OK. So, my friend just updated his status on Facebook saying that, indeed, Pain of Salvation is going to be participating in Melodifestivalen, which Daniel Gildenlöw describes in detail in his blog post from the band’s website:
After the flights back to Sweden we had less than 24 hours at home before taking off for Australia. During those few hours I had to pack, take a bath and prepare the audio CDs and mixes for Melodifestivalen. For those who don’t know what Melodifestivalen is, it is the biggest thing in the Swedish music industry. A huge machinery built to single out the Swedish contender for the Eurovision Song Contest. Out of thousands and thousands of sent in songs, 30 are selected by a jury to participate in this national contest, viewed by half the population when it’s on TV. It’s a big thing, to say the least! Do you recall a week with two Thursdays, some two months back? It was that day when hell froze over, remember? That was the day they told us Pain of Salvation would be participating in Melodifestivalen. It just doesn’t happen.
For those of you who are not familiar with Eurovision or, the preliminaries that are Melodifestivalen, these things are about as metal as, say.. American Idol. That is to say, they are not fucking metal at all. They’re not metal even a little bit. There is not a shred of metal in this stuff. “Sure,” you say, “but Lordi got famous because of Eurovision!” To which I respond “Exactly!” Lordi, while funny, is certainly not a band that anyone over the age of 8 takes seriously at all. And that should give you the idea of what it means that Pain of Salvation, the progressive rock idols that are incredibly well loved in the prog scene (the word “overrated” almost comes to mind, though they are exceptionally talented), are going to be in Melodifestivalen.
The best part about this whole thing is the interview on the SVT site.
Even if you can’t understand Swedish you should check out the end where they slaughter this song (which I was informed of by Angry Metal Girlfriend, who totally knows this stuff.. haha)
Though, he points out thoughtfully that Lena Philipsson should have won with that song, and after listening to it I think he’s absolutely right. One wonders if Daniel Gildenlöw can dance like she can… If so, maybe they can pull off the big upset.
Pain of Salvation is definitely the modern darling of the progressive rock/metal scene for a reason. Their intense musicianship, varied work and extraordinarily subtle but intense technicality has garnered them one of the most intense fan-bases out there. Every guy I’ve ever met who was into these guys wasn’t just into them but he worshiped their every note, their every time change and eagerly awaited their every release like giddy little kids on Christmas. So when I got my hands on The Second Death of Pain of Salvation I was expecting something totally mind-blowing–but instead, I got a live album.
Live albums are OK, but I think that in metal, particularly, a genre where bands often just play what they recorded live, instead of varying it up (see: Iron Maiden), they’re a little excessive and redundant. This record isn’t really that much of an exception to that rule, but for a person who isn’t really familiar with the band yet, this is definitely a good primer for the future Pain of Salvation fan.
I was only familiar with a couple of these songs before I heard this, but I was pretty impressed with this as a live record in general. The production is pretty good and these guys are able to re-create their highly-produced music in an effective and representative way live. This means that it’s a good compilation of the styles and ideas that are available throughout their career. And the music is pretty solid, honestly. I think that from the standpoint of just progressive rock and metal these guys are one of the better bands that I’ve heard lately (though, they’ve been around a while). The variation in song-writing and styles is pretty cool, going from very mellow, ballady sort of tracks to blues-rocky stuff and even to solid melodic metal.
The vocals are probably the strongest aspect of this entire record. Despite there being too much wanna-be Faith No MoreAngel Dust going on (with this talky-rappy thing that Gildenlöw does that is a little bit annoying), his voice is strong, clear and defies a lot of the irritating standards of progressive vocalists (here’s lookin’ at YOU Dream Theater). The tone and range are fantastic as well, and he varies vocal styles very well throughout the tracks. The band is hyper-talented as well, and that comes through with the perfect performances on every track on this whole record from the excellent (Moth to the Flame) to the more embarrassing (Disco Queen). And I was personally pleased with the Leonard Cohen cover as well. That was a nice touch.
This record is pretty good for a live record and this band is obviously excellent. It loses a couple points because it is a live album and I feel like most live albums are just a waste of time. But as something you listen to a couple times to get a feel for who the band is, personality-wise, and to get a feel for their discography and their style this album is a success.
