12:5

An exceptional album that comes close to rivalling the brilliance of the last album. Cast off all the doubts you may have over this being a live album, because it's already safe to say that this will be one of the best albums to hit the shelves in 2004.

Ive always thought that PAIN OF SALVATION were a great progmetalband. And then this one arrives titled: " 12:5 " ...and ill have to say, that this is more salvation than pain!!! A live acoustic album from Gildenlow and co. Split into 3 pieces named: Genesis /Genesister /Genesinister....with undertitles example:Book 1:genesis/Brickwork,part 1..etc. The whole album (well..mostly) are acoustic renditons of earlier tracks..with some new songs and themes attached...and its ABSOLUTELY wonderful..its..dare i say it...even for NOT P.O.S freaks.....Gildenlow´s voice have never sounded more convincing or if you please more angelic than on this beautiful recording ( recorded live in "Blå salen" in - Eskilstuna,Sweden sometime in spring 2003)... totally acoustic and exuberant it is !!! You could be fooled by the excellent sound,to believe that this was a studio recording were it not for the outburst of the crowd...now and again. Pain of Salvation and indeed Daniel Gildenlow have proved to be major players in this our wonderful world of progrock/progmetal/progpop and now acoustic prog. The whole album is filled to the brim ..with wonderful themes....beautiful songs and lovely arrangements....pianomusic that fills your mind with joy. Gildenlow allready made his point as a main artist in the prog society when he participated in Transatlantic and Flower kings. What a voice...what a talent....what a charisma. In all....guys and gals....i would be much surprised if this record doesnt make it to the top 10 of prog releases in year 2004. Mark my words!!!

A mark of a truly elite actor is that he doesn't merely _act like_ his character, he _becomes_ his character, occupying that role. With their enigmatically titled new album "12:5" (what would Pythagoras say?), Swedish prog-rock heroes PAIN OF SALVATION similarly display the mark of a truly elite band. On this acoustic live album, they don't merely re-enact emotions and try to adapt without electric instruments; they truly become an acoustic band, re-inventing their past work for incorporation into new acoustic scenes. As a result, "12:5" has the crackling vitality of genuine expression. It is more sincere, coherent, and compelling than even VANDEN PLAS' superb, revelatory acoustic record "Accult" (which is itself highly recommended). In that sense, "12:5" may be PAIN OF SALVATION's most remarkable performance yet.

In occupying this acoustic space, PAIN OF SALVATION exposes their heart, their identity, without the trappings of studios and electronics. And like the band, the album is deep and diverse: intimate and ominous; sparse and lush; hushed and electrifying; darkly seductive and openly inviting. In its way, it is less imposing than their denser prog output but no less compelling for seekers of intelligent life in the universe of music. The band plays from a blended palette of in-between colors --a spectrum ranging from metal to folk, rock, and even jazz or classical music-- that other artists couldn't even imagine.

Ultimately, "12:5" is a brilliant collection of decisions, visions, and revisions. It is essential for fans of PAIN OF SALVATION, and even newcomers (even non-proggers!) may be swept away by the creativity, skill, and craft of these genre-leaders.

The finest acoustic progressive rock record so far! Once again, PoS shows an amazing mucisianship among the member of the band. Daniel Gildenlow's voice is perfect! The instrumentations are also great! Segementations of the tracks into 3 parts is quite nice. It's so prog! ( that's when I call something progressive come along). In this album you'll hear some Pos finest tracks in acoustic way. And it's perfect! So perfect! Definitely 5 stars!!

A Masterpiece Acoustic Live Act!

By preference, actually I was not really into the kind of acoustic or unplugged things. But, this album changed everything for me even at first spin. Having been familiar with Pain of Salvation after enjoying Perfect Elements Part 1, this album forced me to try enjoying the acoustic music. It blew me and I kept playing it over and over at my CD player as well as in my car. There are two things that has made me falling in love with this album even until now after couple of months owning it. First, the creativeness of the band that has composed this acoustic music wonderfully. Second, the virtuosity of the musicians in performing all tracks flawlessly. Well, I really admire the musicianship of PoS, especially on acoustic guitar, piano / keyboards and powerful vocal. Top notch! I know myself that I have never endured listening to acoustic music. But with this album I even repeated.

The album comprises three books: Genesis, Genesister and Genesinister. Genesis has the first five parts of the Brickwork concept, which contains Leaving Entropia, This Heart Of Mine and Song For The Innocent - all areperformed in meddley fashion. The concept of Brickwork and the accompanying songs is intriguing in itself as well. But, the music is truly a masterpiece! Daniel Gildenlöw's singing style is really powerful especially with his "haaaa aaaaa aaa" accentuation. It's a great mixture of soulful, mellow, rough and accentuated styles. The music created from a combination of acoustic bass, some acoustic guitars, piano, drums and harpsichord is really nice and I never experience an acoustic music as dynamic and energetic like this one.

