Pain of Salvation

In a world governed by increasingly rigid rules and conformist conceptions of art, Pain of Salvation have created their own niche on the international music scene. Their intelligently composed and cleverly arranged songs mix metal, pop, funk, disco, goth and folk with Arabian and Oriental influences plus other more or less extreme musical styles into a homogenous whole. Pain of Salvation consciously do without any kind of artistic compromise, the only criterion for their compositions being top quality and profound contents. “Skills and complexity should be part of the machinery, not the functionality or design,” says the band’s frontman Daniel Gildenlöw, “so I try to hide it away where the engine is supposed to be – under the hood of a machine built mainly to process ideas and emotions.” This is precisely why their albums go down so well with fans and media from a variety of camps, from the progressive metal scene through nu metal to prog rock and world music. Their latest double live DVD/CD, On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation, scheduled for release at the start of 2009, will conclude phase one of their diverse career in order to pave the way (and clear their minds) for the second chapter.

Since the foundation of his first significant band, Reality, in 1984, mastermind and bandleader Daniel Gildenlöw has consistently followed his own concept of diverse, technically accomplished and border-transcending progressive rock. He renamed his band Pain of Salvation in 1991 and has released six studio albums and one unplugged recording since, among them classics such as Scarsick (2007), Be (2004) and Remedy Lane (2002). Each of these releases has impressed as a multi-layered concept album, dealing with tough socio-political themes, while manifesting very intimate, individualist views at the same time. Bandleader Gildenlöw reveals a humanist, social and political conscience which deals in a controversial manner with the excrescences of the nuclear industry, war and the global water shortage. At the same time, he takes an uncompromising stand against the death penalty, sexual exploitation, racism and torture. But first and foremost, Gildenlöw is an amazing musician and composer who takes stock musically of his creative oeuvre to date On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation.

On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation will be available in three versions: as a double DVD, double CD and as a limited edition featuring both double DVD and double CD. The tracks were recorded at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on March 2nd, 2007 during their successful Scarsick tour. The DVD will be rounded off with exciting behind-the-scenes footage and an extensive retrospective featuring many important landmarks of their career, including a number of surprises. “Surprises are part of the Pain of Salvation concept,” Gildenlöw points out. “I think our fans would be pretty disappointed if we didn’t surprise them any more.”

And what will the future bring, the second chapter of the PoS history, so to speak? “I will continue to permanently venture into new directions,” Gildenlöw predicts. “I’m always at my best when I feel that I simply have to play this music because it comes naturally. I simply follow my emotions and pay attention to what I want to express in my music. So as long as my taste changes, my music will continue to change. I feel that’s the best and most honest approach.”