THE PERFECT ELEMENT - PART 1

Right then. Where to start... How about... awesome!!! When I first heard a couple of PoS songs from their website it took me a while to get into it, but thank goodness I did. I had no idea what I was missing. Now that I have this album, I will definitely be investing in more music from this wonderful band.

Let's examine the reasons why I can justifiably give this album 5 stars.

Firstly, Daniel Gildenlöw's vocals are quite probably the best I've ever heard. He has got certainly the most diverse vocal capability of any singer I've heard (even some of the vocals on Ayreon's Human Equation, which are generally fantastic, don't compare) - from his beautiful mellow mid tenor range, to his soaring high notes delivered charismatically and with probably the best tone I've ever observed, then to his more aggressive metal singing which is also carried incredibly well. On top of that his pained screams (as displayed powerfully at the end of King of Loss and in Idioglossia) are truly heartwrenching, which really adds to the macabre nature of some of the lyrics. The spoken word sections may put off some listeners on the first hearing, but they certainly grew on me - adding to the 'dark and twisty' vibe in songs such as Used and Ashes in the first section of the album.

Secondly, the intelligence of the lyrics and the concept. And also, indeed, the fact that the lyrics in some places are incredibly moving. Although the album as a whole has a quite depressing feel, as it reflects all the darker sides of real-life, a lot of which is a reality for many people, it is possible to see there is hope here - especially reading some of the personal comments for each band member, it can be seen this album is not meant to throw the listener into a state of complete despair over the horrific trappings of life. It simply confronts those realities in a very powerful way.

Thirdly, the beautiful and intricately crafted songs. I promise, hearing is believing.