Unlike the first book Genesis, Genesister is not a medley. It comprises six separate songs that are somehow related to the concept. Dryad Of The Woods is a terrific atmospheric instrumental. Undertow is an excellent track that I have been familiar with. It's performed excellently with touchy piano work and stunning acoustic guitar that accompany melodic voice line. While Chainsling is another favorite of mine, it starts glowingly with great acoustic guitar and accentuated vocals. Oh my God . this track is truly wonderful as it moves to higher notes wit Gildenlow's vocal. I can see that the vocal is like another instrument - it characterizes the music.

Enjoying this album is like reading great novel as the music brings us into many forms or variations of harmony and melody and after all it conjures up into the peak of the peak. Why? Because, I think, the last book Genesinister is wonderful and it serves perfectly as the album's climax. WOW! The acoustic guitar work at the book's opening part VI - Ascend 1 (1:39) is truly wonderful. It moves seamlessly to VII - Ascend 2 (1:19) in a very smooth way. It ends up with great piano that remarks the start of VIII - Second Love T5 (4:12) with powerful vocal lines. The melody is really killing me! The harpsichords sounds combined with acoustic bass that opens IX - Ashes T5 (5:12) is another touchy segment. The concluding part X - Descend 2 (3:52) is opened with combination of two acoustic guitar work and piano, performed energetically. WOW! What an experience!

Even though this album leaves me with some big questions about my confusion of track titles, it's a masterpiece acoustic live set. When I say that I have some confusion is actually on the complexity of the song titles given to us. First of all, I don't really know what 12:5 really means? What is the concept behind Brickwork and why it must be inserted with loose tracks like in Book 2? What's the meaning of T5? It's all unclear to me. Actually, I have the same question also with confusing title name in Be album as well. But it's OK .. the music is really great! Highly recommended! Keep on proggin' .!

Progressively yours,

GW - Review #316

Walk with me / and change the world we see . - PAIN of SALVATION "Brickwork"

This album was the first Pain of Salvation album I ever listened to. Being a musician with too much experience and composition knowledge, I fell in love with the complex rhythmic patterns of the intro to Idioglossia the band played on this album. After hearing the real version of it, of course I loved them even more. But this album is great for people who never liked metal because "it's too loud" or something because this album is their stuff played acoustic. Great album.

Where do i start about this album. This album is honestly one of the most beautiful and moving pieces of ART i have ever heard. Straight away at the beginning Daniel Gildenlow's soaring vocals make my hair stand on end, and i have had this album amny months, yet it still does it for me. Their ability to harmonise like they do is fantastic, th mix is unbelievable, all voices are distinguishable when singing, and all instruments can be heard at the right level creating superb atmosphere and vibe. You only remeber that this was performed live when you here the audience cheering at the en of songs you get so lost in the music and soul. my personal favorite track has to be second love off remey lane, WOW, it is too god!! Do not hesitate in buying this masterpiece, thn go and buy all the rest of their stuff, showing they really ca do anything!

An acoustic Live album.

Pain of Salvation's most accessible record. Here, most of the songs they have chosen are not the ones that suffer from awkward time signatures/arrangements. These are some of their most accessible songs. From these songs chosen, the band chose to play without electrical instruments (think of unplugged albums). Do not think that there won't be power by taking out the electric guitars! This is easily the heaviest set of acoustic music I have ever heard.

I love this album. 12:5 shows the brilliance of the band (especially Daniel). While most artists play bland and lifeless (not to mention boring) acoustic adaptations to their main hits, Pain of Salvation brings a new dimension to their songs.

Chainsling, Dryad of the Woods, and Undertow are probably the best songs in this live album, but the rest is spectacular anyways!

My Rating : B+

Highly recommended to any prog fan.

This is an excellent acoustic live album. Most songs sounds to my ears much better than on the albums they belong. The band improvises very nicely around the original songs, they sound as they were new. Daniel shows onece more its incredible compositional and vocal talent ... The piano is also perfect on this album, very present. What I dislike on this album is the very quick revisiting (around one minute) of some tracks. I would have liked that they play a longer version of these tracks. For instance, "This heart of mine" ends when it becomes more interesting. Also the version of "Ashes" is the only track where I prefer the album version. I generally play the album by skipping all the mentionned tracks and it is a great experience.

