SCARSICK

I have never been a huge fan of Pain of Salvation and I haven't really liked their previous albums. They have a few nice songs here and there but that's about it. Scarsick, however, changed my opinion totally.

To put it shortly: Scarsick is a masterpiece, the album of the year, no doubt about it.

I don't understand the critique this album has recieved. People don't seem to like it because it sounds so different than the previous albums. I, on the other hand, love the new sound and the great mixture of different styles. Isn't the whole idea of progressive music to progress and reach the boundaries of styles and try to do something new? Well that's exactly what Scarsick does - and boy, it does it well.

The lyrics are the other part people have critisized. For me, a whole new layer of the songs opened up when I got my hands on the booklet and listened to the album through while reading the lyrics. For example, Cribcaged, the "???? all" -song, has a deeper meaning to it.

I had no expectations at all and got totally surprised by it.