BE

"Be" is a very special album in the recent history of art-rock, and definitely, a particular milestone in the career of pain of Salvation. This concept-album shows a band that had been on top of their game since their "Concrete lake" days headlong for a new stance, a stance that even defies the defining elements that had been essential to the style and sound developed in earlier efforts. "Be" is a non-prog- metal album by a prog-metal band. The main concept revolves around the relationship between God and man, laterally leading with issues such as the origins of human conscience, the meaning of earthly life, the essence of evil, the dialectics of destiny and freedom, etc. 'Animae Partus' and 'Deus Nova' set the mood of industrial-friendly environments, metallic riffs and ceremonious orchestrations, augmented by assorted assertions and recitations. 'Imago' provides the first passage of Renaissance, featuring strong percussive cadences and lute, together with the chamber instruments that fill the atmosphere. 'Pluvius Estivus' has to be one of the finest moments in the album: a lovely piano piece nurtured by dreamy string and woodwind orchestrations. 'Lilium Cruentus' is an unusual exercise on a mixture of jazz-rock and folk-prog, with traces of menacing metal rock erupting in the choruses and ultimately taking over. 'Nauticus' is Pain of salvation's tribute to Gospel, effectively evoking images of corn fields, Southern river streams, clouds passing by and people gathered around bonfires. 'Dea Pecuniae' remains in North American fields, only this time focusing on the utilization of blues with an extra touch of soul and an additional ounce of Gospel. The energetic climax is well delivered, with the band and orchestra carrying each other as the singing stays enthusiastic and passionate. 'Vocari Dei' is a pastoral instrumental that includes voices of people stating existentialist complaints of discomfort and confusion toward God: I interpret the contrast between the music's softness and the voices' angry disappointment as an opportunity for good things to flourish among bad things. 'Diffidentia' starts as a slow rocker with lots of Metallica-oriented overtones, bearing a menacing feel that stands somewhere between constrained neurosis and desolation. The second half shifts to a chamber waltz, displaying a controlled colorfulness. 'Nihil Morari' kicks off from the ceremonious introspectiveness with which the preceding track had ended, but it soon builds up to a rockier development, first mid-tempo, then reprising the main body of 'Deus Nova': the track's climax comprises a cleverly complex set of counterpoints, something that the band had employed in earlier albums. 'Latericius Valete' is a pastoral piece that might as well have come out of an Anthony Phillips album (no kidding!), occasionally ornamented with elegantly controlled metal bursts. 'Omni' sounds like a religious hymn, almost Gothic but not really creepy. It melancholy is patent, and so is the delicious despair reflected in 'Iter Impius', arguably the best ballad ever written by Pain of Salvation (at least, so far). Gildenlöw's singing is emotional beyond words; the piano phrases exemplify refined precision; the guitar solo takes hints at the heritage of the best Gilmour; the orchestration works beautifully, well, everything works beautifully in this song all the way toward its magnificent climax. After this song's end, a harpsichord gets in to introduce the sonic framework of 'Martius / Nauticus II', which starts very symphonic and ends heavily antique, a Renaissance thing with strong Arabic undertones: actually, this is a reprise of 'Imago', but only this time the sung parts are based on the instrumental harmonies and the latter are converted all the way around. The final sung lines and the following percussive climax are outstanding, plethoric and celebratory after the preceding drama. The real last track, 'Animae Partus II', is an ambient-filled enunciation of 'I am'. While not being typical of the usual Pain of Salvation musical trend, Be stands out as a true masterpiece in their career. Two final words of caution to true lovers of good prog rock and good prog metal: get this CD. and get the DVD as well!