My rating: 4.5 stars.

On the heels of the release of Remedy Lane, Pain Of Salvation decide to play a unique acoustic concert to a crowd of 80 special guest. That performance is captured here on this release. Not wanting to perform a stereotypical "Unplugged" version of their material, Pain Of Salvation have drastically reworked their songs to fit the acoustic setting. For some tracks such as "Undertow" and "Drydad Of The Woods" the transition is relatively minor as one might expect. However, songs such as "Ashes" and "Winning A War" barely resemble their original version. The transformation of such oddities as these makes for an unpredictable experience. 12:5 should really be regarded as it's own work instead of a live recording for this reason, as the reworked version of the songs are often entirely new songs in themselves.

Daniel's soaring vocals compliments the acoustic atmosphere perfectly. Any doubts of his voice sounding as good live as in the studio are smashed with his performance here. Much more so than on studio releases, he uses his voice as an instrument here adding a melody all its own to songs. He adds rather improvised sound, almost Robert Plant esque, oohs and ahhs to the music and at times even contributes an almost full blown chant to add to the depth of the music.

Daniel and Johan's ability as guitar players is really accentuated in their manipulation of the acoustic instruments. I'd never heard such wonderful things done with an acoustic guitar done before or after this release. I'd heard a similar style of playing an acoustic by John Petrucci, but nowhere near did he use it to the beauty that is done here.

The most drastic and impressive change on the album comes in the song "Ashes". The version on the perfect element is a rather sickening tale of depravity in an almost Amorphis like style of melodic, gloomy metal. On 12:5 this piece transforms into a beautiful love song in the vein of "This Heart Of Mine (I Pledge)" from Remedy Lane. This is not to say that all the previous metal songs become sappy ballads. "Winning A War" and "Chainsling" to name but two tracks, keep their metal edge despite being done completely on acoustic guitar.

A few minor imperfections do tarnish this release though. For one, the harpsichord seems to be out of tune in a few songs namely "Drydad of the Woods". Also, some songs in the acoustic atmosphere lose the level of intensity and emotion that their electric versions have. For example, "Undertow" fails to recapture the magic it had on Remedy Lane. The acoustic atmosphere is unable to communicate the rage necessary for the song's success.

Overall, the concert is an overwhelming success. It features a beautiful set list spanning the band's entire career, and all the performances are spot on. A few minor imperfection but this is a must for any Pain Of Salvation fan as the songs here are very much unique in their own right. An excellent addition for any prog fan.

A live release with a bit of flare, Pain of Salvation go "unplugged" if you will for us. The Brickwork sections are really intriguing, and great to hear some new material on a live release. However, I can't say that I am too fond of some of the song selections elsewhere. Most of them are some of my least favorite Pain of Salvation songs, which really takes away from me enjoying the atmosphere, which is probably the best part about this release.

Daniel proves once again that he is one of the great vocal performers. If nothing else, you should get this because of the talent this man possesses that makes so many others so jealous. An enjoyable fork in the road for Pain of Salvation that shows them evolving and improving.

I've got to say beforehand that usually I can't get crazy about unplugged concerts or records but when I listened to this one the first time it was immediately highly appealing to me (admittedly as a quite huge fan of this band). And indeed this acoustic session recorded during a gig in front of a selected audience of 80 listeners in their hometown Eskilstuna on May 12th 2003 (hence the cryptic album title, now the riddle is resolved!) sounds much different and much more lively and dynamic than similar ones by other bands. But on the other hand everybody knowing and appreciating the talents of these musicians has to admit as well that it's nothing extraordinary for THEIR standards and just a very good effort, nothing more and nothing less. Hope you know what I mean - speaking just for myself for example, I was quite certain about the fact that these guys know how to play and they're doing it very well and can manage as well without using amplifiers. Okay they might not be technical wizards like let's say Petrucci, Satriani or Rudess, but which music lover cares for that. I don't like to put down this album at all but I just have the impression that generally it's rather slightly overestimated (like all of their albums between OHBTCL and BE, but that's just my very own opinion). Let's be realistic and honest and see it as it is. PoS played their most accessible songs live on an acoustic set consisting of guitar, bass, cello, piano and harpsichord and decided later on to make an album out of these recordings. According to their tradition of having always concepts for their albums and subdividing them into three chapters like a book they carried this on here and finally found this "concept" presented here (which can't be called a real one, since it came obviously after the music).

