PANTHER

Perhaps the most jarring and unusual album yet from this band's eclectic discography, but it works.

Pain of Salvation is no stranger to making changes in musical direction and is seemingly undeterred by fan opinion, though I would argue all their post Remedy Lane output while eclectic is still rock based. Not all of these albums have been as successful as others the band deserves credit for going there. After a partial return to their original form with "In the Passing Light of Day" Pain of Salvation has done it again: they pulled the rug out from under us. "Panther" is their most unusual work yet however. Unlike all their prior rock based albums, "Panther" takes a turn in the electronic direction. Given this comes directly after the bands return to heavy, more aggressive metal that had so many long turned off fans almost excited again, this truly is a bold effort.

When I first listened to this album I was bewildered. It's light on the rock, heavy on the electronics. On some songs I was struggling to tell if guitar was even present! When it was there, it was often simply just another sound, a piece of the soundscape. The drums are fine, but that's it...just fine, certainly nothing spectacular. It was an electronic and Daniel driven effort. It was weird and jarring, but not terrible upon first listen. Daniel's vocals are superb, as would be expected. There were some cool riffs and melodies, and a few songs that really struck me even upon first listen.

After giving "Panther" some time and a few spins, I can say it's a pretty good album. The music is different, no doubt there, and it may take some getting used to but it's really quite solid. The soundscape that is created is quite rich, and don't be fooled by my use of electronic. This is not some energetic upbeat album you can dance to, no it's fairly ambient, I'd say even somber and dark. Some of the hard edge that we have come to expect and love from Pain of Salvation is very much here in my opinion. The instruments all work together in a wonderful way, Daniel is piercing and driving and his voice has not lost even an ounce of its beauty, power, or nuance.

"Accelerator" kicks off the album with a pretty driving drum rhythm throughout, "Unfuture" is one of the more standard Pain of Salvation style songs, "Wait" features some great keyboard and guitar melodies, interesting passages and sections as it traverses the song, "Keen to a Fault" is a brilliant song that is one of the more energetic and musically interesting on the album, and I think should appeal to most Pain of Salvation fans. "Panther" is an interesting song that sounds a lot like Linkin Park, filled with electronic flourishes and sounds that sound straight from well, Linkin Park, and even Daniel rapping though thankfully it seems he's improved from his attempts on "Scarsick" (granted that was a more tongue in cheek and satiric effort). There are some rockin drums and it's all interspaced with quite piano and Daniel sections. Many may shudder at seeing Linkin Park in a Pain of Salvation review but frankly, it's one of my favorite songs, possibly favorite, on the album. "Species" is a good, slow burn and the 13 minute finale "Icon" is a straight up prog rock epic. It ebbs and flows through its well crafted song structure and is filled with beauty and passion. After writing all this I realized I have covered most of the album. That's how "Panther" was for me. Listening, listening, not super sure then it was over and I realized wow, I enjoyed that.

Is "Panther" different? Yes. Does it reach the highs of the bands first four albums? No. Though come one fellow prog fans, we pat ourselves on the backs for our open mindedness and pride in deviating from the mean! I was quite perplexed, weirded out and immensely unsure about this album when I first heard it. That said, I quite like it. I would encourage all Pain of Salvation fans to give it a try, maybe a few, and keep an open mind. Like myself, you may be surprised! If you are a fan of just rock based music perhaps this will be a difficult listen, though I would consider myself a fan of rock based music and still was gripped enough from the first listen to keep going with it, I ask you to do the same. For those who simply can't get past the band's post Remedy Lane output and just itch for those days, then yeah this probably won't be worth the time. I for one am glad to see Pain of Salvation has not just avoided the trap of spinning their wheels for over a decade as happens to many bands, but manages to come up with new sounds and pulls them off.

THREE AND A HALF STARS

bump: Four Stars

After the surprisingly good "In the Passing Light of Day", Pain of Salvation are back with this strange, daring and dark "Panther".

