Pain Of Salvation
The Perfect Element Part I

Danie Gildenlow is truly a great misunderstood genius! While he and his band manage to churn out masterpiece after masterpiece, people prefer to dedicate themselves to the commercial nonsense that the radio plays day by day (and I don't want to give subliminal advertising to a supermarket) just for money matters!

And "The Perfect Element Part. I" is perhaps the band's masterpiece... the Pain Of Salvation album that everyone wishes the group would repeat, but repeating it seems difficult... perhaps they managed with the following "Remedy Lane," another masterpiece no less, but this is this! Twelve dreamy songs, melancholic, but also angry and dark! An album capable of satisfying both the intimate ones and those who want to vent! An album where nothing is left to chance, every note seems calmly placed in its rightful place, what it deserves by nature! And even if there were a note out of place, it would be immediately noticeable, given how perfect this work is!

I know I shouldn't go into the, for some boring, track by track, but Pain Of Salvation from their studios in Sweden are looking at me and saying: "You must describe this album with extreme determination!" and I do so!

"Used" is an excellent and direct opener sung with an angry and cold voice, characterized by powerful guitar riffs and dark atmospheres very well created by Fredrik Hermansson's keyboards, softening in the chorus and the final part of the song as the rhythm becomes increasingly incandescent until it fades away like in a horizon we might never see. "In The Flesh" is a more moderate track with a more touching melody that is always ready to burst into parts of greater intensity, becoming heavier after the middle of the track and then fading away to give way to a sweet piano that accompanies us very slowly to the next track; we could compare the song to a sort of mountain that starts with a rather light walk that becomes harder and more frenetic reaching the top and then descending and flowing into the flatness of the lake! Really strong! "Ashes" has instead a more regular structure with a delicate and somewhat gloomy verse with noteworthy keyboards that give way to an aggressive and dramatic chorus. "Morning On Earth" is instead a really sensitive ballad with that string background in the chorus that flows really smooth like a chocolate mousse, as my idol Carlo Pellegatti would say... imagine an autumn morning with dew still on the plants... this is what the song makes you think of!

"Idioglossia" is definitely a more powerful and fierce song crowned by distorted guitars, electronic riffs, and even a reprise of "Ashes"; noteworthy is the finale with the sound becoming increasingly heavy until it concludes with a valuable symphonic riff. "Her Voices" is probably the best track on the album: a mysterious keyboard followed by a very delicate piano gives way to a harder chorus, and after the third minute, we come across a really well-conceived instrumental part with complex guitar and keyboard loops that give POS a bit of virtuosity without exceeding the levels of Dream Theater; here too, the finale seems very lively but slowly fades away giving the piano the chance to perfectly conclude a really excellent track! And there's room for another ballad, "Dedication": all it takes is a soft, well-arpeggiated acoustic guitar, a piano, and some keyboard background to open the hearts of many, many dreamers! "King Of Loss" is another track capable of ranging from melodic to strong and from strong to melodic alternating delicate guitars and piano notes with violent and angry choruses with Daniel Gildenlow offering a very dramatic performance; noteworthy is definitely the solo that intervenes before the last chorus, perhaps the most beautiful solo of the whole album, as well as the intelligent reprise of the chorus of "Used"! "Reconciliation", which reprises "Morning On Earth" in a heavier guise, is the most direct track guided by the power of the guitars that blends with the warm sounds of the keyboards and Daniel's screams... And immediately begins "Song For The Innocent", short, with a more delicate first part with guitar and keyboards that flows into a more aggressive one where there's another splendid solo. The interlude "Falling" a background of keyboards framing a guitar solo introduces us to the concluding "The Perfect Element" which in 10 minutes gives all the emotions given in the previous 62 thanks to the excellent keyboards in a symphonic key, the piano touches, the guitar riffs, and the vocal performances of both Daniel and the other members; the percussive finale closes a work where it is impossible to find the slightest flaw...

72 minutes are too few for such an album! Multiply them to infinity and you'll discover that the listens you will give it will never be enough! An album that will keep you glued in front of the player for months, years, centuries, millennia, eras... But why can't you give more than 5 stars? 6 seems the minimum!