Five (or actually only four) of the (admittedly well re-arranged) songs had been given the name "Brickwork Part I" with roman letters from I to V and comprising the first book called "Genesis". This one is opening with "I" which is actually a largely extended and slightly odd version of "Leaving Entropia" from their debut sounding here almost less acoustic than on its original version due to the use of keyboard and background choirs as well as Daniel's quite free vocal style applied here. As much as I love his vocals usually, I've got to say that the rather kinda rhythm & blues vocals used on this record here are at times going a bit over the top (at least for me, who usually can't enjoy that much R&B music). The following tracks are presented as a kind of medley. "II" is a shortened version of "This Heart Of Mine", one of my least favourites from "Remedy Lane" because I consider this one rather a pleasant pop-rock ballad than related to Prog in any sense. "III" is "Song for the innocent" from TPE Pt.1, again a shortened version with more keyboards and more rhythmic guitar than the original. Like with "This Heart Of Mine" already again the best parts of this song are ablated I've to say. "IV" is a short excerpt from "Her Voices" (TPE Pt.1) with edited lyrics. Again I prefer the original much more. Same goes for "V" which is even a shorter instrumental excerpt from "Idioglossia" again from TPE Pt.1. Would have been really great to hear how they're playing the complete track acoustically.

First three tracks of 2nd book "Genesister" (should mean "sister of creation"??) "Winning a War" (Entropia), "Reconciliation" (TPE Pt.1) and "Dryad of the Woods" (Remedy Lane) are sounding not that much different from the originals whereas "Oblivion Ocean" (Entropia) comes quite modified and improvised here, very interesting version anyway. "Undertow" (Remedy Lane) loses here a lot from its atmosphere I've got to say, once again the original album version is much more appealing to me. "Chainsling" (Remedy Lane) is one of the few exceptions where I find the acoustic version presented here at least as good as the original one. The lead vocal job has been shared here between Kristoffer Gildenlöw and Johan Hallgren and especially due to the rough vocals by the latter one a lot of heaviness of the original version has been well transposed into the acoustic one. This one is (according to my strange taste) the real (only?) highlight of this disc and in my humble opinion this record would have become much better if they would have taken the challenge to include more of their heavier songs.

Book 3, called "Brickwork Pt.2" or "Genesinister" (should mean something like the "evil creature"??) somehow continues where the first part ended, that means with short instrumental parts from "Idioglossia" and "Her Voices". "VIII" is more or less the original version of "Second Love", another one from "Remedy Lane" that I rather consider a flaw on this album. Those type of love ballads ain't just not "my cup of tea" and it's a kinda ear whig, somehow really beautiful and pleasant but I hate it, when some simplistic songs like this one keep sticking in my mind. "IX" is a R&B-version of "Ashes" (TPE Pt.1) which can't fascinate me neither and it's just revealing how simple this song originally is. This one segues into "X" which is a final jam session.

As a summary I can say, that "12:5" is by far not a bad album at all, but neither extraordinary. It's comprised mainly of their softer tracks or ballads anyway, admittedly well presented and packaged in an appealing garment, but I couldn't recommend it as an essential or excellent one. Anyway it's an enjoyable acoustic record to run in the back and I've to say I've had a hard time to analyse it that carefully to come to the final conclusion that there's an album by PoS which is "only" worth 3 stars.

this album is probably my faviorites.. same amazing songs, but diffrent melodies and acoustic.. AMAZING! this is something that you might never hear anything like, highly recomended cd, i was very impressed. i thought, oh its just acoustic, but it was so diffrent acoustic then on the cd's before. if your a progressive fan, throw away your genisis - foxtrot( just kidding ) and make room for this one.. its grand

Must have Pain of Salvation album, extraordinary performance especially Brickwork descend II. I think this is the style of pain of salvation! As far as i am concerned all songs are "better" than the original versions! Really great recording, concerning the fact that it was a live in a Swedish town ! Daniel's voice couldn't be better. It holds so much emotion inside.

Recommended to all proggers and not. Especially to those who don't like "heavy" things like original Pos or Dream Theater and the like

To make u a bit more jealous i have my own copy signed by all the members with red ink on the front cover

5:5

I'm not so into Pain of Salvation's music, I've already heard three of their studio albums and I enjoyed some tracks, but not too much, but I have to admit this is one of the most amazing Live Albums I've ever heard.

The album is totally acoustic and it has some kind of divisions: The Brickwork, Pt. 1, followed by some Pain of Salvation classics such as "Undertow" and "Chainsling", and returning to the second and last part of The Brickwork. So, I'm going to review the album in these three fragments.

Generally, the album has an excellent vocal effort by Daniel Gildenlöw and the choruses that background his excellent vocal color are the perfect couple, they sound like they've been done in a Studio.

