Pain of Salvation is one of those bands that you either hate or love. Ok, let's not be too harsh or too emotional; let's avoid extremes. I would rather use description "band that you deeply enjoy or you don't feel it at all". Personally, I fall into the first category, which is why I have decided to cover one of their past albums for this week's edition of ThrowbackThursday.
This is a super rare band who dares to experiment, but not just for the sake of experimentation that has an incoherent cauldron of nonsense as a final result. Pain Of Salvation never used floppy experimentation as an excuse for evolutionary progression of their style. Everything they do was always plausible. Although Daniel Gildenlow often said that he didn't know which way he wants to go, he always managed to find exit, even If he had to use sideways. Daniel is a pundit in finding a path to the hearts of his fans and rock-progressive lovers.
The same was the case with Road Salt Two, the album that turned out to be a descendant of Road Salt One. The band's initial plan was to release a double album, so it makes total sense that the content is similar, as songs on both records were written in the same time frame. Although these albums absorbed their base from psychedelic-prog and 70s rock, Road Salt Two seemed even more experimental, progressive and heavy. Retro-production pulled it back almost four decades and spiced it up with malicious atmosphere. Emotions are omnipresent and deep. Content is respectably creative, while arrangements and compositional technicality are on the highest level. Let me put it this way - Road Salt Two surpassed the boundaries of progressive rock.
I believe that Road Salt Two is less "listenable" than Road Salt One, ergo, it needs to be thoroughly analyzed in order to be understood. However, that did not make it complicated. Even when songs got a bit perplexing due to their rhythmic shifts and multi-vocalizations, the listener would still be able to enjoy them. Key characteristics of the sound: minimalistic, yet progressive guitars, piano diversification, controlled samples and synths, pessimistic bass guitars and strong orchestrations.
Ambiental-dramatic movie-like intro Road Salt Theme was a predictable start, but then many contradictions came with the following Softly She Cries. From the initial retro guitars and space pianos supported by melancholic singing over blues sections to 70s prog rock, this tune is everything but predictable. Conditioned is an epic retro-rock that almost brings Lenny Kravitz imitations of rock to mind. In acoustic segments of Healing Now I recognized a bit of Styx, with drums giving put the impression of essential folk. When it comes to more easy jams, 1979 stands out with its heavy guitars, mellotron and basses. Retro rock continued to shine on Eleven and Mortar Grinde that many would characterize as stoner rock titles. The most complex number is The Physics of Gridlock with sharp vocal modulations, modern alt-rock elements and constant interplay of riffs, melodies and vocals. The real surprise comes with the part that was sung in French.
Road Salt Two still stands as an example of will power. The exit is always there, you just need to be able to find it. That would be the paradigm of Pains of Salvation.
