Trademarks include concept albums focusing on social, environmental, philosophical, and emotional issues as well as songs that incorporate complex rhythms and time changes but retain flowing melodies.
The band was formed by Gildenlöw in 1984 under the name Reality. The band used to participate in many music contests in their homeland of Sweden. The first EP, Hereafter, was recorded in 1996 under the monicker Pain of Salvation, which has been the name of the band since 1991. The Lineup of the band was the same for their first official full length album, Entropia(1997).
After the departure of Daniel Magdic for continuing disagreements with the others over committing to the increasing demands of the band, the band recorded One Hour By The Concrete Lake(1999), a concept album about the issues of nuclear power/waste, disposition of indigenous peoples,industry and human discovery. The band began to receive more attention from critics and magazines all around the world. In 1999 they also played at the famous ProgPower festival in The Netherlands.
Their third and most famous album, The Perfect Element I was released in 2000 and received a great response from the crowd and critics, making them the second most famous Progressive Metal band over the world: a success confirmed by their fourth album, Remedy Lane (2002), a semi-autobiographical album written by Daniel Gildenlöw about loss, love, and life.
2004 saw the release of two different albums, an acoustic live show recorded at Eskilstuna called 12:5 where the band played most of their old famous songs rearranged, and the epic concept album about the origin of humanity and God called BE: It was the first album to divide the fan base in opinion, due to its musically experimental and philosophical nature; and perhaps also its lack of cohesive progressive metal pieces.
BE album was also released in a special DVD edition called BE: The Original Stage Production (2005). With a live CD recorded during the 2003 presentation of the album and a DVD rappresentation from the same dates.
On 21 February 2006, Kristoffer Gildenlöw was asked to leave the band due to him not being able to attend rehearsals, since he lived in Holland and the band lived in Sweden. Kristoffer has a solo album planned for the future, as well as a side project called Dial.
The new album, Scarsick, was released on January 22, 2007. It is more band oriented than BE, with Daniel Gildenlöw playing bass in the studio. Recent interviews with Daniel have revealed that Scarsick is, in fact, the second part of The Perfect Element, confirming the speculation of many fans.
A European tour to support the new album has been announced (it started February 17, 2007). The band will be playing with Simon Andersson, a new replacement bassist on this tour. On the 10th of March, after the Copenhagen show, Simon Andersson was welcomed into Pain of Salvation as a full member. The band issued this message on their website:
He (Simon Andersson) did an outstanding job on the tour and we are looking forward to the coming years with great anticipation. Since his girlfriend is a huge Pain of Salvation fan, we happily expect to see this decision put a little silver lining on their sex life as well, since she can now all of a sudden go to bed with a member of the band :-) Congratulations Simon, and welcome to the family!
In May 2007 it was announced that drummer Johan Langell had decided to leave the band to spend more time with his family.
For Progressive Nation 2009 Tour the band took a new bass guitar player - Per Schelander.
According to their website, there is a new EP "Linoleum" due in November 2009, while a double album "Road Salt", consisting of two parts (Ivory and Ebony) is recorded and to be released in 2010, 2011.
Current lineup:
Daniel Gildenlöw – vocals, guitar
Johan Hallgren – lead guitar, backing vocals
Léo Margarit - drums
Gustaf Hielm - bass guitar, double bass, vocals (1992–1994, 2011–present)
Daniel "D2" Karlsson – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Former members:
Daniel Magdic – guitar, backing vocals
Kristoffer Gildenlöw – bass guitar, double bass, backing vocals
Johan Langell – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Magnus Johansson - bass guitar (1990)
Joakim Strandberg - bass guitar (1984–1990)
Mikael Pettersson - drums (1984–1990)
Fredrik Hermansson – keyboards
Simon Andersson - bass guitar, backing vocals (2007-2008)
Per Schelander - bass guitar, backing vocals
Ragnar Zolberg - guitar, vocals, mandolin
05. This Heart of Mine
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Move so softly as you breathe
With every breathe you're growing older
But that is fine if you're with me
I pledge to wake you with a smile
I pledge to hold you when you cry
I pledge to love you till I die
The rays of dawn plays on your eyelids
A sleeping beauty dressed in sun
I will wake you with a smile
I will hold you when you cry
I will love you till I die
Till I die
Till I die
I believe this heart of mine when it tells my eyes
That this is beauty
I believe this heart of mine when it tells my mind
That this is reason
I believe this heart of mine when it cries at time
That this is forever
I believe this heart of mine when it tells the skies
That this is the face of God
[Daniel Gildenlow]
I lie awake watching your shoulders
In this song, Pain of Salvation’s lead vocalist, Daniel Gildenlöw, is expressing his deep love and devotion to his partner. As the song begins, he describes how he’s been lying awake watching his lover sleep peacefully beside him. He marvels at the way her shoulders move up and down as she breathes, acknowledging that time is passing by and she is growing older with every breath. However, he reassures her that he is fine with that as long as they're together.
The chorus then follows, and it's a pledge of love from Gildenlöw to his partner. He promises to wake her up every morning with a smile and hold her whenever she cries. He vows to love her till the end of his life, highlighting the depth of his commitment and devotion towards her.
As the song progresses, Gildenlöw describes the beauty of his partner in poetic and surreal ways, comparing her to a sleeping beauty dressed in sun, and stating that her face is the face of God. He affirms his belief in the power of his heart, which forms the basis of his love, reason, and forever.
Overall, the song is a touching and emotional ode to the power of love and the beauty of loving devotion.
Line by Line Meaning
I lie awake watching your shoulders
I stay up at night, looking at your shoulders, observing how you breathe so softly.
Move so softly as you breathe
With every breath you're growing older
But that is fine if you're with me
As you breathe softly, you age with each inhale and exhale. But it doesn't bother me as long as I'm with you.
I pledge to wake you with a smile
I pledge to hold you when you cry
I pledge to love you till I die
Till I die
I promise to wake you up with a smile on my face, to comfort you when you cry, and to love you unconditionally until the day I die.
The rays of dawn plays on your eyelids
A sleeping beauty dressed in sun
The sun's rays are shining on your eyelids, making you look like a beautiful, sun-dressed sleeper.
I will wake you with a smile
I will hold you when you cry
I will love you till I die
Till I die
Till I die
I will keep my promise to wake you up with a smile, be there for you when you cry, and love you until my last breath.
I believe this heart of mine when it tells my eyes
That this is beauty
I believe this heart of mine when it tells my mind
That this is reason
I believe this heart of mine when it cries at time
That this is forever
I believe this heart of mine when it tells the skies
That this is the face of God
My heart is telling me that you are beauty, reason, forever, and the face of God. I believe in my heart when it shares these profound truths with me.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DANIEL GILDENLOEW, PAIN OF SALVATION
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marcel Philips
Still amazing
SAagreedSA
I hope I get to see Pain of Salvation live before Daniel calls it quits. I guess it's always been his show, but I feel like there's a lot of inertia tied up in the Pain of Salvation name and it'll be beneficial for him to (soon) find other musical outlets... I just don't want him to do it before I get to see them, but them's the breaks, haha.
Hugo Rangel
Thank you for the uploading...