In "Genesis" (First Section), Pain Of Salvation shows their creativity, showing an excellent performance and execution of the acoustic instruments. They also have a mix of gipsy rhythms that fit perfectly with the album's goal. The atmosphere created by Fredrik Hermansson with his keyboard playing takes to a comfort zone to relax and then the voice of Daniel makes the rest

"Genesister" (Second Part) follow the Gipsy Flamenco Style, the arrangements made for the previously released tracks are awesome. "Chainsling" is the one that stands out of the crowd, the nuances added are excellent.

"Genesinister" (Third Part) the album has its climatic point since the beginning to the last note. It starts a little bit faster. The instrumental passages have a beautiful sound, the mix of the keyboard and the guitar in a very symphonic way make of this part the most interesting progressively speaking.

This album is an excellent addition to any progressive collection, definitely Pain of Salvation put all their talent and creativity in this album and it shows the maturity they have achieved through the years. The fact of releasing new stuff in a Live Album makes this a masterpiece.

Like Gatot I really don't like unplugged concerts or acoustic versions of songs for that matter. As a matter of fact, I probably wouldn't have even purchased this if I knew it was an unplugged concert. I thought it was an ordinary live album. Not that anything that PAIN OF SALVATION does is ordinary.They have really reworked some of their songs and have put a lot of thought into dividing the songs into three blocks, or books of music. These guys are truly musical masterminds.

The first section called "Genesis" is probably my favourite. The songs all blend together as if they were one song. A medley really of powerful, emotional music that really moved me at times.The words are so beautiful and I love the line "Live as death were but a dream".

The second section "Genesister" features a great instrumental "Dryad Of The Woods". I like when the piano comes in a minute and a half into the song. "Undertow" and "Chainsling" are a couple of beautiful songs as well from this section. The final section "Genesinister" features two songs that I really like "Second Love" and "Ashes".

This isn't a normal live acoustic album by any means.This is the only one (unplugged) that I have ever heard that I actually like. Again, I give this amazing band all the credit for making such emotional music.

12:5 is a live album were the band play reworked acoustic versions of many of their songs from their first four albums (Entropia to Remedy Lane). In-fact its more than that. This is an album with a few stand alone tracks in the middle of the album book-ended by a couple of 20 minute "epics" created by a few of Pain of Salvations shorter tracks and a few all new composed sections making up the songs. The result is an incredible live album that never once gets boring at any point in its 60 minutes, whenever its played.

The strength of this album is not just in the performance of the songs but the way they are performed, with several of them being completely reworked. For instance, Leaving Entropia, the short closing track to the debut album is the opener to this live album and is impressively fleshed out with all the band playing and stretched to double its original length whilst still maintaining some really interesting, and breathtaking playing. This is maintained throughout the album with pieces that you will recognize from elsewhere appearing here, like the opening section of Idioglossia opening Brickwork Part II and the Star Wars theme in the middle of Reconciliation.

Some of the songs performed here do tend to raise an eyebrow when you look over the track listings; Oblivion Ocean, Reconciliation, Dryad Of The Woods, Leaving Entropia, these are not the songs that you would have expected a band with such a strong back catalogue of songs to pick, but they surprise you in how good they sound here in an acoustic setting. Several of the songs, namely Dryad Of The Woods, Oblivion Ocean and Reconciliation, are better here as acoustic tracks than they are on the albums they come from with no more than a little re-arranging and played with acoustic instruments rather than electric.

This album is brilliant, I have tried hard and cant really find any faults with it at all. The separation into three sections (Genesis, Genesister, Genesinister) and the respective arrangements make it feel like a proper album with all the songs working together, and as I've said I prefer some of the songs here to their electric counterparts. The track listing may not be to every bodies liking but then, when is it ever on a live album? I urge everyone to at least listen to this album once, even if you aren't a fan of metal, this works brilliantly and fully deserves its 5 stars.

Featuring masterfully remixed versions of the band's library, "12:5" might just be one of the group's best albums-- and is one of my own personal favorite LIVE recordings of all time.

Even for those listeners who are not familiar with the original versions, "12:5" is a lush and emotive experience, featuring walls of acoustic texture laced with lead/backing vocals that drip with emotion; Daniel's voice brings tears to eyes and has NEVER sounded better, bringing new levels of meaning to his excellent lyrics. The first passage, "Genesis", is irresistible, while the material from "Remedy Lane/Perfect Element" positively shines in this format.

A perfect introduction to the band from those coming from outside the metal sphere; an amazing experience.

Setlist 4 Instrumental Performances 5 Stage Energy 5 Live Experience 5

Pain of Salvation - 12:5 5 stars

One of the extremely few live albums I own and for good reason.

