finally the new album "Scarsick" came out in 2007 and I was not that curious about the album and just spun it once and put it back in a shelf. Some people was mumbling and complaining about "disco" element in this album which I even at that time did not really care. For some reason, I started spinning the album again couple of days ago and don't know why I can never stop it. I keep replaying again and again .

To me the music is so straight forward but it's still a Pain-of-Salvation-specific kind of thing. There are still parts that remind me to the band's music nuance of "Entropia" album combined with "Perfect Element Part 1" album as well. For my ears, the Daniel Gildenlow's voice is very unique and can easily be identified, even with some tracks in rap style. For the purpose of writing this review, I rely heavily on how my ears and my mind interpret the music offered in this album, without having to browse what is the intention of the band with this album. I just enjoy the music and put my views against it. While the band still maintain their energetic beats (most of tracks) and ambient nuance, there are some nuances that typically produced by Pink Floyd's music. This has never happened before with Pain of Salvation.

Why liking this album?

Digestible. It does not require progressive ears or mind to digest the music of this album. All songs have strong soul and groove that make them attractive to follow. This is totally different with "Be" album which was very hard to digest at first spin. If that is the case, this might not be a prog album? I leave it up to you to this matter. From the opening track which is the album title track the music flows easily into my ears and my mind without any difficulty at all. The opening track still has so much style of Pain of Salvation music so far. One who has been familiar with Pain of Salvation music would easily identify that this is PoS! It moves nicely to the next track "Spitfall" right way through to final track "Enter Rain" without any difficulty at all.

Excellent Composition. This might be debate-able since the old school fans of Pain of Salvation might think that this album composition is of less quality than previous albums. Well, I don't blame on them at all. The fact that most songs are easy to digest itself would lead to a conclusion that there is nothing in the music. But, hold your thoughts for a second . is there any rule that says prog music must be complicated to qualify as good ones? What about with Pink Floyd in which most of their compositions are pretty simple and relying the music on soundscapes and ambience?

One good example of excellent composition is the second track "Spitfall" which I think it has brilliant composition and powerful songwriting. The song has "energy" as well as groove and soul. The strong point of the song relies on how the music provides ambient style on the upbeat music. It's quite a challenge, actually, and I don't think any band can do so with this brilliant work. When you have a chance to enjoy this album, please observe the subtleties of this song. I guess you would agree with me. "Cribcaged" also gives another great example of what to qualify as excellent music. This song has so much roots with earlier Pain of Salvation music, eg. "Perfect Element Part 1" album. It's so powerful song.

Dare to challenge music boundaries. What I mean with this is the fact that the band does not really care about how people and (especially) their fans would perceive the band with respect to their exploration into disco and rap (I a way) styles. Who can stop the band from playing disco - or even reggae music? The risk is huge because old fans would run away from them. But, this is not the first case the band experiences because their previous album "Be" has split the fans into two poles: those who loved it and hated it. The band moves forward with their creation.

It's important also to notice here that on "Idiocracy" I can sense the style of Tool music as well. This proves the band's free exploration of their music. They might even consider that music should not be categorized - just let it flow. Who knows, one day Pain of Salvation would play swing jazz?

Why (you are) NOT liking this album?

Allergic to disco music. This applies to the fact that "Disco Queen" is a perfect disco music. If this is the case and you do hate anything "disco", you might consider this album is a crap. But, if you can tolerate a little bit, please observe how keyboard sounds are intertwined with the upbeat music. It's a joy, actually, listening to this kind of music.

"Prog must be complex!" Hmmm . if you have this principle in your mind, you will definitely have trouble appreciating this album. My suggestion, try "Kingdom Loss" in loud volume and the light is off, observe the subtleties as well as how melody brings the song into nice composition. I can assure you there is a kind of Pink Floyd style you can find in this song. As for my case, I really enjoy this song despite its simple composition. Oh the chorus is so beautiful!

Conclusion

Despite all positive points I elaborated above, one thing for sure that has not been tested yet: will this music become so boring? I can not answer this now as I just got it couple of weeks and cannot predict how will it be. Typically, any music which can be digested easily will fade away easily as well. Do you think so? Let's see. That's why I put this rating as an excellent addition to any prog music collection with a possibility to upgrade into five stars. Maybe. I do not recommend you to buy this album as your first Pain of Salvation album. I'd rather recommend you start with "Perfect Elements". But if you have been familiar with previous albums, I recommend you to buy this CD. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

PS. Oh by the way, I do not like the album cover. It's so ugly and scary, my friend.

I've only listened to this 3 times or so but I find it quite catchy, quite pleasing to listen to. The songs are based around criticising America and all it appears to be to the outside world, especially the materialistic and egotistical components. I expect that may mean a few Americans may declare Daniel Gildenlow as the new Osama Bin Laden. The fact is that PoS aren't repeating themselves, there's a fair few curve balls for anyone wanting The Perfect Element 2. The first song, scarsick, whilst having a bit of a dull riff gets into your head at the end with a build up of melody. The second song sounds like Eminem, Korn or something, with the standard sampled style of backing over a beat and rapping vocals fro the verse and a melodic sung chorus. The rapping is more of a venomous rant, like Mike Patton does, not like 50 cent or Puff Daddy. The thing some have missed is that this song is basically an attack on the black rapper stud with all their hired ho's and how they are nothing. It's called irony or something... Cribcaged is more standard PoS fair, but a bit more laid back, there's no real progressive metal flash from their earlier days. The lyrics deal with the shallowness of celebrity. "America" - comes across a bit like a quirky pop guitar song, can't pigeonhole it. Disco Queen starts up with a standard dance beat and bass line, but breaks down into a slow crawl in the verses. At 8 minutes it ain't really gonna be heard on the dance floor, bit of a double en tendre in the lyrics too - once again, bit of a comment on the nightclub slut scene. Kingdom of Loss - "All for sale", you get the idea of the lyrics, a nice slower number that builds towards the end, nice gentle chorus, very catchy, poignant lyrics. "Mother Mary" - Again, not such a great repetitive riff, all this talk about Daniel's customised new guitars and pickups, maybe the guitar was forgotten in the production, the heavy bits sound tinny to me, not enough warmth or crunch. Not a bad song, but not right up there with the rest. "Idiocracy" is another song that builds to a finale, again, the heavy guitars grate a bit, but maybe I like the vintage tones better. "Flame to the moth" starts up with another tinny guitar riff and a bit of an eastern flavour "Enter Rain" is slow brooder, heavy in bits, softer in other bits. Bit of slide guitar

Throughout the album, there's lots of little tastes, bit of flamenco, bit of electronica, etc, I don't really notice it (it's all music), but when I do it's a nice surprise. It's an interesting a quite diverse in its sounds and where the songs go (progress) within themselves. I guess I hear a bit too much Korn or Faith No More in this album, no, it's not as breathtaking as Perfect Element or Remedy Lane, the multilayered harmonies and solso aren't as apparent and Daniel Gildenlow is almost restrained, but they don't want to write the same song over and over, and that is why they are a great band. The songs are still interesting, the lyrics still deep. My main criticisms are the lack of warmth in the vocal production and guitars, but perhaps this is their preferred sound as it's consistent with their other releases. I do love a good expressive or wanky guitar solo too....

I'll be honest, I was disappointed in this album. I have always loved Pain of Salvation for the simple fact that they are not afraid to try new things. I guess on this album, they weren't afraid to try mediocrity. Thats all this album is. I would even go so far as to say this is less than mediocre. PoS has always been invovative, intellegent and creative. Everything on this album has been done before. Here is what I would rate each song:

Scarsick - This song has it's moments. But I just felt their was to much rapping. It was a bit overkill. Daniels rapping never bothered me to much, sometimes I felt he did a good job and did it tastfully (He surely did it better than James LaBrie on ToT hehe). But anyways, thats not the real problem I have with this song. It's just a straight 4/4 time with really heavy guitar riffs and there isn't that much variety with the guitar riffs. All in all, it's not really a bad song, just not a great song. I'd give it a 5/10.

Spitfall - More rapping! Again, I don't really mind it. I actually have a problem with the chorus vocal melody. The one that starts "Theres nothing like a broken childhood..." This vocal melody just rubs me the wrong way. The guitar riff in the verse really bothers me too. Again this song suffers from what scarsick suffered from, lack of diversity in song structer. The riffs just feel like a bunch of riffs. It just feels like verse, chorus, verse, chorus, some dynamics here, verse, ect... it's predictable and pain of salvation isn't supposed to be predictable. All in all, this is not a terrible song, just not a great one 5/10.

Cribcage - This song is just silly. It's a song that points out something we have known since people were famous and that is that famous and rich people are douchebags. The anthematic melody just doesn't do it for me. The melody just feels like theres no effort. The lyrics are silly, the melody is terrible, and this song suffers from whta the first two sufffered from. Daneil is capable of more. 4/10

America - This song sucks. plain and simple. And I'm not saying this because I'm Ameican. I mean from a musical standpoint. This song blows. There is one riff that they play just a little bit that reminds of the PoS that I know and love. But the cheesy melodies kill the song along with the lame chord progression. It just sounds like they were trying to be a bit more mainstream and it just didn;t work out. 3/10

Disco Queen - Umm... wow... I don't know what to say here about this song. I'm left with more questions than answers. Like how did this song make it on the album? Seriously, what is this song doing here? It is completely out of place. The cheesy disco beat and melody, the dumb vocals. There is absolutly nothing to walk away with from this song that you can say "well, atleast that was ok." It just sounds like it's them screwing around. 1/10

Kingdom of Loss - Now here is were we get into the sound that pain of salvation is good at. However, even though this song sounds like the pain of salvation we love, it would be a mediocre PoS song. There are just 3 riffs that alternate back and forth for almost seven minutes. That aside, this song is a breath of fresh air after listening to the trainwreck/airplane crash/50 car pile up that is Disco Queen. A decent song I would have to say. 7/10

Mrs Modern Mother Mary - This song is not half bad either. Again, its more like the Pain of Salvation I came to love. However, the song writing isn't very great here. It is 4 minutes of just 2 different riffs going back and forth. The same damn thing, just different variations of it. But I would still listen to this song and it is still an ok listen. 7/10

Idiocracy - This song is ok also. It reminds me of O.S.I. a bit in its feel at some points. I don't mind this song to much and actually enjoy it. Nothing big to complain about it that I have not said already. 7/10

Flame to the Moth - This song is interesting. The screaming at some points remind me to much of hardcore sometimes. I can't get over that. I can't stand hardcore so this song pushes me to the edge of skipping it sometimes. But thats just my bias towards that genre of music. This song is still miles ahead of the first five songs though. 7/10

Enter Rain - This song is ten minutes but far from an epic. Its an ok song, there just isn't anything that jumps out at me to make me love this song. It is just a mediocre way to end a mediocre album (and I'm being kind here). 7/10

All in all, I give this album a 53% (if we were in school here). Thats an F. The songs after disco queen were not that bad, but that can't make me forget the rubbish they made me listen to for the first half. I gave it two stars because I was sure as hell not going to give it three and call it "Good" as the rating system here indicates. So sorry Dan, I round down...

I really expected more out of this album. But every band has their bad moments. Hopefully the next release will be better than this. Just for the sake of the moral of their fan base. I really could have done well without hearing this album. Ohwell, maybe next time.

This release looks like it will be the most controversial release of 2007.

PoS doesn't make it easy for their fans, or for fans of prog metal in general here, as doing it safe seems to be a missing element in the bands collective personality.

Thus they release an album of a highly experimental nature, where hardly any song sounds the same. Opening with a song heavily flirting with nu metal, continuing into Eminem territory (although heavily spiced with fuzz guitar), continuing with a c&w flavoured AOR song, moving on to a more funk-inspired song and then in track 5 having their own version of what disco should sound like.

Continuing with a ballady tune evolving into a dark metal tune, then it's a guitar/vocals experimental track, before there's three "normal" sounding tracks finishing this beast off.

Highly experimental, and listeners need ecclectic taste as well as patience to be able to enjoy this one. Personally I'd place it somewhere inbetween average and good (or good to excellent as ratings go here), and the pure amount of courage shown in releasing such an experimental album makes me rate higher rather than lower.

OK, it's been quite a few listens now so I feel allowed to review Pain of Salvation's 2007 release "Scarsick". As it happens, opinions about this album are dispersed on a wide range, from loving it to hating it. I'm going to side with the dislike.

