SCARSICK

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.