Band:	Pain Of Salvation
Album:	Road Salt One
Style:	Progressive metal, Progressive rock
Release date:	May 17, 2010
A review by:	Ivor

01. What She Means To Me [limited edition bonus]
02. No Way
03. She Likes To Hide
04. Sisters
05. Of Dust
06. Tell Me You Don't Know
07. Sleeping Under The Stars
08. Darkness Of Mine
09. Linoleum
10. Curiosity
11. Where It Hurts
12. Road Salt
13. Innocence
14. Tip Toe Two [Japanese bonus]

If you expected this kind of album after the Linoleum EP, you're really good. If you expected this kind of album after Scarsick, what the hell are you doing reading this review anyway? There's a world open for you. You should be out getting a permanent position as a weather forecaster to improve their services or something. Had I had any particular expectations for this release, I think I would have been slightly disappointed. Or maybe not. I don't even know. However, trying to approach the first listen with a sort of a clean sheet is definitely a good idea. Something clicked for me that way.

This is definitely a Pain Of Salvation album. There's no denying that. But it's nowhere as harsh as Scarsick. Quite the opposite; it's mellow, it's longing. Scarsick took me a while to get used to whereas this one is a lot easier to digest. In a way it's also the weak spot of the album. You might just skim over it and leave it at that. At times it sounds as the slow and dark parts of BE which, you must admit, is not a bad thing. The band didn't treat us with those a lot on Scarsick.

Now however, the biggest surprise. Man, this album is bluesy! That was not exactly shocking but it did make me wide-eyed when I listened. Not that it's something that hasn't been done before. However, if you put it into band's context you can see quite a drift between the albums. Change. That's a word for it. Not leaps, not baby-steps either. Bold, self-confident steps on the path of change. I was told this album reminds ZZ Top's First Album quite a bit which, after making myself acquainted with it, is a statement not entirely untrue. Similarity of the covers might also not be accidental. It is something to give you an idea of the direction the band has taken. If it continues like that, Pain Of Salvation might end up all over the (progressive) rock and metal music spectrum.

It must be said that the album is not without a heavier section. Linoleum EP might have given off an impression that the album will be a rocking piece. In the end, it's only a small part of it. Maybe because of that, the heavier section is all the more cherished. And of course it must also be mentioned that there's the title track, "Road Salt," a song which Pain Of Salvation performed at the Melodifestivalen 2010, a Swedish round of the Eurovision Song Contest. A performance throughout which, if you've seen it, you were expecting hell of a lot more. And damn that early Pink Floyd-ish ending which sounds so good.

All in all the Road Salt One gives off a vintage vibe. I'm not sure how correct is the following comparison but I'm driven by the term old salt here, an old seaman who's seen his share in life, of sea and storms. Similarly, road salt kind of reminds me of an old biker who's been through a lot, and the album is like a bit of an anthem to his life. Music-wise, at least. The storyline is different. Some of you might find this album boring or uninteresting but I'm going to stick with an opinion that it's just different, less kicking probably but good nevertheless.