I haven't found and still don't find any of the first seven songs moving, neither musically nor from the point of lyrics. The same can be applied to the whole. I'm usually very fond of conceptual albums with a message to give, but this more or less sounds like a teenage reaction against the world's problems. Surely not the part for Pain of Salvation to play. I believe they could've done and will surely do better; their musicianship and artistic skills are far better then they exposed on this album. I hope this is just a "relief" album in PoS' discography and will not set the tone for the forthcoming albums.

"Scarsick" failed to grow on me, but I still acknowledge the final three tracks' quality. And that's exactly what saved me from giving the wrost rating to a PoS album. Nevertheless, if you think of buying "Scarsick", don't forget that any opinion is present at the same amount and I'm afraid you have to see it for yourself if you will like it or not. Anyway, I say, a disappointing 2 stars for this one.

I came extremely close to reviewing this album about a month ago, shortly after it released, and it would have been around a 2.5 star rating; however, the album began growing on me....like a fungus.

It's been said by nearly everyone, but it still merits mention: do not go into this album expecting another TPE, Remedy Lane, or the like. It is stylistically as big of a departure from "typical" Pain of Salvation as Be was. The guitar work often reminds me of Korn. It has that unusual noise aspect to it that I would never expect out of Pain of Salvation. The guitar work is less pronounced, leading to several accusations of "nu-metal". A case can be made for this accusation. Musically, the syncopated open rhythm line is king here. Additionally, the keys take more of an atmospheric than a fronting role here. Lines are much simpler than often in the past, and there's even a dash of rap thrown in for seasoning.

This is, however, not a nu-metal album. It is a prog-metal album and deserves the title. The frequent trippy choruses and breaks separate it from the mainstream as effectively as did Be's grandiose concept. The album really comes into it's own after Disco Queen. The last tracks are all excellent examples of why Pain of Salvation deserves all the praise they get and more. The first songs are less good, and America is the worst song Iron Maiden never made.

Ultimately, this album is definitely worth the listen. You will hate it at first. I promise. However, after quite a few listens (it took me a few weeks) it begins to grow on you.

Previous to hearing this album, I have only heard Pain Of Slavation in bits and pieces, and those bits and pieces have never inspired me to look any deeper, until now. Scarsick is an fantastic piece of work. It's beautiful, moody, well-written...It's the work of a truly interesting and mature rock band, the band I never heard in previous releases (I am currently trying to get into The Perfect Element, and thus far I am a good deal less impressed than I was with Scarsick).

From the first note to the last fade-out, there is never an moment that isn't completely interesting and throughly enjoyable. Actually, the first track, while decent, may be the weakest on the album simply because for much of it's length it sounds similar to something many other bands could do. The rest of the album does not share that fault. POS do, on many occasions, employ one of my least favorite of current rock cliches - namely a really heavy verse section followed by a melodic chorus section (call it 'killswitch engage' syndrome, the first track on The Perfect Element suffers horribly from it), but where in previous efforts it sounded just as silly and forced as it does with Killswich, on Scarsick it works seamlessly.

I actually like the second half of the album better than the first. 'Cribcaged' is a nice piece of work, but on this album it's secondary to the stellar 'Kingdom of Loss'. Like most tracks, it seems to follow a basic ABAB type of pattern, but with just the right kind of variation each time to keep things interesting, and to maximize the emotional message. Indeed, thinking back, the album feels far larger and more complex than it really is, which is credit to the skilled songwriting and interesting arrangements. In fact I think one of the reasons the album works so well is the smart mix it was given - someone in the production booth understands that atmospheric recording and giving the instruments room to breathe can sound just as heavy, heavier maybe, than cranking up huge, overdubbed guitars into both ears.

Let's talk about 'Disco Queen' for a second. This song seems to stir the ire of long time POS fans, but I intuitively enjoyed it. Perhaps it's my love of bands like Mr. Bungle (or for that matter composers like Gustav Mahler, who used to interpose funeral marches and dance music), or my love of dark humor, but the mix of dark imagry and super-poppy disco beats makes perfect emotional sense to me. It's fun, creative, and it's own way 'heavier' than if they just did it as a standard rock song. The same is true of 'Spitfall', which mocks rap cliches while simultaneously exploiting them and one-upping them in songwriting department.

Perhaps with time previous POS albums will dawn on me, and I will prefer them to the ease with which this album captured my attention, but at this point it's hard to imagine myself forcing a copy of The Perfect Element in the hands of one of my friends, insiting "you HAVE to hear this", as I did with Scarsick. And even if I do, I find it next to impossible that I will ever actually dislike Scarsick at all. I hope all the Pain of Salvation fans who hate it will give it another try, because in my opinion it contains some of the most basic and integral elements of what makes music worth listening to.

Ahh the irony. The most successful (commercially) PoS album of them all. And, naturally, the lowest rated on Progarchives! Number 6 on the Swedish album charts!

I must admit, I was a bit taken back when I first heard this. It seemed, well, less progressive and more nu-metal than previous efforts. But, of course, when you get past the first couple tracks you realize (or should, anyway) that it is much much more than that. The first three tracks I'm still not crazy about, but I'm glad I gave this more listens because they are not terrible either. An interesting divergence and experiment. Perhaps not the type of progression fans would have expected, but a progression of sorts nonetheless. Not being a big fan of metal, and certainly not the newer more popular varieties, these tracks will never be much more than okay for me.

America however, is another story. First, being American, I find the lyrics incredibly accurate and insightful for a non native. Daniel, I couldn't agree more. The music itself interests me because of a distinct Flower Kings influence. The music reminds me a little of Fast Lane from Unfold the Future (sung by Daniel, no less), while the lyrics are in the same ideological domain as those from The Truth from the same album. This similarity to the dreaded Flower Kings is no doubt why hardcore PoS fans and prog metal fans are aghast at this album. His time in that band is, IMO reflected in this album more than any other PoS album, even the last one. So, anyway, a great song that is quite different from previous PoS work. Something that many proggers, in spite of their "progressive" taste, have a hard time dealing with (a band actually doing something different and unexpected).

Disco Queen is quickly becoming my favorite song on here. Sure, the disco beat and cheesy vocals are a bit too easy and obvious, but the song as a whole has a wonderful structure and flow to it that just works beautifully. And, again, poignant and interesting lyrics. The vocals by Daniel are excellent throughout this track.

The rest of the album is more along the lines of what one might expect from this band, and each song has its charms and interest for me. Track 8 and track 10 striking me as being particularly good.

With the exception of the first 3 tracks, Daniels singing is, as usual, outstanding on this album. The lyrical content is some of his best and the relationship to the Perfect Element Pt. 1 is somewhat obtuse but nonetheless there (this album is Pt. 2, after all). So after initial misgivings (which I had with all their albums generally), I find this refreshingly different and interesting compared to so much of the prog metal sound alike dreck that permeates the genre. it's a shame that so many proggers are unable to enjoy the unexpected. You'd think that was the norm for prog rock. Anyway, 3 stars for me, and kudos to the band for having the gall to defy fans expectations so wonderfully.

Pain of Salvation - 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...

No Kingdom of Loss at all

Very controversial what I can find out from the other reviews! First of all I must say that I'm not very familiar with the band and therefore this is the first complete release to estimate for me. Maybe POS are provocative, polarizing with this album and frustrating some of their fans. This is not really surprising what I've heard about them. Never mind - for me it sounds neither bad nor mediocre - it's very exciting and I'm surprised about so many disclaiming reviews.

Ostensibly they realize a mix of prog metal and heavy crossover with a little bit rapping. You cannot ignore - they use elements from bands like RACE AGAINST THE MACHINE, FAITH NO MORE or SOUNDGARDEN. Okay - not absolutely a new territory. You can believe me - that's not all. After several listenings the songs are opening more and more new aspects.

Title track Scarsick sounds not very unique during the first round - a typical RATM headbanger? But the song is also gripping with great vocals. Spitfall is metal rap with a melodic refrain (there's nothing like a broken childhood ...) - a very interesting combination. I like this. Then follows Cribcaged, a compelling ballad (supported by very young humans) which gets stronger 'til the end. With America POS is attacking the official US policy which has my fully agreement. Funny use of Banjo I must say.

Disco Queen is a killer song. ABBA gets along with FAITH NO MORE - a heavy contrast, absolutely crazy and very couragious. I felt like I was sucked down after listening to the song for the first time. But I had a next try and another and then by and by I was getting a clue how fascinating this song is.

Kingdom of Loss is great and I have terrible problems to describe why. Mainly psychedelic but also folk in a very melancholic mood - genial! Mrs. Modern Mother Mary - the shortest song - is initiated by a metall riff and sounds like Chris Cornell is serving the vocals. Enter Rain is a wonderful ballad to round off this release - agressive and also psychedelic with another chance for Daniel Glidenlöw to show his great musical abilities.

PAIN OF SALVATION has worked out a versatile ouput. Remarkable are Gildenlöw's vocals. And so my summary is: no song is lacking - this will be an excellent addition ...

Strong and individual...

I think that this album has been misunderstood by most of listeners. Wen you listen to PoS you must have a very open mind, but when you listen Scarsick, you must have a VERY VERY open mind... I can guarantee that if you listen this album like that, you'll find it really INCREDIBLE!!!

So, why?? Easy, this album is maybe more that prog, avantgarde I think... This album questions the way progressive music is composed, and tells us "Why you must separate the music in relative groups??". I don't understand what's the problem with rap sections?? or with country sections?? or with 70's-pop sections?? its all about music, and a great concept and critic...

I will not make a song by song review, because everybody here already know every song of the album, all I can say is that PoS is not for newbies in prog, it's for open-minded listeners and for people that want something very different. I love the DT virtuosity, and the Porcupine Tree inspiration, but Scarsick is a magical ball, every time you listen it you can found more new features. I hope the people that didn't like it take a little time to think about it, this album is great when you listen it impartially!!!

I think the main problem is that Scarsick shouldn't be considered as it is itself, but concept- bound and transitional. I think that what Daniel was trying to do is tieing this second part of TPE to both the previous one, and to its own specific themes. If the character has to denounce something, he has to do it in the target's own ways. Therefore he raps to those "trapped in the mould of the rap" or he creates a disco beat for the disco queen. And in my humble opinion it worked quite well, because this is not only done greatly in terms of actual quality, but also because it gives Daniel a wider range of things to talk about, since using the same lyrics or simply same topics with a metal song or PoS song (do PoS style even exist after all?), even if it's typical PoS style music, would not have been as effective, I'd say. My prediction, though, is that this is transitional, since it's hard to believe that TPE won't have a third episode, at least not after witnessing to Enter Rain's "incomplete" feeling (the song itself seems to be about to take off, but this never happens) and the same song's ending sounds. I say let's wait for the third instalment and a lot of people will start to re-evaluate this very Scarsick, under a new light, perhaps.

DISSAPOINTING

I have always believed that bands should try new things in each release while they don´t lose their style or essence; that evolution is a natural thing in most of the subjects in life, that would be kind of boring that something stays exactly the same all the time. But in this case exploring out of bounds, far beyond reasonable experiment, could be very risky.

For me it didn´t work quite well with this controversial effort. And i have tryed to understand, really, i´ve been listening to the cd over and over again trying to make it grow in me, just because i like this band so much that i couldn´t believe my ears the first times. And has grown, maybe, 1 more star than i was going to give it before, that means 2 and 1/2 total.

I discover during the last 2 listens that not everything was totally wrong. There are a couple of songs that save it from total dissaster, like" Idocracy" which it´s a very good song in the vein of PoS glorious times, and "Kingdom of Loss", a good song but not a masterpiece like some claim it to be.

And unfurtunely there are some tracks that i find annoying like "America" which i find repetitive and pointless, and "Disco Queen", and i´m not a disco music hater, but mixing it with rock it´s like oil and water. The rest of the songs have some nice moments, you can hear a good riff here and there, but that´s about it. Once you finish listening one of them you easly forget it.

There´s not much else i can add since i don´t find interesting things to get deep into, just to say that i hope they manage to find the way to keep exploring and experimenting on an innovative way and not going too far trying to make Nu Metal or similar stuff.

2 and a half *

Viva el Prog!

Scarsick is an incredibly tough album to rate. It is so different from what Pain of Salvation has done for years--symphonic progressive metal. On their past three albums--The Perfect Element Part 1, Remedy Lane, and BE--Pain of Salvation would refine their music until it ebbed and flowed with peaks and valleys, ultimately culminating in a cathartic release at the end of the album. On Scarsick, the entire album is the cathartic release. It is Daniel Gildenlow's rant about society and why he has reached the point where he can no longer hold his anger. It is much less refined than every other Pain of Salvation album; Gildenlow spews the vulgarities we all do when we watch something on television that just pisses us off. The use of harsh language is not unwarranted, for Scarsick is an album of extremes: extreme anger, extreme frustration, extreme exhaustion, and the reactions to these emotions are conveyed very well. The lyrics here capture the same personal anguish felt on past albums, but the subject matter gives the lyrical content a more distant feel. It is not INDIVIDUAL vs. INDIVIDUAL anymore, but rather INDIVIDUAL vs. SOCIETY.

