Band:	Pain Of Salvation
Album:	Scarsick
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	January 30, 2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Scarsick
02. Spitfall
03. Cribcaged
04. America
05. Disco Queen
06. Kingdom Of Loss
07. Mrs. Modern Mother Mary
08. Idiocracy
09. Flame To The Moth
10. Enter Rain

"We will be the first band ever who will make the Prog Metallers dance!". It was the words that Johan Hallgren told me when I had the luck to meet him the other day in Paris to talk about the new album of Pain Of Salvation, "Scarsick". Of course it was not so serious but it is for me a good way to show you that it will be a really disturbing album for the fans of the already cult band of Progressive Metal. Different, special but always extremely deep and beautiful, "Scarsick" will maybe be a "hate or love" album for some of you, but I can tell you that with time, you'll learn to love it. One more time with the band, we're in front of a really good album.

"Scarsik" is not "Remedy Lane" or "The Perfect Element Part 1". Of course POS still plays Progressive Metal don't worry, but the band took a lot of risks with this release. The fact is that "Scarsik" is a disturbing album in reason of its real differences with the previous albums of the band. Here, you'll be able to find a "Prog-Hip Hop" song ("Spitfall") or a real "Prog-Disco" one ("Disco Queen") which are both really good (with great lyrics) but evidently original and "special" when you know the Swedish combo. If the second part of the album is a little more classic, with real Progressive songs like "Kingdom Of Loss" or "Enter Rain" it's clear that you'll only "hear" first those disturbing tracks. But they're good and catchy and since that the band didn't loose its way to write good deep and beautiful music with real engaged and intelligent lyrics I'm sure that you'll quickly be addicted by the songs? if you're of course a bit open minded.

But now, I'm sure that you want to know if it is their best album right? To be honest I don't think so. "Scarsick" is so different that it's just impossible to compare it with the previous releases of our Swedish guys but even if the songs are good they don't have the quality of a song like "Used" for example. On the other hand, the performance of the musicians is just amazing (maybe the best since the beginning of POS) and Daniel Gildenlöw proves one more time that he is one of the best singers of the scene with some incredible vocal capacities (a bit like a Mike Patton who can sing Hip Hop like Grind or Funk?). "Scarsisk" is maybe not so deep and complex like the previous masterpieces of the band but there is something special in this release and with time I can tell you that you'll enjoy a lot the album.

With a perfect production some "special" songs like "Disco Queen" and of course a bunch of classy Progressive Metal ones, "Scarsick" is good album of Progressive Metal. It's different right but it doesn't mean that it's bad and if you find the time to understand the album, you'll agree with me to say that POS is still one of the leaders of the genre. If you want great Prog and want to dance (yes they promised that they will play "Disco Queen" live!) "Scarsik" will have to be in your discography.