SCARSICK

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