Band:	Pain Of Salvation
Album:	One Hour By The Concrete Lake
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	July 21, 1998
Guest review by:	DreamWeaver

01. Spirit Of The Land
02. Inside
03. The Big Machine
04. New Years Eve
05. Handful Of Nothing
06. Water
07. Home
08. Black Hills
09. Pilgrim
10. Shore Serenity
11. Inside Out
12. Beyond The Mirror [Japanese bonus]
13. Timeweaver's Tale [Japanese bonus]

Wow! This isn't an album; this is truly an experience. The Pain Of Salvation's debut disc, "Entropia," certainly had its moments, but nothing could have prepared the band's listeners for this follow-up disc. Creative does not even begin to describe this disc. It is completely unique and leaves the listener never knowing what is coming next.

You have to be careful with Pain Of Salvation, and especially this disc, because they do not sound like anything else you have ever heard before, so you have to give them time. I will admit it, I bought this disc once before, and traded it because it just was not my "kind of music" So I thought. As I was going to see them live, however, I decided to give them another try and, boy, am I glad I did.

So, what do they sound like? Well, they sound like Pain Of Salvation. Sorry, but that's the best I can do. While I think the production is exactly what they want, there is an under-produced feel to the disc. They sometimes have the epic feel of the classic years of Yes and sometimes have the funk sound of a band like Faith No More. The song-writing, overall though, has to be compared to the "Close To The Edge" period of Yes. Everything on the disc is melodic, but you don't realize this until you get to know the tracks, before which they sound like random pieces thrown together to make a song. Once you know what to expect around the corner, however, the excellence of the song-writing is clear.

Everyone contributes here. The main man, of course, is singer and songwriter extraordinaire Daniel Gildenlow. His singing is as good, varied, and unique as the already described song-writing. He usually sings in the lower ranges with a gruff voice, but has great range when he chooses to use it. The rest of the band is always around, though. At any point, the lead guitar, bass, or keyboard may take the melodic lead of a track.

There are no low points to this disc, but there are some highlights, and those would be "New Year's Day," "Water," "Pilgrim," and "Inside Out." This is truly a unique listening experience and absolutely required listening for fans of progressive-metal. And when you do buy this, please, give it ten good listens before you decide you don't like it.