This album is an entire acoustic set but more importantly, all of the songs preformed were reworked making this more then just the average 'unplugged' album, or a live album for that matter. The production and quality of the album is also superb that one can believe this was done in a studio if it wasn't for the screaming audience after every track. The vocals stick out especially.but I'm not really focusing on Daniel since we all know the talent he possesses in his voice. Kristoffer and both of the Langell's give some great backing vocals to show that everyone is seriously contributing everything they have into this effort.

This is a concept album of sorts but I don't quite get what exactly the message is, but I trust in Daniel's idea of concepts after the prior two masterpieces. Anyways, the concept is broken into 3 'books' called 'Genesis', 'Genesister' and 'Genesinister'.

'Gensis' and Genesinister' seems to me just to excerpts from about 5 to 6 songs each that build up into one cohesive work. The middle book Genesister is a collection of full tracks like 'Winning A War', 'Reconciliation', 'Dryad of the Woods', 'Oblivion Ocean', 'Undertow' and 'Chainsling'.

It is pretty simple describing what you are going to get on this album. Some might say this album is just an acoustic set that is redone, stripping the beauty of the original work. Others might find this to be another display of art, the ability to change ones work while keeping the same affect and thinking about doing something outside the box. Call this album a love it or hate it if you will. I am on the love it side; I applaud this kind of work and achievement. Regarding purchasing this album, I believe the listener should be very familiar with this band before trying this and then secondly, trusting my judgment.

An essential live album.

Ingenious. This is THE live album. Let me just say here that I am not a fan of live albums, really. I usually prefer the polished and better produced feel of studio work. However, this CD brings with it some amazingly reimagined pieces and two incredible medleys that just cannot be overlooked. This is not just the band in concert. This is not just the band unplugged. This is how live CDs should be done. Each song is substantially and appreciably different from their respective album versions, giving this release the value of hearing each piece in a completely new light.

I think this is the only live album I still own. And it is completely worth it. If you like Pain of Salvation at all, you'll like this one, almost guaranteed. In fact, it's a great place to start to wean non-metal fans onto the band. An essential part of the Pain of Salvation catalog.

First of all, I would like to thank the ProgArchives community for bringing Pain of Salvation to my attention. I saw the high ratings and decided to try them out. I've purchased four albums so far: The Perfect Element Part I, Remedy Lane, Be, and 12:5 and have thoroughly enjoyed each one.

For me, Pain of Salvation bridges the gap between my Neo Prog (Marillion, Pendragon, Arena), Prog Metal (Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, Riverside), and Prog Related (Coheed and Cambria) tastes. PoS covers that entire range quite well and then some. Even their heaviest material maintains musical integrity without resorting to thrashing, machine-gun drums, vocal growling, or skill showboating (a reason why prog metal is often hit or miss for me). Their music has great harmonies, soaring emotion, violent rage, and gentle melodies. Add to that one of the best vocalists I've ever heard and this band clearly demonstrates that it is a rare find.

I was skeptical that I would appreciate an acoustic live performance as much as other reviewers have raved. To a certain extent I was correct. This album has some great moments and some fantastic song arrangements but some of the songs didn't do much for me. I also thought that some of the background harmonizing didn't translate as well live as they would have with refinement in the studio. Overall, the album is still very good. The highlights for me are the Brickwork songs and Dryad of the Woods. The Ashes/Descend 2 finale is excellent.

Songs: Brickwork I (9/10), Brickwork II (7/10), Brickwork III (9/10), Brickwork IV (8/10), Brickwork V (8/10), Winning a War (7/10), Reconciliation (7/10), Dryad of the Woods (9/10), Oblivion Ocean (6/10), Undertow (6/10), Chain Sling (8/10), Brickwork VI (8/10), Brickwork VII (9/10), Brickwork VIII (8/10), Brickwork IX (10/10), Brickwork X (9/10)

It´s really ironic that my favorite album from swedish metal progsters Pain Of Salvation is their live unplugged CD. Not that I don´t like the others, I do. I still think Remedy Lane is a very strong and emotional album. But really, those wonderful songs are sometimes hidden behind a wall of guitar riffs, noises and effects. On 12:5 things change dramatically, sine it is a ´real´ acoustic album. Unlike most of the MTV sponsored affairs, this time there are no famous guests, no orchestras, no female backing vocals or extra musicians to beef up the songs. Only the band with minimum instrumentation. Even the keyboards are down to piano and harpsichord.

