Band:	Pain Of Salvation
Album:	Remedy Lane
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	January 15, 2002
Guest review by:	DreamWeaver

01. Of Two Beginnings
02. Ending Theme
03. Fandango
04. A Trace Of Blood
05. This Heart Of Mine (I Pledge)
06. Undertow
07. Rope Ends
08. Chain Sling
09. Dryad Of The Woods
10. Thorn Clown [Japanese bonus]
11. Remedy Lane
12. Waking Every God
13. Second Love
14. Beyond The Pale

Staying true to what they have done in the past, Pain Of Salvation's "Remedy Lane" sounds like a Pain Of Salvation disc, but sounds completely different than anything the band has done before. Both lighter and more straightforward than their previous two discs, "Remedy Lane" is simply difficult to take out of the CD-player, because most other discs from other bands seem boring after listening to this.

The band remains intact since the line-up from the second disc and they have seemingly hit a stride that cannot be stopped at this point. Accessible progressive-metal is a genre that Pain Of Salvation seems to be creating by themselves. The music is definitely progressive, with the listener never knowing what is going to come next; however, once you get to know the tracks, you find that almost every moment is melodic and interesting. In this way, the band reminds me of the classic years of Yes. Before you know the music, you want to say, "What the heck is this?" But once you know it, it is as addictive as any music ever made.

There is no doubt that this is the band's lightest disc yet, with several tracks like "This Heart Of Mine" and "Second Love" as soft as anything the band has ever done. And the disc, as a whole, does not have very many heavy parts. The aforementioned "Second Love" and "Rope Ends" are the highlights of this disc, along with the instrumental title-track.

While every member of this band is a great musician, singer Daniel Gidenlow is the star amongst the stars, once again. His voice is truly an instrument as he uses his amazing range with uncanny precision. In terms of being able to cross vocal genres, Gidenlow is on par with former Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton, being able to sing a tender passage beautifully, then immediately crossing over into some funk-metal screams.

"Remedy Lane" is the third consecutive brilliant disc from Pain Of Salvation, who, clearly, cannot do anything wrong at this point in their career. Their discs are like children of the same parents: all completely different and unique, yet bearing unmistakable similarities. It is not even worth trying to rank Pain Of Salvation discs. It is enough to say that they are all brilliant in their own way.