Scarsick is an abrasive listen, especially for the seasoned Pain of Salvation listener. I was taken aback at how un-PoS-like this album is when I heard it first. Comparisons to Linkin Park were made on the ProgArchives forum, and I can see where the people exclaiming this supposed likeness were coming from. Several songs here feature rapping of sorts, similar to Gildenlow's rapping on "Used" from The Perfect Element Part 1. Of course, I would consider it more speaking fast than rapping, but people will envision it how they will. In another song, Daniel wails with a cathartic intensity than would be expected of a screamo band, yet the music underlying such a convulsion of emotion is nothing like that of a screamo band. This illustrates the main musical factor in Scarsick: breaking down barriers. Prior to the release of Scarsick, one might have said that Pain of Salvation were a constantly evolving band. Now, when viewing this album compared to the rest of Pain of Salvation's output, it seems like they played it safe for a great amount of their career, only now daring to fully embrace their once-minor excursions into different genres. "Disco Queen" is a dark, brooding narrative of lust for a celebrity--with an appropriate if shocking (possibly hysterical) disco-esque chorus; "Scarsick" slithers with a slight tinge of Middle Eastern flavor; and "America," a diatribe on the sicknesses of American culture, embraces modern rock to an extent.

Despite my raving about the new direction Pain of Salvation took with Scarsick, the band succeeds mainly when they stick to the style that made them great. Too strong of a deviation, as with "America," and they start to become unfamiliar and repulsive. The best songs on Scarsick, "Kingdom of Loss," "Idiocracy," and "Enter Rain" are all readily identifiable to the listener vaguely familiar with Pain of Salvations style of Progressive Metal. Others, such as "Scarsick" and "Spitfall," are largely explorative, yet still successful. This just emphasizes Pain of Salvation as a band that cannot be pinpointed or forced into a narrow category; as soon as one tries to do so, they'll surprise us all. Pain of Salvation threw a curveball with Scarsick. it may take awhile to appreciate this radical change in Pain of Salvation's style, but the album has enough gems to make it worth the time and effort. As to the revelation that Scarsick is "The Perfect Element Part Two," it feels so different from the first part that I have a hard time associating the two. The connection between the first and the second seems threadbare as well. Well, I believe a final installment is in order, and I hope that it turns out well. Though I like Scarsick, I hope the band rediscovers their old style of metal.

3.5/5

What happened?

I understand for a band's need for progression in their music, but I do not understand this musical devolution. Any trademark you've come to love from the band, any previous technique they employed, any of their sophistication has been thrown to the hounds. Pain Of Salvation have never stagnated their style between albums but certain techniques, the style of composition, and similarities in tonality where there to let you know it was a POS album. Scarsick shares more in common with your local mainstream metal station than anything from the band's past. Even simple things like Daniel's vocal style have changed. His quasi-rap vocal style on the previous three albums were always of the utmost excitement to me, but somehow he even manages to ruin that on Scarsick, trading in his quasi-rap for a boring rap style with little regard for the rhythm of the song. If you like me loved hearing the great versatility of his voice, and enjoyed seeing him explore his range, you'll be at an odds on this record. Except for a few moments (and I literally mean moments) of exception he's singing in essentially the same register. The music of the album is very much the same way. There's almost no variety; every song has the same mood attached to it. Except for "Disco Queen" (which provides many of the exceptions of the album) every song trucks on with the same attitude as the last.

Every song on the album isn't bad. There are some great tracks here. The best by far being "Disco Queen" which most reminds me of previous PoS. It features the only break from the monotony of the album, and the only lyrics with some artistic value to them. "Cribcaged", "Spitfall", and "Flame To Moth" are also worth listening to. The real problem is that there's no great songs on the album. Even the closer, usually their strongpoint, has almost no redeeming qualities.

I can sum up this album with one word: juvenile. Daniel seemed too concerned with preaching from his soapbox to put any attention into the music.

so, here we have one of PA's heavy mainstays, Pain of Salvation, and their latest album, entitled "Scarsick." On paper, it works.

You take one of prog's most eloquent lyricists and have him write a vitriolic rant about the ills of modern America (and other parts of the world to a lesser extent). And to boot, it turns out to be a sequel to their highly acclaimed album, "The Perfect Element 1". In the album, Gildenlow uses different styles of music to convey the message of the song, ie rap for rap, disco for disco/sleaziness etc. Should be a masterpiece, no?

Well......no. Very very no. So much so that the previous sentence had to be grammatically incorrect in order to convey just how wrong this notion was.

There are several problems with this album but two glaring ones. Firstly, the lyrics. It would seem that Mr. Gildenlow didn't know exactly what he wanted to say specifically, perhaps from too much to say, and the result is having the lyrics come out very amatureish, crude, and blunt. I believe this is the first PoS album to feature a "parental advisory" sticker on it.

Secondly, the music itself doesn't hold its own very well. Not only are the lyrics very basic by Gildenlow's standards, they also manage to hijack the music itself, and the album suffers even more as a result. "Disco Queen" turns out to be quite comical in lieu of this (probably what Gildenlow intended) but at 8 minutes, it tends to wear itself very thin very quickly. Now, for a song by song breakdown, though I don't think I can rate most of these as the result might be pretty ugly.

Scarsick- Nothing seems amiss from the start, when the song explodes into a driving guitar riff. However, the song itself degenerates quickly and starts to sound like run of the mill rap/alt metal. I'm relatively used to Gildenlow's rapping, but throughout this album he really pushes it with it.

Spitfall- this song sounds like a Linkin Park outtake. No joke. His rapping sounds the most....rap-like ever, if that makes any sense.The song itself is very basic, but it does manage to have a semi-decent chorus. Again, the lyrics are some of the most laughable he's ever produced, which is sad because the message is strong but the delivery is weak, a recurring problem on this album.

Cribcaged- The first track I will actually deem fit for a rating on the album, this song manages to be OK. Sadly, not much more than OK. The lyrics are again quite blunt (eg f**k the homies, f**k blah blah etc.). However, the music on this track manages to be listenable to typical prog ears (as opposed to the previous two). 6.6/10

America- the cracks in the dam that were beginning to show with Spitfall (and you thought were almost patched up with Cribcaged) give way and the gushing current of "what the hell is he thinking" comes bursting through. Everything about this song screams "trying too hard". The lyrics sound almost as immature as the lyrics on Green Day's "American Idiot" (and if you've looked at those closely you know this is a dire situation we have here) and the song manages to be one of their weakest recordings ever. This was Gildenlow's first attempt at humor on this album, and people are laughing, but not necessarily for the reasons he intended. I didn't want to rate this but this song is too bad. .5/10 (.5 for the little country break in the middle that lasts for half a second)

Disco Queen- Probably the most famous track on the album, or rather infamous. Somewhere in the mess of trying to figure out how to organize his ideas into a coherent fashion, Gildenlow seems to have in a confused state decided that he should make the centerpiece of the album an 8 minute DISCO track(mixed with some metal). The result is comical, there is no other way to put it. For once, however, people are laughing at what is intended to be funny, but at the same time, as I mentioned before, this track is 8 minutes long, which by the end turns into beating a dead horse.

Kingdom of Loss- another letdown (and reference to the track of a similar name on TPE1) of a track in that it's not exactly terrible, but boring. One thing I noticed throughout the album is that none of the members get a chance to really shine. No emotionally charged solos from Johan, barely any noticeable keyboard work from Fredrik, and so on. It also drags a bit, but some parts ("welcome to planet earth") wind up being decent. 6.7/10

Mrs. Modern Mother Mary- A Meshuggah like rhythm repeats throughout but never really shows variation throughout the piece. At least this one's shorter than the other tracks. 5/10

Idiocracy- At this point I've given up on mentioning the lyrics because they get very repetitive throughout and never really mature. This song winds up being better than some of the tracks, but still mediocre by PoS standards. 5/10

Flame to the Moth- First song on the WHOLE ALBUM that I would consider "decent", this song shows some variation, and hints at the fact that someone actually sat down and thought out writing this. The only thing that detracts from it is Gildenlow's screaming, which doesn't entirely sound out of place but comes very, very close. 7/10

Enter Rain- This song somewhat helped restore my faith that Gildenlow and crew could potentially pull themselves out of a hole with their next album.They've always known how to end their albums strong, and though this isn't exactly one of the top songs in their catalogue, it comparatively is the strongest on the album. 8/10

To be crass, since this album felt halfassed, I'm only giving it half the potential rating (2.5) which in this case goes to a 2. And I think I'm being quite

generous with that rating, only because not EVERY song is a complete failure, and because from enjoying their past works, I'm giving PoS the benefit of

the doubt that they know something about this record that I don't.

For collectors or fans only, try TPE1 or BE to hear some far better work from these guys

SICK! CAUSE ITS ME CAUSE ITS ME rings out some of the notes of the first song of the newest Pain of Salvation album, fittingly named Scarsick. Scarsick is Pain of Salvation's newest chapter in the Perfect Element trilogy and of many trilogies; this is entirely different beast from all the other Pain of Salvation albums. The sound here is clearly different from the poppy Prog Metal dimensions of Remedy Lane, the tender, emotional warmness that is The Perfect Element or the conceptual masterpiece, BE. The sound is even more raw and powerful. At times, the band manages to be even tenderer than the 'confused' moments during the middle of the first part of the Perfect Element trilogy.

We start off with Scarsick, the title track of the 6th Pain of Salvation studio album. This track starts with the chant SICK by Daniel Gildenlow, and then carries away into a furry of Metal riffs, catchy trademark Gildenlow raps and powerful choruses. THIS SICK SICK SICK CAUSE ITS NOT ME. The sheer power that Gildenlow manages to encompass in this song manages to match up with the power of a song like Dea Pecuniae, Beyond the Pale or Iter Impius.

Spitfall is the 2nd song on the new Pain of Salvation album and it is a very unique Pain of Salvation song. Daniel does his trademark 'special vocals', but instead utilizes it for a longer period creating an ominous effect every time the choruses come in. A very catchy song and also a song that sorts of parodies certain rap artists. Extremely powerful and moving song that emphasizes the more "band-orientated" sound that Daniel was going for at the beginning of the writing sessions.

Cribcaged is the next song on the album and it is a ballad-ish song on the album. The lyrics entail the youth's feelings of the richness around himself and his anti-feelings towards these things. The song is slightly less powerful than the first two songs, but gives off very intense tender mixed feelings of shame, anger and regret.

America is the anti-American establishment song on this album. It describes the person's view on a lot of issues such as Iraq, Capitol Hill and theorizes America's eventual downfall. This song is a very catchy song that deals with these issues and it incorporates some of Gildenlow's disappointments with the American regime and such. Definitely a very political song, but also a great catchy one! A good song to play for your friends who aren't into Prog Metal!

Now to Disco Queen. Let's see. LET'S DISCO DISCO QUEEN LET'S DISCO DISCO QUEEN!!!!! WHOOAA-OHHHHH- WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! That's just a bit of a taste from certainly the most eccentric track they have done, even more than the silly bit on Dea Pecuniae on the conceptual masterpiece, BE. Definitely extremely different and weird at the same time. Pretty much of what I call my guilty pleasure.

Kingdom of Loss is where all the powerful energy that was described in the beginning comes crashing down. After Disco Queen, a very energetic song, it is fitting there a slower more ballad-like song is in the place. Quite a strong, powerful, yet tender song! And a fitting description of emotions and feelings!

Mrs. Modern Mother Mary is the short rocker-ish song on the album. Highly band-orientated music and also highly different from what Pain of Salvation have done in the past. The song reminds me highly of Devin Townsend, but in the artsy fashion that Gildenlow and company have always done things.

Idiocracy is the 8th song on the album and this is more or less a transitional song. (As I call it: the song that goes from the climax (Kingdom of Loss) and interconnects it with the end of album or the last 2 songs.) Quite a typical Pain of Salvation song, with typical Gildenlow vocals and instrumental accompany from the band.