This time, Gildenlow and colleagues bring back the experimentation of albums like "BE" and "Scarsick" in contradiction to the more traditional previous record, in the form of electronic and industrial influences which sometimes work like in Accelerator and sometimes are a bit too much like in Restless Boy.

Nevertheless, there is also some glimpses of the old (and missed) Pain of Salvation in tracks like the piano-driven Wait, which also contains a beautiful acoustic guitar work and an excellent chorus, and the long and moody Icon.

So if you are hoping for a more traditional Pain of Salvation album like Remedy Lane or The Perfect Element, you will not find in here. But is also a tradition for this band to be innovative and always search for new ways to express their music and at this respect, "Panther" is a success.

So recognizing that this album is very good, and sometimes even excellent, I have to say that is just maybe not exactly my cup of tea.

Best Tracks: Wait (like I said before, a glimpse to the old Pain of Salvation sound), Panther (the hip-hop influences of "Scarsick" are back, but this time in the good way), Species (the best lyrics of the album) and Icon (the most progressive and emotional moment here)

My Rating: ***

2017's 'In The Passing Light of Day' was seen by many PoS fans as possibly their best release since their heyday, and with the return of long-time guitarist Johan Hallgren to a band which had been incredibly stable in the previous six or so years, expectations were high. However, not for the first time, Daniel Gildenlöw decided to move in a very different direction indeed. He is someone who relishes in challenging his audience, and when he thinks of the term "progressive" he obviously treats it as a direction as opposed to a genre in its own right, the only question is whether or not his audience will travel the same road he is taking and whether they will keep returning if they find the music being delivered is not to their taste.

While Johan was with the band for their most important years, he has somehow been kept rather restrained in their latest album which is far more electronic and industrial than I would ever have expected from Pain of Salvation. It is hard to compare between this and 'The Perfect Element, Pt I' as they are totally different beasts, but during the nearly two decades between the two albums, the band, and Daniel in particular, have been through many challenges and they are no longer the same as they were. It is incredibly dark, with 'Unfuture' in particular being incredibly unsettling as it brings forth the images of a post-apocalyptic future where everything is in black and white. There is no doubt that Gildenlöw had a vision in his mind when he approached this recording, and he has achieved exactly what he wanted, and for both this and that he is always looking for a new direction must be lauded. He is an incredible musician and band leader, but I surely cannot be the only one hoping for more in the line of the "classic" years as opposed to the direction he is currently moving in.

Iconic prog metal innovators Pain of Salvation released their eighth studio album 'Panther' in August of 2020 through Inside Out Music, and this new recording serves as a successor to their absolutely brilliant 2017 offering 'In the Passing Light of Day'. The band presents a collection of nine new songs spanning across some fifty minutes of playtime, giving the world of heavy music a real breath of fresh air in the face of their ever so innovatively daring experiments - the peculiar approach to songwriting, the memorable choruses, the thoughtful lyrics, and the sonic richness of each album. There is, however, something that sets this record apart from the rest of the band's catalogue. It has to be its exquisitely personal and sincere nature, almost like a sheltering place for all the wayward sons out there, a very realistic reflection on the current condition of the human spirit.

'Panther' is just as dark as it is heavy, engaging and reflective, while demanding the listener's full attention for all the subtle shifts and playful bits, as is the case with most releases by this excellent Swedish band. The album kicks off with the powerhouse 'Accelerator', a memorable piece full of angst with some tremendous technical playing, while the following track 'Unfuture' is a grim number with a somewhat urban aesthetic, generally unfamiliar for PoS. 'Restless Boy,' on the other hand, stands an exquisite piece of a carefully crafted studio track, with all of its manic sounds and electronic dispositions. The band's more "progressive" leanings are on full display on 'Keen to a Fault,' through the denser nature of the song and the quirkier playing, and while the rest of the album does lose some steam along the way, there are still several surprisingly pleasant moments that preserve the general intensity of the album.

In a word, 'Panther' is a strong addition to the Pain of Salvation catalogue, an emotive yet darker mixture of innovative prog metal with art rock and some alternative aesthetics, all aspects that define in one way or another the musical identity of one of metal's most important and boundary-crossing acts.