MUSIC REVIEW: Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake

"Awesome."

Pain of Salvation is a breath of fresh air beyond the smog of Dream Theater clones. These days, when you pick up a progressive metal album, you can expect some hints of Dream Theaters Images And Words. Most new progmetal bands try so hard to impress that they somehow fail, but Pain of Salvation succeeds by offering a fresh approach. Their debut album, Entropia, was breathtakingly original, but the band's ostensible drive to experiment sometimes made for a disjointed record on the whole. One Hour by the Concrete Lake is -- in terms of songwriting -- the better of the two, but similarly delivers a powerful shot of originality.

In stark contrast to many other progressive metal bands, PoS' music is not presented in a way that the members are showcased as individual stunning musicians. It is their flair for dynamic and innovative composition that makes them progressive, not technique. They establish originality by weaving a plethora of styles and seamlessly shifting between them. This is strongly illustrated by how vocalist Daniel Gildenlow will switch from a vicious metal growl to a quiet, delicate voice with an appropriate musical accompaniment. Sound strange? Indeed, but it works. Over the course many listens, you come to understand the band's frequently switching demeanor, and you get a feel for the band's originality. It can be ruthlessly heavy at times, and can be wonderfully soft and melodic at others. The beautiful chorus of "Water," for instance, juxtaposed with those heavier moments, makes for an engaging listen.

One Hour is another concept album...err, theme album, I guess. It is based more on individual songs and less on the musical unity found in Entropia and their newest [Chimp Note: This review is old], The Perfect Element. There is no story, rather the album is tied together by three chapters making us aware of world issues such as war and environmental concerns. Daniel Gildenlow, the band's principal songwriter, generally works his ideas effectively into the lyrics, but a few overwrought moments border on being silly. For example, in the song "Water": "I never saw the relation | Between myself and world starvation." Dear god that's awful. Cheesy lines like this are impossible to ignore because of singer D. Gildenlow's habit for oversinging. I have seen reviews on the Internet that rip into Gildenlow's political beliefs expressed on this album. Really though, environmental destruction and violence in the third-world are serious problems. Although I disagree with Gildenlow's politics, the lyrics here work for me because Gildenlow presents them fairly evenhandedly. Still, he could use some economic lessons from the Austrian school, har har.

Despite that criticism, Gildenlow is probably the most impressive facet of Pain of Salvation's sound. He's a great singer, and he's improved HUGELY over Entropia. The reason is that he has much more control over his range. Still, he sometimes injects the songs with needless frills that hurt his performance. He often sings unnecessarily high and it just doesn't sound good. Nowhere is this more evident than on "Pilgrim," a lovely ballad (complete with cello), but hurt by the fact that he over-sing the refrain. More tasteful restraint would have benefited the song considerably.

Wow, I sure am critical. After all that, would you even believe me if I said Gildenlow is one of the most amazing singers I've heard? Hmm. It's great that he has refined his vocal stylings almost completely for the band's third album, The Perfect Element, and the fourth album, Remedy Lane.

This is a great CD for progressive metal fans. From the serene opening "Spirit of the Land," to the intense progmetal trappings of "Inside," from the gorgeous "Water" to the exciting thematic development in "Home," from the gloomy, intricate complexities of "Black Hills" to the outstanding "Inside Out," with its blinding piano riff and fervent guitar interplay, this disc has something for anyone who digs the genre...and maybe for someone who doesn't but wants something different.