Flame to the Moth is the second to last on the album. Here is another example of Scarsick's new musical direction, with Hallgren and Gildenlow exchanging screams in the middle of the song. The music has noticeably returned to the power and the strength of the first several songs. It is definitely one of the heaviest Pain of Salvation songs that the band has ever been made.

Enter Rain is the closer on the album and it is a very authoritative track summing up the end of the album. YOU'LL NEVER REMEMBER MY NAME, BUT I WILL LOVE YOU JUST THE SAME is the best part of the ending plus the powerful lines ENTER RAIN ENTER RAIN! A fitting ending to the perhaps one of the most controversial Progressive albums in the last 15 years and an album that will continue to be deeply debated!

Overall ratings for each song: Scarsick- 9/10 Spitfall- 9/10 Cribcaged- 9/10 America- 8/10 Disco Queen- 8/10 Kingdom of Loss- 9/10 Mrs. Modern Mother Mary- 8/10 Idiocracy- 7/10 Flame to the Moth- 7.5/10 Enter Rain- 9/10

The sheer magnitude of this powerful album did not enter my mind until after several listens. As Gildenlow mentioned in an interview: "Scarsick is much more band oriented and down to the core. Threatening and disturbing." From his words, we can say that this is a completely different animal from anything Pain of Salvation has ever done before.

Gildenlow wanted the album to be threatening and disturbing and he got what he wanted! He also created controversy within the Progressive world by introducing it to something that was creative and innovative.

Another great Pain of Salvation album and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

4,5 stars, in truth.

this has been the first work of the POS that I have listened, and I have appreciated it immediately and, also after to have listened to the others albums, this remains my favourite one. I cannot give 5 stars like to Remedy Lane because it is not completely prog and because some songs, at times, turn out a bit borings. I liked a lot the expressed political message in the songs (Cribcaged, America Exc.). but a song has truly astonished to me: Disco Queen. this track Disc/Metal, if therefore we want to define it, is truly strangest and not very prog, but it gives an originality touch to the album. Highly recommended!

Scarsick, the sixth studio album from Pain of Salvation, a band that I have come to regard as one of the best I have ever heard, if not the best. Standing still is not something that could ever be levelled at Pain of Salvation and the guiding hand of Daniel Gildenlow, and the big question everyone was anxious to know the answer to is, how the hell do you follow up the spectacularly ambitious, some would say pretentious and overblown, BE? The answer seems to be The Perfect Element, Part 2!

Yes, that's right, the follow up to my all time favourite album, The Perfect Element. The closing song of the aforementioned album left the male character with "his skin upon this dirty floor, eyes fixed on the ceiling", and now Scarsick picks up from there and tells this story from His perspective as He watches the world through his TV, and does not like what he sees, the perversion of modern society. Or at least that's what its supposed to be, anyway. I have trouble taking this too seriously as a concept album that follows on from The Perfect Element, it lacks the references to his past that made such an emotional impact previously and rather than being a cohesive concept it seems to be a series of social commentaries, making the TPE connection tenuous at best. Worse than that, several of these songs posses some of Gildenlows worst lyrics, particularly America, which is needlessly inflammatory with lines like " sick of America" and gets its point across in a very crass method. The fact that I agree, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the song, with the sentiments here doesn't change the fact that Gildenlow has exchanged intelligent and thoughtful lyrics for anger and I don't think its too successful in that regard.

Musically its very different to all that has come before it, as you would expect, this is Pain of Salvation after all. However, gone are the complex structures, melodies and the highly effective use of rhythm change that has been used to amazing effect on all previous albums. Here the structures are much more simple and the songs, though each very different, have little dynamic change in their timbre, except for Disco Queen, and that's only an illusion created by the disco beat of the loathsome chorus. Its not that its bad, because the musicianship is still top notch from all four members, with Daniel taking over bass duties from his ousted brother Kristoffer, its just that the songs on Scarsick will forever be held up against those of The Perfect Element, by dint of its connection, and will never hope to match the sheer genius of In The Flesh, Idioglossia, Her Voices, King of Loss, etc. However, were these songs still hold a candle to their predecessors is in atmosphere, particularly the doom-and-gloom atmosphere of the second half of the album, from Kingdom of Loss onwards. Its very dark and it works very well, in conjuncture with Gildenlow's best lyrics of the album.

In the end the constant anger of the lyrics and the striped down, much more simple, style of the song structures make it impossible for me to make any kind of emotional connection to this album, and that's its biggest fault simply for the fact that it was always the bands biggest asset on the previous five albums. When looked at under such close scrutiny and in direct comparison to Pain of Salvations past, its hard no to try and give this album a really low rating, but then I step back and remember just how highly I regard PoS's back catalogue and try to take it on its own merits. When I do this I realise that there is ample strength in the crafting of the songs, particularly the rather good Kingdom of Loss, and the excellent musicianship which is on display throughout the album to realise that its an average album, I just happen to have extremely high standards when it comes to PoS. The album is also notable for it being the last appearance of drummer Johan Langel, who retired from music following the end of the subsequent tour. Johan has regularly proved that he is one of the best drummers in Progressive metal and PoS will miss him on the next album. 3 stars but I advise you buy this album last from Pain of Salvation, get the others first.

My biggest disappointment of 2007 and, I think, a huge step backward in the band's stellar library. After listening to it several times, here are my thoughts:

- the guitar is as bland as can be, with uninventive, crunchy riffing and conspicuously absent solos - songwriting is uncreative and lacking any melody worth mentioning and-- with the exception of the horribly infectious hooks in "Disco Queen"-- entirely forgettable. - vocals are a sad mix of genuine poignancy (wasted on these songs), and trashy rap-rock growls more befitting the lame, teen pop- metal bands popular five years ago. - and, worst of all... the trite, angry, insultingly unsubtle lyrics which (in all likelihood) are preaching to the converted. We deserve better.

A huge waste of such powerful energy demonstrated by Daniel Gildenlow which misfires tremendously. I am I alone in thinking this would have worked MUCH better as a solo project, rather then involving and poorly utilizing the band's otherwise excellent talent?

Songwriting: 2 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 1 Style/Emotion/Replay: 3

Fall from grace

Sub-genre: Progressive Metal (More the latter than the former)
For Fans of: Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Faith No More
Vocal Style: Daniel Gildenlow's quality, full, rangy voice occasionally graffiti tagged with bouts of POD style rap metal blurtings and megaphonic spoken word
Guitar Style: Heavy Metal, yep
Keyboard Style: Varied piano and string patches, keys are de-emphasized on this album
Percussion Style: Standard metal kit, less double-bass than your average modern metal
Bass Style: Standard electric picked
Other Instruments: I think the mandola shows up with some other acoustic strings
Summary: Before hearing my first Pain of Salvation album I was often told that they sounded like Faith No More. I never liked Faith No More, so it was awhile before getting a POS album. When I first heard One Hour by the Concrete Lake I was amazed, I loved it and there were very few similarities to Faith No More. Well.Scarsick sounds like the Faith No More- like band that I was warned about. This is a very painful thing to have happened after the monumental precursor Be, the beautifully enlightened hands-down masterpiece of the POS catalogue. Scarsick is boorish, smug and uninventive. Gildenlow went from thoughtful progressive creations (in social, as well as musical contexts) to annoyingly trite, self-indulgent thematic repetition. Worse is the attempt to break up the monotony of the album with the painful failure at humor, Disco Queen. The song takes a disjointed stab at dance style commingled with uninspired rock riffs and highly banal social commentary. Particularly unnerving is the poorly executed rant, America. How did Gildenlow think that this would come off? For the most part he is just preaching to the choir. I, nor would I assume most POS listeners, would disagree with most of what is stated in this song. It is not in any way an original or educational sentiment. But the contradiction of a song about blind gluttonous imperialistic consumers, followed by band website entries congratulating themselves on airplay and topping various Metal charts is not lost on this reviewer. Did I miss something here? Is this what POS is all about?
The most enjoyable and arguably progressive moment is the song Idiocracy, with beautiful acoustic breaks and challenging rhythms; a breath of fresh air in an otherwise foul experience.

Final Score: This is without a doubt the most disappointing album of 2007. The masterpiece that was Be is nowhere to be found in Scarsick. For other bands, maybe this would fit ok in the catalogue and be a 3 star album. There are occasional good musical ideas, but they are few and far between. Unfortunately, downward momentum is really hard to break. 2 stars (given very generously)

Pain of Salvation - Scarsick 2.5 stars

I want to give the album 3 stars.but there is just something that is holding me back from it. This is an absolute 180 turn in terms of sound and songwriting. I love it when bands change their sound, but this type of music makes me feel like nobody can make it sound great, even Daniel Gildenlow himself. A possible challenge that Steven Wilson can address?

I don't really listen to artists that sound like this but from the scarce few times I have watched MTV, I would put this somewhere near, but not along the same lines, as Korn and Slipknot.I guess.

This album features the first line-up change since after the debut. All we have is the departure of Daniel's brother, bassist Kristoffer Gildenlow. Daniel decided to just take on the bass duties at the time and not search for a new bassist. So the lineup stands with Daniel Gildenlow (all the music, all lyrics, guitar, bass and vocals), Fredrik Hermansson (keyboards), Johan Hallgren (guitar and vocals) and Johan Langell (drums and vocals).

I haven't done a track-by-track analysis in a while, the album doesn't flow either so that might just make this easier.

'Scarsick' - This is probably the worst intro for an album ever. This song really contains a rap by Daniel with very boring instrumentation. Mainly just the same guitar riff over and over and some really loud drum work, hence the connection to Korn. Things only change around the chorus that could have saved this song like the next track, but that was pretty [&*!#]ty too.

'Spitfall' - This is more of the same as Scarsick. The chorus is really good, but that will not save the entire song.

'Cribcaged' - 'Cribcaged' became on of my favorite Pain of Salvation tracks. The song is very moving emotionally, it still retains the anger of the first two tracks except the sound is very laid back and the guitars are creating some wonderful melodies. The ending to the track is a toss up. I personally love it, it is Daniel saying [%*!#] to just about everything, but it isn't angst or pissy as some people describe it to be. If you listen to his voice you can tell it's not just a rant.

'America' - I mean come on. This was kind of dumb. I can't even begin how to describe this piece. Maybe a popular female singer like Britney Spears hit song done in Pain of Salvation style. The only thing I recommend listening to is the short breakdown in the middle that sounds like a Mandolin.

'Disco Queen' - The song was fun to listen to at first, but honestly, it's just downright dumb. I also don't really understand how this got turned into over an 8-minute track to. This is a dance song, Pain of Salvation style. And that is not a good thing. 'Kingdom of Loss' - This was my favorite track on the album after it came out, but it has certainly died down. It's still ok, but feels like this is just something that shows what was left of 'The Perfect Element' in the band.

'Mrs. Modern Mother Mary' - Is just downright awful. It is in the same vein of the title track. It is just non-stop repetition and has a bland chorus.

'Idiocracy' - Is more of the same as 'Spitfall'. They turned in a complete crap song with a decent chorus that makes the listener feel like Pain of Salvation still have some life in them.

'Flame to the Moth' - After hearing the first few seconds of the track, you have heard pretty much the whole 5 plus-minute song, the epitome of directionless.

'Enter Rain' - To me, this track lets me know there is still hope left. It is quite the eerie track with a superb chorus and outro. I like it quite a lot.

Even though this release was a slap in the face to fans, I will still support Daniel and his band in whatever direction they go. He has done some things that nobody else would have done and has had such an impact on me with music and life. I tacked on the half star because this isn't necessarily just for fans, this album can summon an entire breed of new fans, just outside a prog circle most likely.

This album gets a lot of serious flak from fans and non-fans alike. And I can understand why it might: coming off the terrific trio of The Perfect Element Part I (to which this album is thematically linked), Remedy Lane, and BE, this one does seem like a serious step backwards in terms of complexity, progginess, and all the general sorts of things that prog fans want in an album. But what it really is is a step forward, or at least forward and sideways, into an area that prog bands tend to try to avoid.

Progressive music has always sought to incorporate other musical styles into itself. Jazz, blues, classical, metal, electronica, folk, and so forth have found their way into countless albums. But someone had to try it first, try to include it within the context of the prog they were producing. And that is exactly what Pain of Salvation does here. They take a leap and try some new infusions of ideas. Except, instead of adding complexity in the manner of jazz, Pain of Salvation brings in punk, disco, hip hop, nu metal, and sceamo. Some of it doesn't quite work, I understand that. Some of the music just ends up sounding fairly average. The disco, I feel, works perfectly, creating what might be the most progressive song I've heard in a long time, namely the deep, innuendoed Disco Queen. The screamo is kind of iffy to me, working kind of weakly on Flame to the Moth.

