SCARSICK

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.