Pain Of Salvation
Road Salt Pt. 1

We had left Pain Of Salvation with the release of the raw "Scarsick," considered by some to be far from the pomp of previous albums, and the departure of drummer Johann Langell followed by the somewhat unexpected exit of newly recruited bassist Simon Andersson. Then, tormenting the souls of fans, came the "dangerous" and unsettling inscriptions that slowly appeared on the band's official website, leading some to think about the group's dissolution.

Daniel Gildenlow nonetheless had clear ideas on how he would set up the next PoS album: it would be influenced by elements of seventies rock.

Let's say the promise was fairly fulfilled. In this album, in fact, the influence of the seventies is more or less evident. Just notice Johann Hallgren's guitar approach, very oriented towards a rock-blues style, rarely resorting to metallic riffs as in the past, and Fredrik Hermansson’s keyboard work centered on the typical Hammond sound very popular in those years. Daniel's voice, always very expressive and a vehicle of expression, this time has a very soulful timbre and relinquishes the alternation of delicate lines with other notably angry ones that characterized the historical production of the group, as well as its presence in the forefront like never before (there are those who have described the album as very "singer-songwriter"). Another feature, already practically hinted at above, is the absence of the metal component that has always been a background in the band's compositions. Already in "BE" the metal component had been set aside (and brushed up only in some tracks) and returned forcefully in Scarsick; now it disappears again, and who knows how much space it will carve out in the band's musical future, but overall the quality of the compositions calmly shows that Pain Of Salvation does not have to be metal to make great music. Lastly, there is no shortage of influences from alternative rock.

The bass, pending a new bassist, is still entrusted to Gildenlow himself, and on drums is the debut of the new drummer, Frenchman Leo Margarit.

However, in the 12 tracks (most of which are notably short) that make up this first part of "Road Salt," there is nonetheless a good stylistic variety in the songs. There are tracks with a strong rock-blues spirit like "No Way" (with its splendid keyboard inserts) and "She Likes To Hide"; hard rock approach tracks like "Darkness Of Mine" and "Linoleum"; there's even the folkish "Tell Me You Don’t Know" while the most startling track is "Sleeping Under The Stars" where Hermansson offers a fun yet very elegant waltz!!! However, the keyboardist shows the best of his own emotionality in the splendid "Sisters" and "Road Salt" probably the two tracks most at the service of emotions, where he is decisive in this sense along with Daniel's delicate and refined voice. Another track where voice and keyboard create a perfect combination is "Of Dust" with an almost gospel flavor. Hermansson's delicate touches perfectly blend with Hallgren's guitar in "Where It Hurts". The weak point of the album, and many agree with me here, is, in my opinion, "Curiosity" where everything seems to be played with little conviction: a punk-like rhythm surrounds a track played with sparse and unimpressive guitars. I would have expected a little more from the closing track "Innocence" (the only track exceeding 7 minutes) which relies on a rather dirty guitar sound without giving a real sense of conclusion.

The PoS have always wanted to do what they felt, have always wanted to renew their sound, and never settled for doing what they were already doing, and this time too they wanted to push the sound beyond their own boundaries and I’d say they succeeded quite well. I have heard many criticisms of this album, some referring to a supposed lack of ideas, others to the distance from the compositional pomp that characterized masterpieces like "The Perfect Element" or "Remedy Lane"... but I think such criticisms stem from the habit of always comparing with the past. Sure, the album may not be a masterpiece, it certainly doesn't match the masterpieces already mentioned, it doesn't show PoS at their most pretentious and aspiring to the extremely sophisticated, instead, it shows PoS lovers of relatively simpler and more immediate compositions... but they are still PoS; the expressiveness is not lacking, the refinement in melodies is always well present and the quality of melodies always high and never trivial. The album should be appreciated for what it is without saying that they are no longer those PoS rather than others. Saying that the album is disappointing because it lacks pomp, metal elements, etc. is not justifiable. It doesn’t matter what you do, what matters is that what you do is done well and in my opinion, the PoS have once again managed to renew themselves without declining.

We are all a bit curious to know how the second part will be, and we will only know when it comes out, but for now, just enjoy this more than valid album without thinking about the band’s past or future.