But the point is that Pain of Salvation tried something new. This album, while the overall quality might be better reflected by three stars, is getting an extra one from me for sacrificing prog in the face of progression. Sure, the time signatures might not be that complex. Rap gets a terrible review from most every prog fan, but here, the band has turned what is often an inane genre into something that carries power, meaning, and purpose. Some critics assault the lyrics, especially on the first few songs, labeling them as stupid and immature. And they are. And that's the point. Unfortunately, unlike BE, in this case the concept does drag down the quality of the music, at least in the lyric regard.

All in all, a very intelligent effort from the band, but not necessarily a great one. Fans of Pain of Salvation will find something to like here, for certain, but I'd say it's a terrible place to start. Unless, of course, you are just that big a fan of disco.

Very Frightening indeed, and down to the core as Gildenlöw said. I seem to have very similar opinion to Cristi on this album, sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I haven't got the nerve for it.

In style, there is much less Pain of Salvation, and many other, Alternative styles combined like punk, rap, disco. I see they've chosen the worst package of the nowadays popular styles, but that was very concious choice! This album is really Progressive - but not in the usual way, but a in a very ironic, upside-down way. Most of the tracks are parodic in a way, and very ironic.Only Enter Rain is the one honest song, that's not filled with any politics, only emotions.

At the beginning I imagine the crows on the Octavarium folder but turned upside down and spinning round wildly. Spitfall has too much of rap, it's the low point of the album, and the same verse repeated 4 times. Kingdom of Loss picks up the main motiv of America, and is one of the better songs (in the chorus). And Enter Rain is also good as an ending, almost as good as The Perfect Element.

In conclusion the album is convincing, but it's irritating to get through it, and to take it as a whole, you have to listen to a bit of drivel at the beginning...I can't say I recommend it, so buy it if you have got the nerve!

Scarsick... a highly underrated album. While Scarsick is my least favorite PoS album thus far, it is by no means bad. The band continues to blur the line seperating different genres and has made something that's different from everything they've done before it. This is easily the least progressive album they've released, but that doesn't keep me from loving it.

Scarsick can't be generalized - every song is radically different from the last. You've got the goofy pop- ish oddity of America, the rap-rock Spitfall, and of course Disco Queen. All very different, but all very good. The track that stands out the most, as usual, is the closer: Enter Rain. A very atmospheric track with a saddening end.

The lyrical content is what I enjoy most about Scarsick, and it's some of my favorite work from Gildenlow yet. I'd say it's the most blatant in it's meaning than on previous albums, but it's still very well written. I can identify with a lot of it too, so it clicks on a personal level.

If you're offended by freedom of speech, avoid this album. Otherwise, it's a great album that sounds like nothing else. It doesn't hold up to the brilliance of Remedy Lane / Be / Perfect Element, but really, what can?

I am not a huge fan of prog metal music and if on top of that, I have to bear some rap-oriented vocals this sounds pretty awful to my old ears. I just can't stand this type of music which leads me to frequent argument with my eighteen years-old son. The only positive point is that, at least, there is a band behind these vocals; because POS is still playing some music.

At times, Daniel is even singing the way he ought to do. His melodic voice being then a real asset. But these passages are too few during this long album. The first interesting song is Cribcaged. The language used is somewhat raw, but it doesn't shock me.

The anti-American America is a punkish manifest against the war-oriented policy of the US. I don't fully endorse the content, but this song has a great beat and is far much better than the first two songs which open the album. This is the second good song in a row!

There won't be a third one: the disgusting Disco Queen might be a pastiche, but it just remains a weak but long track. Electro-beat of the eighties, this song has little to offer. There are still parts of the song which are bearable (the most sophisticated ones). But globally, if you would press next, you wouldn't lose much.

There are still some other tracks which are of interest like the quiet Kingdom Of Loss or the very much Ayreon oriented Idiocracy which features fine lyrics against any authoritarian regime (or believed to be so).

This album is not a total disaster IMO. Of course, it is not a great album but thanks to some tracks, it easily avoids the one-star rating and it is borderline with three.

I have really tried hard to like this album, I even defended it sometimes, but enough is enough. I think the important turning point was the last year's life performance, when they played in the encore the title track and Disco Queen. And to be frank this quite ruined the experience, because the difference between the old and the new PoS became extremely obvious. Meanwhile, the album really outstayed its welcome. On Scarsick, which is supposed to be the 2nd part of one of my all-time favourite albums we can hardly experience anything which reminds us the greatness of the first 5 studio albums by this band. It starts with two extended modern/nu metal songs, with many rap parts and rather trite choruses. On Hybrid theory by Linkin Park there are better songs like these. The opening track reminds me another Swedish band, too namely Clawfinger. Not a good sign for a Pain of Salvation album... Then follows the modern radio rock power ballad Cribcaged, although its lyrical content saves it from getting radio airplay...;) I actually basically agree with the sentiment, but it could be written in a more intelligent manner, than f... this, f... that. The 2 concert favourites come(not of mine), in America only the banjo-like part deserves a mention, otherwise an utterly dumb song , both musically both lyrically. Disco Queen is probably supposed to be a joke, but after 8 minutes and repeatd listening the joke runs very dry. Kingdom of Loss is the only track I would describe as throughoutly enjoyable, not a life altering composition either, but this ballad like track is decent, and it has a guitar solo! Track number 6, on a so called (prog) metal album... There come 3 nu metal songs from the 3rd division of nu metalball. Mrs Modern Mary is extremely lame, both the other 2 are not much better either. Pain of Salvation had wonderful closing tracks in the past but almost NOTHING happens in the 10 minute of Enter Rain. It's not painfully bad, just boring. Altogether we can hardly hear decent keyboard and bass guitar play on this album, the songs have uninteresting structure, and the lyrics are far below anything they did in the past. They have just taken a mediocrite nu metal album with some pop, disco and country influences. Nothing really proggy or artistic about it. One decent song is not enough even for a 2 star rating, this album is really for completionists.

I found really desappointing every people that are shooting on this album... I don't know what is the problem with people that do not accept that maybe groups can evolve or simply change.

Scarsick is totally more mature than every album made before, instead Be which was a really ambicious and powerful project.

Ok ok ok, before you all jump on me, let's take a look of scarsick. I have listen to it probably more than everyone here, and what I learn from this album it was that the group was totally SICK of our way of life!!! So? How it justified the fact that the album sound funny, cliche, old and maybe stupid? You got the POINT!! IT JUST WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO FEEL!!! The power of this album is to represente the worst part of our world by his style and his sound. Those that are telling that the album is a mistake are doing a mistake, or maybe it's simply just what the group want you to think. What is the beauty of this album is his energy that live in, it's anarchy that burn in, it's his sickness which floating in.

Well, all I wanted to tell you is that I hate to see people judge the quality of a album just because it do not match with what the group did before. Just As Yes. WOOOOO! Everyone shoot on Yes that there last albums are all bad and that the should die earlier!! What's the manner if Yes decide to chance his sound?? If the albums was named by a other group name but it was the same songs in, nobody would tell anything!! You'll only say : hey! ok ok, it's not a master piece, but the style of this group is not so bad! YOU ONLY BLAME CAUSE IT'S THE SAME NAME!!!

In fact, most are just sad to know that the albums sound different and that it do not match to what there littles envys wishes to hear.

5 stars

'Scarsick' - Pain of Salvation (5/10)

By saying this album is dissapointing, one may get the wrong idea by thinking that this is a bad album. It really isn't. There is enough musical innovation here to keep the album going and get some good credible enjoyment out of it. However, in comparison to their 3 previous masterpieces and even their excellent early work, it really cannot compare. That isn't to say that a measure of brilliance isn't here... It's just not being used in a way that it should be.

I think the reason this album has met such unrelenting criticism from Pain of Salvation fans is in the fact that it's not another Remedy Lane or Perfect Element. Pain of Salvation didn't produce 'Scarsick' trying to relive prior glories... They made this album willing to explore something new, and do something risky. In doing so, they've polarized opinions... At my very first taste of this album (a fair year before actually purchasing the album) my opinion was congruent with many opinions on this site: it's nu-metal trash. However, listening more (for the sake of it being Pain of Salvation) and letting the music really sink in, I realized the brilliant irony in the album! While Gildenlow may have written a technical 'rap' song in this album, his humor shines through in the fact that the lyrics completely smash the hip-hop lifestyle! Once this reality sets in, it's ALOT easier to appreciate the otherwise questionable choice of genre-influence in this album.

Had I reviewed this album immediately after purchasing 'Scarsick,' I most likely would have given it four stars, being that it was very entertaining, and there's a great unique quality that distinguishes it from other Prog. However, my opinion on it has unfortunately started to lessen over time, realizing just how dissapointing this album is. The fact remains that I would rather listen to another Pain of Salvation album anyday over this album. After three masterful albums, it can be said that the quality that made those works superb has extinguished, at least (hopefully) for the moment.

Overall though, 'Scarsick' certainly isn't a 'bad' album by any measure, if you give it the time to appreciate it. Gildenlow tried out something new, and so what if it didn't work out perfectly? The spirit of creativity is here in droves, making it a worthy purchase.

Thank god I don't actually Listen to people's reviews before I listen to an Album. Rather, I tend to listen to an album extensively before reading reviews. I guess I'm just curious as to what people are saying about a particular piece. In the case of Pain of Salvation's "Scarsick", it was an interesting read to say the least.

I guess I really just don't understand. Maybe everyone with a 1-2 star rating didn't actually give the album more than 1 spin. So far I'm hearing things like "Hogwash" and "System-of-a-Down-like" I'm sorry but if this is like System of a Down, why aren't they here on Prog-archives innovating the prog scene? Well because this is nothing like System of a Down. This is an extremely progressive, innovative, creative, aggressive, dynamic, melodic, and powerful piece of 'political hogwash' of an album. Clearly I don't agree with much of their views on America in general. But I'm unswayed by it. Avoiding a song by song review, I'll just mention a couple of stand out tracks. Although not to say they aren't all outstanding tracks. The song on here that really stands out in innovation not just for the band, but for the whole progressive metal scene in general, "Spitfall". Frankly, I've never heard anything like it, and it kind of off put me initially. However, with repeated listen, and the studying of the lyrics and ideas, I had come to enjoy it as a somewhat humorous yet powerful mocking of the hip-hop/rap scene. Lyrics aside even, this song is musically spot on, sure it's not as complex and dynamic as most of PoS's works, but it's quite suitable for the theme. And it's just well written. Another honorable mention goes to Kingdom of Loss. Although I don't agree with them, the points that are made here on this track, are clever and to a more easily persuaded young 'liberal' mind would seem like reality, although there are some underlying truths. Musically it's one of the most bitterly sweet songs written by the band. At first the music seems very simply composed, but there is plenty of things that go unnoticed the first few listens. The methods that PoS use to texture their music has always had this effect on me since their debut.

If you think that your going to miss out on Daniel's sorrow filled vocals, think again. They are very much here. On the contrary, they are more frequent here, and seem more personally agonizing. This could be due to the very controversial nature of the lyrics. After listening to this album countless times since it's release. I would recommend it to any serious Pain of Salvation fan. Heck, any serious fan of Progressive Music in general. I only offer this small (but obvious) piece of advice; You MUST have an open mind.

5 Stars - a Progressive masterpiece of music.

Sometimes I'm almost disgusted when I see how high of a rating an album like this has. But then I put that irrational anger aside and instead focus on the rational anger. Normally I either immensely enjoy Pain of Salvation's music or can get enough out of certain songs on each of their albums to make them a worthwhile band to listen to. But for me this album, like the controversial "Be", this album falls flat on its face either most of the time or completely fails to get back up. Despite the fact that it often annoys me when others either poke fun at my country or the American people, I would be able to overlook that if it's done from a worthwhile artistic standpoint. The only word missing from my previous phrase in regards to Scarsick is the word "worthwhile". "Disco Queen" has some lyrics that make me laugh sometimes, but even that isn't enough to save it from the fact that the song actually incorporates disco, a genre of music that I simply can't stand. The way Daniel addresses the issues he confronts on here are very juvenile. I've felt that as Pain of Salvation progressed he became more introverted or, dare I say it, pretentious (not in a good way though). But on Scarsick it's simply laughable. I know progressive rock is about blending other genres of music, but here there are genres such as rap and nu-metal among others which bore or annoy me.

Unless you're a huge Pain of Salvation fan, and I am not, you'll want to consider passing on this one. Their earlier material is much better than the shiny rubbish presented here. 1 star might be generous for this release.