In that enviroment, only good, well suited songs could survive. And they do. It´s amazing how such complex, strong and emotional tunes work without the barrage of electric noise Pain Of Salvation is famous of. And to be quite frank, I´m also amazed how those stripped down way of playing did not represent a softening of those same songs. They remain intricated, challenging and defying categorizations. Even those unsettling , anguish feelings of some songs seems to be as strong as ever, if not even more so, with the new arrangements. Sometimes the beauty of the melodies are enhanced too, like in Ashes, where the fine vocal harmonies are more proeminent.

This is not an easy listening album. This is a much interesting experience through Daniel Gildenlöw´s ingenious compositons, even though it is also disturbing at times. In other words, a great work of art. Those guys really can cut it. 12:5 is an excellent addition to any prog collection.

'12:5' - Pain Of Salvation (9/10)

When I was first introduced to Pain of Salvation's first live album, I wasn't sure what to think. This was definately not your average progressive metal live performance. There was something wholly different about the sound, and the delivery. Regardless, I liked what I heard, and continued to listen.

Realizing that this focus on acoustic instruments wasn't just a fluke, but an intended theme for the live album, I was impressed. Even in such a stripped down atmosphere, the band managed to maintain power and energy with their songs. The songs are performed in front of a small crowd, so there's a real sense of warmth and intimacy with the music.

Daniel Gildenlow stated that he didn't want to simply do a 'live album,' he wanted to create something that offered something new to fans instead of a live rehash of studio material. Gildenlow certainly lived up to his promise. There are guitar textures here that were never before seen in studio, and probably would never have worked had they remained electric and heavy.

This is a very irregular live album, it offers something new to the point that it can be considered a true Pain of Salvation album as much as any of the actual studio releases deserve to be. A very rewarding piece of music.

It's been a while since I've heard a live recording worthy of that title. Fortunately when Pain Of Salvation decided to release their first live album they really made an effort of making it as memorable as possible.

Reworking the studio material is one thing but restructuring compositions into one fluent stream of music and doing it in a semi-acoustic setting is bound to become one spectacular show. What they did may not have sounded like anything original on paper but the results speak for themselves.

The material comes from Entropia, The Perfect Element Part 1 and Remedy Lane. I never understood why the material off One Hour By The Concrete Lake was omitted so if anyone knows then, by all means, please enlighten me!

It's true that I've never given Entropia and Remedy Lane a fair chance but the material that I did hear didn't seem that impressive so I welcomed all the new re-imaginings of the individual compositions from those album's. Come to think of it, this album might become a really great introduction album to Pain Of Salvation's music since after hearing it you will later remember and recognize bits and pieces of it when exploring the studio albums without actually realizing that you've already heard those melodies here first!

My personal favorite performances here are Brickwork I aka Leaving Entropia because it improved the badly recorded and mixed original version by at least 150% with this luscious version. I used to think that Second Love from Remedy Lane was a sort of tribute to the famous Scorpions power ballads, but the transition that the track has undergone on Brickwork VIII makes it sound just right in the Pain Of Salvation arsenal. I also have to give an honorable mention to Brickwork IX which is a different take of Ashes which I never really cared for on The Perfect Element Part 1 but, let's just say that, I will never neglect this version!

This is another highly creative album that should be heard by everyone who wants to get into Pain Of Salvation. Personally I still consider The Perfect Element Part 1 to be the band's must have album but 12:5 is definitely not far behind!

***** star songs: Brickwork I (5:44) Dryad Of The Woods (5:37) Chain Sling (4:25) Brickwork VIII (4:12) Brickwork IX (5:12)

**** star songs: Brickwork II (2:35) Brickwork III (1:23) Brickwork IV (0:37) Brickwork V (0:48) Winning A War (7:52) Oblivion Ocean (5:18) Undertow (5:46) Brickwork VI (1:39) Brickwork VII (1:19) Brickwork X (3:51)

*** star songs: Reconciliation (4:22)

There is quite an unusual concept behind this album. Band leader Daniel Gildenlöw was asked if Pain Of Salvation were interested in recording a special radio show for Swedish radio. This resulted in this acoustic album being recorded in front of 80 invited guests, and with no extra instrumentation added if you were there that night this is what you would have heard. The album is divided into three books, as is usual with POS, as there is an underlying story (titled "Brickworks) but most of the songs have previously been available on their studio albums. The difference now of course is back then they were powering prog metal and now this is in an acoustic setting.