I am a huge fan of Pain of Salvation but this is not going me to stop me from burying this album under ten tones of sand. First of all, the firing of Kristoffer Gildenlow was at least naive because Daniel is not as talented in bass guitar as he is as a singer. Secondly, some very calm but not interesting tunes here and there and quality reaching the half of the usual quality of Pain of Salvation. The lyrics are accurate, judging the impact of capitalism but you don't buy an album only because it has good lyrics, do you? It is strange to believe that Disco Queen is the besty track here, which means that the prog music is not in its pinnacle. I like songs like Scarsick and Enter Rain but they simply are not enough to recommend this release to someone. My rating is 2 stars which is really austere but I anticipate the highest quality from a therion like Pain Of Salvation.

Easily the most misinterpreted PoS album. So many people have come down hard on this album (i suspect after giving it very little chance).

So at first listen, its a less complex, angrier and more modern metal sounding PoS, congratulations to all the critics who listened to it once and then posted a review to that effect. Were prog fans, so I'm assuming were willing to engage our brains a little here. This album acheives what it sets out to almost perfectly, it was always meant to be an agressive social commentary, and that is exactly what it is. Secondly, for the critics of the very aggressive and direct lyrics in the album, maybe you've missed the fact that this is indeed a 'part 2', the continuation of TPE's lead character. After a complete mental breakdown at the end of TPE, I dont think the aggressive nature in which the protagonist attacks the world around him is at all unfounded, in fact its very believable. Yes I get what your saying, Gildenlow is an amazing lyracist, he can write the most beautiful poetry in his songs if he wants, but here he didnt try and fail, that was never the intention. I wouldn't want every future PoS album to sound like this, but his lyrics strike with an unprecedented venom here, as always they have done what makes PoS famous, sacrificed in areas to make the most honest and empathetic portrayal of the characters feelings.

I wont bother writing a song by song review, I frankly think they are all very interesting and stand as a potent alternative to the rest of PoS's discography.

I would urge anyone in question to buy this album, maybe not as your first PoS album, this is not what you should expect from their other albums, but if your accustomed to the band, step outside your comfort zone, and let PoS take you where they dare to tread with Scarsick.

It Took Me Forever To Get Interested... But It Was Worth It

Ever since the first time I heard Pain of Salvation's sixth album Scarsick I was completely disappointed. I have always been a cult follower of the first five Pain of Salvation albums, but this 2007 release took at least 25 spins before I began appreciating it as much as the other Daniel Gildenlöw masterworks. Call me crazy for listening to an album I didn't like more than three times, but that's what any true fanboy would do. And it sure paid off.

If you remember my review originally posted in November of 2009, I gave this album two stars calling it "immature", "poor", and "disappointing". Almost a year after that review, I can confidently say that Scarsick is among my favorite Pain of Salvation albums, and a worthy follow-up to my all-time favorite album, The Perfect Element, Part 1. This is not the place to start listening to Pain of Salvation because of its inaccessibility and controversial subject matters, but if you can suffer through the first five listens, tolerate the next ten run-throughs, and moderately enjoy the next five tries, you will really see the masterpiece that is Scarsick. This is truly one of the most intellectually challenging and emotionally driven albums I have ever heard, which is really saying something. I really like the more edgy lyrical style on Scarsick, even though it will definitely offend plenty of people. I don't agree with many of the political standpoints Daniel Gildenlöw takes here, but he is so brutally honest and heartfelt that it's hard not to appreciate them anyway.

First of all, if you are a rapper, involved in the media, offended by profanity, a celebrity, an American, and/or a Christian, expect to be offended at least one time in the album. Of course, the lyrics are all just Daniel's opinions, and you can choose whether you agree with them or not. The only case where the lyrics actually bother me is on America, where he makes his hatred towards the Bush Administration far too apparent. Profanity doesn't usually bother me, but there are quite a few "f-bombs" in Spitfall and especially Cribcaged for those who care. It doesn't affect me at all, but if you're one of those people who is offended by two certain four letter words, it might annoy you a little bit. When these profane words are used it is always in a mature way, though. Daniel isn't just saying "f**k this" to sound funny or childish... it is always to prove a deeply intellectual point, and shows he's really not messing around, rather than the contrary. I personally find the lyrics to be extremely well-written, albeit controversial.

Lyrics aside, the music seems much different than earlier Pain of Salvation albums at first listen, but after many focused listens, it's still obviously the same PoS. There is a bit of a heavier and darker tone, less beautiful melodic parts, and of course the infamous disco track (Disco Queen), but most of the music sounds pretty similar to their earlier albums. Some people criticize this album for being too "straightforward" and "commercial", but that's about as far from the truth as you can get. This is possibly PoS's most challenging album to date, in my opinion.

The musicians, as always on a Pain of Salvation album, are top-notch. A special note goes out to Daniel Gildenlöw for his fantastic pipes! I know a lot of people don't appreciate his unique vocal style, but he is simply one of my all-time favorite singers. His voice is always extremely powerful and emotional, demanding and rough when it needs to be, and simply beautiful at times. He also plays bass and some guitar here, but the main guitarist is of course Johan Hallgren. He is fantastic, and I absolutely love his one-of-a-kind playing style. Few guitarists can play with as much power and emotion as he can. Fredrik Hermansson takes a bit of a backseat on Scarsick due to the less keyboard-oriented music, but he still does a great job here. This is the last full-length album with Johan Langell on drums, which is quite a shame in my opinion. He is just such a fantastic drummer, and he will always be missed in Pain of Salvation's music.

The production is possibly the best Pain of Salvation has had to date. The mix is simply genius, with every instrument sounding crystal clear, yet not overproduced like many of the modern symphonic prog acts. It has a clear enough production to make the album not sound unprofessional, but it's not so polished to the point where it destroys the emotions in the album (which is a frequent problem in many modern productions). I have no knocks to give in terms of production.

Scarsick is 10 tracks, adding up to a total time of 67:47. All of the songs are fantastic, but there are a few highlights in my opinion. The rap-oriented Sptifall is a favorite of mine, along with the lyrically-driven Cribcaged, beautiful Kingdom of Loss, heavy yet emotional Flame To The Moth, and especially the epic closer Enter Rain. Every one of the songs is extremely rewarding and unique, though. No two songs sound even remotely alike on Scarsick.

Conclusion:

Scarsick took a VERY long time for me to appreciate, but now that I've been loving it for many months now, I can fully regard it as another Pain of Salvation masterpiece. This is a unique album, completely unlike anything you will ever hear in your entire life. This is a 5 star album from me, and I can now consider Scarsick as a more than worthy part two in The Perfect Element saga. Words can't describe how much I love this album, and I'm sure that my words have failed multiple times throughout this review. All you need to know is that you need to buy this album at some point or another. You're really missing out if you don't have it, or even worse, have it but don't give it enough attention. I'm confident that this will be the only time I will change a two star review into a five. If you would like to read my original review, just send me a private message, and I'd be more than glad to send it to you.

Whilst I found this quite catchy after the first few listens, there are only a few songs I go back to now, those being Cribcaged and Kingdom if Loss and probably the rest of the album but only as much as one song (if that makes sense). The songs are based around criticising America and all it appears to be to the outside world, especially the materialistic and egotistical components. I expect that may mean a few Americans may declare Daniel Gildenlow as the new Osama Bin Laden. The fact is that PoS aren't repeating themselves, there's a fair few curve balls for anyone wanting The Perfect Element 2. The first song, Scarsick, whilst having a bit of a dboring riff, gets into your head at the end with a build up of melody in the chorus. The second song sounds like Eminem, Korn or something, with the looped sample over a beat and rapping vocals for the verse and a melodic sung chorus. The rapping is more of a venomous rant, like Mike Patton does, not like 50 cent or Puff Daddy. It's actaully apretty good song, a bit long perhaps. The thing most people missed is that this song is basically an attack on the rapper image with all their hired ho's and how they are basically trash. It's called irony or something... Cribcaged is more standard PoS fair, but a bit more laid back to start and there's no real progressive metal flash from their earlier days. The lyrics deal with the shallowness of celebrity, etc. Here here! A top song to play to the kids. "America" - comes across a bit like a quirky pop guitar song, can't pigeonhole it, but a bit more upbeat than their serious stuff. Now for something completely different, Disco Queen will throw people, it starts up with a standard dance beat and bass line, but breaks down into a slow seedy crawl in the verses. At 8 minutes it ain't really gonna be heard on the dance floor and is probably a bit long, a bit of a double en tendre in the lyrics makes it interesting - once again, bit of a comment on the nightclub scene. Kingdom of Loss is a great song - "All for sale", you get the idea of the lyrics, a slower number that builds towards the end, nice gentle chorus, catchy melody and poignant lyrics. "Mother Mary" - Again, a repetitive riff, all the talk about customised guitars and pickups, maybe the guitar was forgotten in the production, the heavy bits sound tinny to me, not enough warmth or crunch. Not a bad song, but not right up there with the rest. "Idiocracy" is another song that builds to a finale, again, the heavy guitars grate a bit, but maybe I like a vintage tone better. "Flame to the moth" starts up with another tinny guitar riff and a bit of an eastern flavour "Enter Rain" is slow brooder, heavy in bits, softer in other bits but never gets close to reaching the heights of say The Perfect Element or Beyond the Pale.

Throughout the album, there's lots of little tastes, bit of flamenco, bit of electronica, etc, I don't really notice it (it's all music), but when I do it's a nice surprise. It's interesting and quite diverse in the genres it explores along with the way the songs progress within themselves. No, it's not as breathtaking as Perfect Element or Remedy Lane, the multilayered harmonies and instrumental passages aren't as interesting and Daniel Gildenlow is almost restrained, but they don't want to write the same song over and over, and that is why they are a great band. The songs are still interesting, the lyrics still deep. My main criticisms are a lack of melodies and instrumental noodlingand I do love a good wanky guitar solo too....

Scarsick is so far the lowest rated Pain Of Salvation album here on Prog Archives so what has this album done to distress the crowd the way it did?

To begin with there are quite a few changes to the familiar Pain Of Salvation sound that we've all grown to love and although most of the basic elements are still here they are repackaged into entirely new shapes and forms. First example of this are Daniel's lyrics and writing style that has become more direct, which at first was ok with me but soon felt like it was laking any deeper meaning. It doesn't help that Gildenlöw incorporates his anti-Bush politics in the texts which actually makes this whole affair sound dated even by 2010-standards.

Composition-wise the music too is lacking the regular dose of progressive metal and instead sounds more like a straight forward metal release. I mean Dream Theater's Train Of Thought gets a regular bashing for not being progressive enough but in comparison Scarsick is even worse. Even though the band did experiment with some more dance friendly material which actually worked well when I heard those songs in a live setting because it really made the crowd go crazy, in a good way. Putting these kind of compositions on a studio album felt entirely out of place and annoyed me more than words can express.

The concept of Scarsick is supposed to be a continuation of the story from The Perfect Element Part 1 which can be seen through the familiar song titles like Kingdom Of Loss and Idiocracy. This is of course all very nice but since I never cared much for the story arc of the first album I searched in vain for any composition that would even come close to the epic status of songs like In The Flesh and King Of Loss.

The last two tracks on Scarsick are actually surprisingly appealing in comparison to everything that came before which makes me believe that the band will hopefully rethink their strategy once they regroup for another studio recording.

**** star songs: Scarsick (7:08) Flame To The Moth (5:58) Enter Rain (10:03)

*** star songs: Spitfall (7:17) Cribcaged (5:56) Kingdom Of Loss (6:41) Mrs Modern Mother Mary (4:14) Idiocracy (7:04)

** star songs: America (5:04) Disco Queen (8:22)

How do I begin? Scarsick is the album that has split Pain of Salvation's fan base in half. Well, probably closer to 60% / 40% because it seems as though most people do not like this album very much. Me on the other hand; I love the album. Sure, not as much as their previous releases, but it is still really good. Pain of Salvation is a band that is able to produce a new sound on every album they put out. This album is no exception. It is quite a change, not being as proggy as their other albums, but there are some really strong tracks to find here.

"Scarsick:" The opener is one of the best on the album. Let me just say that this song scares me in a good way. One word to describe it: CHAOTIC

"Spitfall:" A powerful track with Gildenlow giving a lot of rapping or so to say. The chorus complements the rapping style well with some more normal vocals from Gildenlow. This song is not my favorite, but is overall a good one.

"Cribcaged:" This is another favorite of mine. A Pink-Floydish sounding song that builds up to the point of Gildenlow saying the F word about 20 times or so. I can't get enough of the melodies in this song.

"America:" Since I am from America, this is not one of my favorite songs, but not for that sole reason. This is a pretty straight forward rock song with a kind of Hillbilly sounding melody.

"Disco Queen:" In short, a disco song. Of course, a little more intricate than your average disco standard.I do believe this one grows on you. Listen and find out. Really all I can say.

"Kingdom of Loss:" My favorite on the album, this song has it all. Soft, simple vocals, narrative, Slightly heavier vocals, and of course some really layered vocal harmonies. Emotional ballad.

"Mrs. Modern Mother Mary:" This is one of the heavier songs and one you could bang your head to if you really wanted. A little jazzy sounding if you ask me.

"Idiocracy:" I'd say my third favorite track. In the same vein as scarsick in that it is a creepy sounding one. Has nice, pretty vocals though. Builds and adds new textures as it goes on.

"Flame to the Moth:" This one is interesting. I really like the Arabian sounding main riff. Gildenlow delivers really powerfull vocals on this song. Throughout, he belts out some of those screemo screams and it sounds pretty cool.

"Enter Rain:" Of course, the last track on the album is the long epic. I certainly don't disagree with the idea. I believe that "Enter Rain" brings back some of sounds from "The Perfect Element" part one. Lyrically as well with "Remedy Lane." It is really laid back during the verses and builds into the intense chorus line, "Enter Rain." Half way through, the listener is treated to a soft, moving, melodic section that eventually leads into a new riff. This pattern repeats and then moves to the end with the singing of "In two seconds I will hit the ground" fading out to silence.

Overall a great album, it you give it a chance.

PoS's sixth studio album shows that the band is slightly taking another path, a little more rock/ pop sounding. However, this can still be called a Prog metal work, unlike their newest Road Salt One. Some moments though are truly unforgettable, and some songs are really worth listening.

Like I said, the style is much less metal, or at least it has a lot more pop/ hip hop/ nu metal/rock influences. The lyrics are much more directed towards today's society, commercialism and modern technology, capitalism and such. So, it could be easily considered a concept album, like other previous PoS albums.

The greatest problem of this album though is that they are trying so hard to express their anger towards commercial todays music, for instance, that they end up to actually play this type of music. Songs like "Miss Modern Mother Mary", "Kingdom Of Loss", the title track and "America" are true PoS masterpieces. However, "Disco Queen" is barely listenable, eight minutes of painful torture. "Spitfall" is another disappointing chapter of this album, very predictable and with a very banal melody.

A good album, to sum up, but you should get it only if you like this band.

Well, here it is. After hearing Pain of Salvation's first five albums (all of which I would consider 5 star albums) I decided to pick up what is easily the band's most controversial outing: the infamous Scarsick.

The first thing that I will say is that if you are looking for a second BE than look elsewhere. Stylistically the albums are nothing alike. The second thing I will say is that even though this is the Perfect Element II do not expect a repeat of that album either. If I had to describe this album in one word it would be sarcastic. Every song is dripping with caustic sarcasm and sometime contempt. If you are still willing to move forward than Scarsick may be an album for you.

Side A: His Skin Against This Dirty Floor

Scarsick: Similar to Used from TPE in that its verses are sung in a sort of rap-like style with the chorus being more melodic. Lyrically I don't think it is as good as Used, but the melody of the chorus is really very nice. 4/5

Spitfall: This is personally my least favorite song on the album. Clearly a parody and criticism of rap, the lyrics are not great by Daniel Gildenlöw's standards, and even though the song is presented as a parody of rap it's a little too close stylistically to the real thing for my taste. It has a decent chorus though. 3/5

Cribcaged: Ah, here we go. Excellent melody with, again, some very angry and biting lyrics. If vulgarity is not your thing you may want to avoid this one, otherwise one of the highlights of the album. 5/5

America: Easily the harshest song lyrically on the album. There really is no way to describe this song except as an attack. That said, I'm American and I'm not really offended because he attacks the things that, in my eyes at least, deserve attacking. Musically, this song is sort of an overly poppy track contrasted with some very heavy sections. Again, even though it is clearly a parody it's not quite stylistically in sync with the rest of the album. 3/5

Disco Queen: I think this is easily the most hated song that Pain of Salvation has ever released, but in my opinion it's really not that bad. The lyrics are very clever, using the playing of a vinyl record as a euphemism to describe a sexual encounter. Musically it is primarily a heavy sounding disco style, but it never becomes hard to listen to because of that. 4/5

Side B: Why Can't I Close My Eyes?

Kingdom of Loss: Beautiful. A very mellow, melodic track, it again has very harsh and critical lyrics. If you're not bothered by them than this is a great song. 5/5

Mrs. Modern Mother Mary: An incredibly sarcastic dig at religion. Again, if you can get past that, then it really is a wonderfully melodic and very powerful track. 5/5

Idiocracy: To my ears the beginning of this song could easily fit in on any of 3's albums. The ending switches to a very powerful motif that sounds more like more typical PoS, though. 4/5

Flame to the Moth: I really like the melody of this one and the lyrics are pretty strong. I don't really know what else to say about it. 4/5

Enter Rain: A very strong finale to the album. Some people have criticized it for being too simple, and while it is fairly simple, it's also very powerful and a very fitting end for the album. 5/5

Overall I think the album suffers from an inconsistent first half, but that it has an incredibly strong second half. Lyrically it is very angry and sarcastic, but I don't think that diminishes the album at all. Definitely not the place to start with PoS, but a very solid album overall.

Pain of Salvation can do better, and we all know it. I don't know what to think about this album, I don't know if it's bad because it's simply not good or maybe because the enormous hype this album attracted. After a line of masterpiece after masterpiece, Pain of Salvation recorded a "Black Sheep". It's like nothing we used to hear from them, It's not even a prog album. And we expect Prog album from a prog-metal band, this album is hard rock like you can sometimes hear on MTV. Musically this album is a failure to me, But and it's a big one the lyrics are great, they deliver a lot of rage and criticism as Daniel intended. Maybe he compromised on the music to make his lyrical vision alive. After almost three years with this album it's still my least favorite album from POS. Overall, as a Hard-Rock\Metal album its very nice, but its not prog. Only for fans of Daniel.

Why do people underestimate "Scarsick? " This is another great work of Pain of Salvation, though not at the level of the masterpieces that were "Remedy Lane" and "The Perfect Element pt.1 (Scarsick" being pt .2). The concept here is the character "He" ("The Perfect Element pt.1") in its fall to a physical level .The album makes several criticisms, including America (Daniel Gildenlöw had to do this critic).Some songs are irregular (as the title track, which opens the album), but overall the musicianship here is excelentt.Exemple this is "Idiocracy".This was the first track on the album that I listened, and now may be the prefered.Others tracks worth mentioning are "Disco Queen" (which is unlike anything the band ever did) and "Kingdom of Loss". This album is perhaps more complex than their earlier, which perhaps explains the fact of being the least well-rated here in site.Still thus is an excellent addition.

Underrated Album

"Scarsick" gets a lot of flak from PoS fans, quite often to the point of ridicule. I liked this album on my first listen, and it's a different take on their prog metal sound. Not sure why the level of hatred, but I do know this: PoS produced four brilliant prog metal albums, but it's clear they are out to mix it up from now on. So if you are upset because this album sounds different, better get over it.

The title track starts the album with a largely mellow and spacey feel, punctuated with heavy bursts and periods of Daniel rapping. Yes. Fans of old PoS brace yourselves. "Spitfall" actually goes farther, with Daniel again rapping for much of the song, (laced with profanity) and this time backed up by some nu metal. Weird at first, but it works well enough. Maybe that's just because I used to listen to RATM back in the day. If you can tolerate it, these rap metal sections are contrasted with some normality.

Cribcaged is an intriguing song, musically really cool. Truly progressive and builds from light and melodic to a pounding climax. Gildenl'w gives us quite a juxtaposition, his vocals are quite nice while belting out amazingly profane lyrics blasting our materialist society. They quite literally follow a "f**k the (x)" and "f**k (y)" format. I do like the song for what it is, but it's hard to swallow.

"America" is my favorite song on the album and it could be right off one of their classic albums. A more traditional prog metal song with a really cool song structure, great texture, very upbeat and catchy. Don't be fooled, the song is a scathing critique of American Imperialism, government, foreign policy and culture. To each their own, and I honestly agree with most of it. Though the bit of America's time in the sun being up, soon to join the failed empires of past is not earth shattering and frankly, unnecessary. The almost happy pop feel to it has to be a more subtle shot at big money American culture I am sure. Regardless, this is an awesome and catchy song.

"Disco Queen" another song that on first listen makes you think "what the hell!?" but this is my next favorite on the album. A spacey song with sections of, well disco. It does build to an energetic metal climax though. Honestly, I like the song...it sounds like stupid fun and is certainly progressive! This is obviously satiric, poking fun of disco but also serves as a vehicle to the lyrics, a critique of useless celebrity life...so disco actually fits best.

"Kingdom of Loss" is another building song that really is quite moving. Again you can either revel in or ignore the blatant anti American lyrics. I'll choose the middle ground and say this is a powerful and pretty dark song.

"Mrs. Modern Mother Mary" is a weird song that doesn't do much for me. "Idiocracy" is another spacey, atmospheric and crescendo based song. Post metal feel in a way. Another grower. Another charged song, dealing with capitalism ruining the world, basically. "Flame to the Moth" is a boring song, so skip to the finale "Enter Rain" another journey of peaks and valleys. It's structure, light/heavy interplay and emotional delivery really is reminiscent of post metal. Another awesome and powerful song, that takes some time.

So there you have it. What to say about Scarsick? Keep an open mind. When you hear the nu metal rapping with childish lyrics, the happy pop, the disco don't scoff and decide to hate this album. Remember this is Daniel Gildenlow, don't take it on surface value! Dig deeper and realize these abnormalities are more tongue in cheek and used to aid the message. All this is fit within a prog metal framework, one that is truly progressive...with difficult song structures. While it may just seem like crap at first, this is really a very challenging album, one that took a few listens for it to really register for me. The lyrics are one mans opinion and not an issue for me, though they do wear thin, and border on immature and whiny. Frankly, sometimes it sounds like an angry 14 year old wrote them, and when Daniel asks us to keep the government from doing their horror and ruining the constitution, I'd ask how a 16 year old who can't vote should do that...but I digress. Not sure if Gildenlow was low on ideas and spun his tires a bit, but he clearly dug deep to a place of severe anger and it shows, this is an emotional and powerful album.

A unique prog metal album that is challenging, especially to fans of classical PoS. Give it some time and understand not to accept it all at face value and you will find this is a great album. Many seem to not get it, or don't even want to, but if you like prog metal and keep an open mind there's no reason this won't click eventually.

Four Stars

When Pain of Salvation frontman Daniel Gildenlöw does his best to sound like Mike Patton's style (circa Faith No More's Angel Dust) on Scarsick's title track, I suppose it's something to be applauded on one level. After all, it's always healthy for bands to experiment a little with their sound and make an effort not to stagnate, and certainly the album as a whole appeals to me a little bit more than the New Agey pap of BE, but on the other hand something feels a little "off" about it - as though the band don't sincerely buy into the darker direction of the piece and are simply going through the motions to earn some metal credibility and perhaps expand their fanbase. I'm no Pain of Salvation fan but I can see how people who are might find this album to be something of a disappointment.

Mixing up musical genres capturing a mixed up world.

Pain of Salvation's "Scarsick" showed a much more political side of the band that attacked the worldview and is a cynical look at the damage of consumerism, industrialisation, privatisation, McDonaldisation, and every other 'isation' you can think of. The lyrics attack and scratch out the eyes of the system that is suffocating and destroying the freedom. Every song takes a stab at various freedom destroyers from the money hungry manufacturing industry to the music industry itself. Daniel Gildenlow dominates the album on vocals and bass, and the guitar work on this is exceptional from Johan Halgreen along with Fredrik Hermansson's stirring keyboards and dramatic percussion by Johan Langell.

It begins with the indulgent title track stating that they are sick of everything. This is the most metal song on the album with a cool distorted riff and some heavy drumming. It features a rap style and Rammstein style interventions of riffs breaking it up. The lyrics are about surviving against the system that swallows up the underprivileged; "you're not alone, and every time that you hurt, every cut every scar and every time you just hate everything that you are, it is simply the instinct to flee to escape from this mess, this continuous rape of what's true and what's real, so you gnaw at your paw to get out of the trap of the cage of our time, all that rage is your struggle to survive, they think you wanna die when in truth you just strive, biting every hand just to stay alive." This is definitely the best song on the album and starts off the DVD live concert well also, the mix of rap and metal and a melodic chorus, mixing musical genres, works to capture the feeling of a mixed up world.