The band comprises Daniel Gildenlöw (vocals and guitar), Johan Hallgren (guitar and vocals), Johan Langell (drums and vocals), Kristoffer Gildenlöw (bass and vocals) and Fredrik Hermansson (keyboards). While the band is playing acoustically there is never any doubt that this is a rock band. On "Winning The War" there is the feeling that the passion is just going to take over the band. There may be no amps involved, but they seem intent on killing those acoustic guitars. It shows how well the songs are structured in that they can easily be switched from full on prog metallic mayhem to this environment.

A fascinating album, which while obviously of more interest to fans of the band, will also have appeal to those coming to them for the first time. Just don't expect any of their other albums to sound quite like this.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004

Review Nº 13

This is my second review of a live album on Progarchives, it's my first review from the band, and it's also the second time I'm going to start reviewing a group, beginning with a live album. The first was 'Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends' of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With '12:05', when I saw the high ratings given to this Pain Of Salvation live album, on this site, and because I love the band, I became very curious about it. So, soon as I could, I ordered to my supplier to buy it. When I got the album, I realized why it was so very well rated on Progarchives.

In general I prefer studio albums, instead live albums, in the most of the cases. I've especially two main reasons for that. First, usually the studio works are better recorded and produced than the live. Second, very often, the songs are played alive much in the same way that they were performed on its studio versions. In my opinion, a good live album must have the tunes slightly different and performed with other free creativity, than the original studio versions.

Pain Of Salvation is a Swedish tech/extreme progressive metal band founded in 1991, which is, in my humble opinion, one of the best and most original progressive bands in our days. The name Pain Of Salvation signifies, the meaning of balance, taking the good with the bad. It's also a good expression, in everyday use, when something doesn't go the way you planned.

'12:05' is the debut live album of Pain Of Salvation and was released in 2004. It was recorded from a live concert in the band's hometown of Eskilstuna, in Sweden on 12 May 2003 at 12:05. It's an unplugged live concert, totally performed alive with only acoustic instruments. Personally, I enjoy very much music performed with acoustic instrumentation. A performance like this is much more pure, clear and simple, and usually has more passion and naturality.

After 'Remedy Lane', the group engages in the Swedish assembly of the musical piece 'Jesus Christ Superstar', and were being responsible for implementing those songs. Before they do a new album, the band did acoustic shows in Sweden, presenting new approaches to some of their old songs. From those live performances, it would be born this fantastic debut live album, '12:05'.

The line up on '12:05' is the usual in those days. However, the musical instruments played on the live concert are very different from those who are usually used by the band. So, we have Daniel Gildenlow (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Fredrik Hermansson (grand piano and harpsichord), Johan Hallgren (lead and backing vocals and acoustic guitar), Kristoffer Gildenlow (backing vocals, acoustic bass and cello) and Johan Langell (backing vocals and drums).

'12:05' has sixteen tracks. It has songs from all the band's studio albums, until that moment, except from their second studio album 'One Hour By The Concrete Lake'. The album is divided into three parts. The first part is Book I: Genesis ' Brickwork Part 1, which is divided into 5 tracks: 'Leaving Entropia T5 A', 'This Heart Of Mine T5', 'Song For The Innocent T5', 'Descend 1' and 'Leaving Entropia T5 B'. The second part is Book II: Genesister, which is divided into 6 tracks: 'Winning A War T5', 'Reconciliation T5', 'Dryad Of The Woods T5', 'Oblivion Ocean T5', 'Undertow T5' and 'Chainsling T5'. The third part is Book III: Genesinister - Brickwork Part 2, which is divided into 5 tracks: 'Ascend 1', 'Ascend 2', 'Second Love', 'Ashes T5' and 'Descend 2'.

The songs aren't simply the original studio versions played with acoustic instruments. Most of the music here was rearranged with the addition of some new parts. It happened because the group didn't want to simply release a normal Pain Of Salvation live album, but do a live performance, taking a more personal and different approach to the old material. Basically, what they wanted to do was to perform a new album with the old material, and they did it very well.

Conclusion: '12:05' is, in my humble opinion, a very tasteful album and a truly masterpiece in terms of live recordings. It's a must have for almost Pain of Salvation fans, especially for those who aren't fanatic metal heads. If you are a mature metal head that doesn't need everything to be hardcore, put your doubts aside and get it. For those who prefer a more traditional approach to the progressive style of music, and have been turned off by the group's more metallic musical approach to date, should also check it out. Finally, if you are a music fan in general, get it, because this is a wonderful album, with emotional music, full of creativity and performed live flawlessly. The final result of '12:05' is a superior acoustic live album, which sounds to a new musical work. Probably, this is the Pain Of Salvation most accessible album, and for those who doesn't know the band yet, I really suggest they begin with this album. This is with any doubt one of my favourite live albums ever, especially in terms of acoustic performances.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)