After this rocker, 'Spitfall' follows that is jammed full of fast paced rap and some weird signatures. I liked the way the keyboards work against the fast rap vocals such as "you're just another Parental Advisory bore, there's nothing like a broken childhood, there's nothing like a broken home, there's nothing like a tale from your hood, there's nothing like a record of restriction orders outspoken borderline disorders a violent long way to the top, the longer that you fought yourself up the longer the spitfall". There are heaps of lyrics on this due to the speed rap, but it is well executed and perhaps better than the average rap song, and has a lot of expletives thrown in too. Then 'Cribcaged' is next with too many F bombs for comfort and this is one I will always skip, as it has nothing to offer apart from just rage and spite and boring music.

They are sick of America and have no problems writing a scathing hate song to it called 'America'. I first heard this on the live DVD and I remember not being impressed with it then and this version is actually worse. It does have some nasty digs at the land of the free though such as, "if I say I love you dare you love me too". I am not sure how this song is taken in America itself but it is not one to play at the white house.

'Disco Queen' is a quirky piece of fun, with some digs at the music industry and homage to the vinyl years "Undressed in front of me, all glistening ebony, You're still so young, but I will show you vintage 33, I lay you on your back inviting curves of black, Making little noises as my needle finds your track". The disco music is humorous and a real diversion on the album, but it works as a result, standing out as unforgettable and maddeningly infectious. It effectively makes fun of the current music scene that is likened to prostitution.

'Kingdom of Loss' is a powerful track based on the abuse of fast food and increasing obesity. It has narratives sounding like a TV station selling the package and the lyrics attack the fast food market as a sold out Earth "Someone sells us god in 2-for-1 with shame, Someone sells us war and the marketing, looks just the same, Someone sells us fear on TV each day, A shape for every taste if the flavours right, we gladly pay, All on sale, all on sale, We're all on sale, all on sale"; a great thought provoking track.

'Mrs Modern Mother Mary' has a scratchy guitar rhythm and some odd time sigs that never quite go in sync with the singing. It is interesting but not one of my favourites. 'Idiocracy' has a crunching rhythm and grinds along with some high register vocals. The lyrics are anti political; "so close your eyes, just take another deep breath now, and fantasize, pretend the world we're forming is a paradise, why can't I close my eyes, why can't I just be hypnotized, industrialized and privatized, all mesmerized, 'cause I can see and what I see around me makes me paralyzed, yes I can see and what I see is not worthy a democracy."

'Flame to the Moth' is a heavier track, and yet another potshot at the industrial age, and this one has some screamo vocals along with Gildenlow's cleaner voice. The lyrics spell it out blatantly; "where did we go wrong? I once had blue eyes, hungry and wise, now they are black from this dark age of lies, we're all privatized, industrialized, we capitalize on the beams in our eyes, it's all in the eyes." The tempo is upbeat and really dominated by the incessant vocals.

'Enter Rain' is a longer song at just over 10 minutes, and has three parts that change in tempo and style. It begins with reflective lyrics and a low key approach. Then it builds gradually but remains steady and quite gentle in comparison to other tracks.

Overall, this is another diverse album from PoS with a variety of styles and some of their most attacking and vitriol lyrical content. The target is basically the world system and commercialism or consumer traps. This makes for an uneasy listen at times, not to the standard of previous material, but nonethess it is a captivating album. There is not a lot of heavy metal music on offer rather it is heavy by nature of the content and the brooding atmospheres. Not as good as "The Perfect Element" or "Remedy Lane" but a decent album worth a listen.

Review Nº 73

This is my fourth review of a Pain Of Salvation's album. My three previous reviews were their debut live album '12:05' released in 2004, and their third and fourth studio albums 'The Perfect Element Part 1' and 'Remedy Lane' released in 2000 and 2002, respectively. 'Scarsick' is the sixth studio album of Pain Of Salvation and was released in 2007. The line up on the album is Daniel Gildenlow (lead vocals, guitars, bass guitar, banjos and samplers), Fredrik Hermansson (keyboards and samplers), Johan Halgreen (vocals and guitars) and Johan Langell (backing vocals and drums). It's important to note that the bass guitar is played by Daniel Gildenlow and not by Kristoffer Gildenlow as was usual in the band. The bassist left the band in 2006 because his marriage. Daniel asked his brother total dedication to the group, what it meant to live in Sweden, but his home is in the Netherlands, which interrupted his continuity in the band. This was also the last studio album to feature Langell on drums who decided to quit the band to spend more time with his family. It was a very difficult decision of him who was received with surprise by fans and also by the band's members.

'Scarsick' is the second part of 'Perfect Element Part 1'. It's a conceptual album focused on issues like capitalism, materialism, consumerism, and the entire contemporary society as a whole. It continues the story of the male person (He) from that album. 'Scarsick' deals with many aspects within its context, including topics like frustration, consumer culture, materialism, industrialization, capitalism, commercialization, American Imperialism, conformity, idolization of celebrities, collectivist nature of religion and decline of our Western civilization. Daniel said that the life of (He) is an allegory for all mankind and that in him we can see the problems of our society on a very intimate and personal level. While 'The Perfect Element Part 1' deals with the individual dysfunction in a certain psychological context, 'Scarsick' deals with a sociological sense and explores the relationship between both contexts.

'Scarsick' has ten tracks which are divided in two chapters, side A and side B. However, some tacks are also divided into several parts. The side A: 'His Skin Against This Dirty Floor' has five tracks. The first track 'Scarsick', the second track 'Spitfall' which is divided into five parts: 'Introducing Star', 'Thus Quote The Craving', 'Redefining Vomatorium', 'Man Of The Masses' and 'Yo', the third track 'Cribcaged', the fourth track 'America' and the fifth track 'Disco Queen' which is divided into four parts: 'Tonight I'll Fall', 'A Cheap Sellout Drug', 'A Tighter Groove' and 'My Disco Queen'. The side B: 'Why Can't I Close My Eyes' has also five tracks. The first track 'Kingdom of Loss', the second track 'Mr. Modern Mother Mary', the third track 'Idiocracy', the fourth track 'Flame of the Moth' and the fifth track 'Enter Rain' which is divided into three parts: 'Running', 'Standing' and 'Falling'.

Pain Of Salvation is, in my point of view, a very different and special band. His leader Daniel Gildenlow has a very well concrete plan for the band and he doesn't stray from it, for any reason, even under the pressure of their fans. On the other hand, we can never criticize Pain Of Salvation for not changing their direction, whether we like or not. And, this is what happened with this album, which became one of the most controversial albums, in this site and in the last years.

'Scarsick' became, in my humble opinion, the most misunderstood and underrated album in the recent years. Unfortunately, it joins to 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' of Yes, probably the most underrated masterpiece in the history of the progressive rock music. Sincerely, I can't understand how anyone can give on this site 1 or 2 stars to this album. Personally, this is an album that I can't stop playing, as also happened with our colleague Gatot. 'Scarsick' has probably the best lyrics of all band's albums, and musically, despite being a very progressive and audacious album that explores various musical genres, it keeps its powerful sound with changes by abrupt passages between calm and heavy parts, what always has been one of the traditional images of the group.

Conclusion: Fortunately, in these days, I'm not too much influenced by people's reviews before I listen to an album. 'Scarsick' is, for me, a fantastic album and one of the most mature albums released by the band until today. It's a very complex album, even though it may feel in the beginning that's its simple, shallow and too modern, for no apparent reason. It takes a lot of patience to find everything it has to offer, but sincerely I think that it's worth it. There are a lot of diverse musical influences, unconventional ideas, clever and direct lyrics, and the most important of all, emotion on it. I know that most of you don't like of so diversity on it and that you even can feel in some moments that it just seems not to be the same album. However, I'm still convinced that, all in all, 'Scarsick' is a great album and hopefully, for me, it continues to get better and better with each listen. I would recommend it to everyone who has a truly open mind.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

After the disappointing and unsatisfying BE, the fans of Pain of Salvation were waiting for a redemption and an album which were able to retrieve the band to the prog-metal Olympus... But then Scarsick came.

We knew that this album was secretly called The Perfect Element Pt.2, so the expectations were very high at first. But after a couple of hearings, I just could not believe my ears. What happened to our beloved technical, atmospheric and intimate prog-metal band? Where were this challenging and innovative songwriting? Where were the intricate rhythmus and nervous drums? Where the hell were all the magic gone?

Because Scarsick is an insipid collection of rap-metal songs with lousy exceptions like the ridiculous America and the horrible Disco Queen (this song is really a shame not only for Pain of Salvation. It's a shame for the music) where the prog-metal is almost gone, being replaced for a lazy and reiterative songwriting where almost all the songs starts and ends with the same bad riff and insipid vocals.

Just bad, my friends. And with the perspective given by the years, Scarsick has not improved. It's still the same lame album now as it was back in 2007.

Best Tracks: Flame to the Moth (the only track of the album which is actually good and diverse) and Enter Rain (powerful despite its repetitiveness)

Conclusion: Scarsick is the worst Pain of Salvation album. The band tried to retrieve their fan base after the dividing experiment of BE, but they just made a step further in the wrong direction, demonstrating that Daniel Gildenlow had definitely lost his grip.

It's not a surprise that Kristoffer Gildenlow gave up before recording Scarsick... And he did well in my opinion.

My rating: *

'Scarsick' is the sixth studio album by Pain of Salvation, released on 22 January 2007. It is a concept album focusing on contemporary issues concerning capitalism, materialism, and consumerism. 'Scarsick' is the last Pain of Salvation album to feature Johan Langell on drums. The liner notes reveal that 'Scarsick' is actually 'The Perfect Element - Part II.' The album is divided into two chapters: side A (His skin against the dirty floor) and side B (Why can't I close my eyes?).

The album opens with the title track. A sinister guitar riff builds and then Daniel Gildenlöw growls the word "sick." The music cuts out for a second, and then gets back into the groove. Gildenlöw raps during the verse. The chorus has a Middle Eastern quality, which is especially heard in Gildenlöw's high, background cries. The chorus is repeated at the end and progressively builds into an explosive climax. "Spitfall" comprises five section: "Introducing Star," "Thus Quote the Craving," "Redefining Vomatorium," "Man of the Masses," and "YO." This is the closest thing to prog rap that I've ever heard, and I love it. Each verse is slightly different from each other. The final verse is the most intense moment of "Spitfall." The following track, "Cribcaged," is a great foil to the previous two songs. Lyrically, "Cribcaged" is about the idolization of celebrities and how they're "just people." The aptly-titled "America" is an upbeat rock song that musically reminds me a bit of Green Day mixed with Foo Fighters. The lyrics describe the hypocrisy of America as a nation. "Disco Queen" is one of the most maligned Pain of Salvation songs, and I will never understand why. "Disco Queen" is a euphemism for casual sex and pop music. The octave basslines and high falsetto vocals are so disco. The lyrics and music perfectly capture the environment of a nightclub.

"Kingdom of Loss" is about corporate society. "Someone sells us God? in 2-for-1 with Shame?. Someone sells us War?, And the marketing looks just the same." Truer words have never been spoken. "Mrs. Modern Mother Mary" is in a 9/8 time signature and is one of the most interesting grooves I've heard. The vocal melody is strange and doesn't follow a pattern; it's always changing with each verse. I like the tremolo-picked guitars during the chorus of "Idiocracy." Towards the end, the chorus builds into a heavy climax. "Flame to the Moth" may be my favorite song on 'Scarsick.' This song contains screaming from Gildenlöw. One of my favorite moments on 'Scarsick' is the final minute of "Flame to the Moth," which urges the listener to "say no" to the world. Fredrik Hermansson's piano during this brief moment is stunning. The closing track, "Enter Rain," begins with speech-like vocals and a dark atmosphere. I like the use of slide guitar during the verse. With each refrain, the music explodes with heaviness. Gildenlöw's voice during the "In two seconds, I will hit the ground" ascends into the stratosphere as the music slowly fades out.

In conclusion, 'Scarsick' is the most underrated Pain of Salvation album. I regard it almost as highly as I do 'The Perfect Element - Part 1' and 'Remedy Lane.' Say what you want about the concept, but 'Scarsick' is a daring record that is uncompromising yet distinctly Pain of Salvation.