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
Brickwork VIII
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I want you to know I can't sleep anymore
By the nights
Night after night the stars are shining so bright
Though my pain is larger than Universe tonight
Want you to know I can't sleep anymore
By the nights, by the nights
That you're mine, you are mine
Year after year, oh, tear after tear
It feels like my heart will break in two
You came like a wind, I couldn't defend
You cut my heart so deeply the scars won't mend
I'll never believe in love anymore, after this, after this
Can never change or re-arrange what we lost, what we lost
[F. Hermansson]
Time after time I am wasting my time
Living in a past where I was strong
But now I am gone, I leave no shadow when I'm alone
I'll stay forever in my dreams where you are near
Want you to know I can't sleep anymore
By the nights, by the nights
Day after day I want you to say
That you're mine, you are mine
Want you to know I can't sleep anymore
By the nights, by the nights
Day after day I want you to say
That you're mine, you are mine
Who will be there now? When I lose my one true love?
(When I lose my love)
I am falling now - Darkness below and above
There is nothing you can do to help now
I am lost within myself as so many times before
There's nothing you can do to ease my pain
I am so, so sorry but if you love me you must let go
Two young souls in the dance of a chain sling
Love once born from the ink of Solitude
Bidding to dance in the swing of a rope end
Walking their Remedy Lane through this interlude of pain
Who will be there now? When I lose my one true love?
(I am falling now)
Have I lost myself? To love someone else...
Please let me be yours please never leave
Please stay here close to me
All love we shared where is it now?
Please let me be better than I was
Please don't give up on us
The thought of leaving you...
...I DO NOT KNOW HOW
The lyrics to "Brickwork VIII" by Pain of Salvation explore themes of heartbreak and loss in a relationship. The singer expresses their inability to move on and forget their former lover despite the passing of time. The song begins by highlighting the physical distance between the two individuals, with the singer unable to sleep at night due to their yearning for their lost love. Despite feeling as if their pain is immense, the bright shining stars offer a glimmer of bittersweet hope in the darkness of their emotions. As the song progresses, the singer reflects on the depth of their heartbreak, feeling as if their heart will break in two, and struggling to come to terms with the end of their relationship.
The lyrics continue to convey the singer's sense of loss and a desire for their former lover to return. They plead for their love to say that they are mine, and express their sense of hopelessness as they feel they can never believe in love again. Eventually, the singer realizes that they must let go of their beloved and that nobody can ease their pain. The song concludes by hinting at the possibility of new love but also questioning whether they have lost themselves to love someone else.
Line by Line Meaning
Day after day, nothing's changed you're far away
Every day passes the same way with no changes, and you are distant from me.
But I want you to know I can't sleep anymore
I want you to know that I am unable to sleep anymore because I am longing for you.
By the nights
During the night time.
Night after night the stars are shining so bright
Every night, the stars are shining very brightly.
Though my pain is larger than Universe tonight
Despite the stars shining so beautifully, my pain is larger than the universe tonight.
Day after day I want you to say
Every day, I want you to tell me that you are mine.
That you're mine, you are mine
That you belong only to me.
Year after year, oh, tear after tear
As the years go by, tears keep falling from my eyes.
It feels like my heart will break in two
The pain is so intense that it feels like my heart is about to break into two.
You came like a wind, I couldn't defend
You swept into my life unexpectedly, and I was unable to defend myself from your love.
You cut my heart so deeply the scars won't mend
Your love has hurt me so deeply that the scars will never fully heal.
I'll never believe in love anymore, after this, after this
Because of the pain caused by your love, I can never believe in love again.
Can never change or re-arrange what we lost, what we lost
Nothing can ever bring back what we lost in our relationship.
Time after time I am wasting my time
I am constantly wasting my time, hoping things will change between us.
Living in a past where I was strong
I am living in the past when I was strong, and I am not strong anymore.
But now I am gone, I leave no shadow when I'm alone
Now that you are gone, I am alone, and I feel like there is nothing left of me.
I'll stay forever in my dreams where you are near
I will forever stay in my dreams where you are close to me.
Who will be there now? When I lose my one true love?
When I lose the love of my life, who will be there for me?
(When I lose my love)
When my love is gone.
I am falling now - Darkness below and above
I feel like I am falling into darkness with nothing below or above me.
There is nothing you can do to help now
There is nothing you can do to ease my pain now.
I am lost within myself as so many times before
I am lost within myself, just like many times before.
There's nothing you can do to ease my pain
There is absolutely nothing that can ease my pain.
I am so, so sorry but if you love me you must let go
I am sorry, but if you truly love me, you need to let me go.
Two young souls in the dance of a chain sling
Two young souls dancing, but tied up in chains.
Love once born from the ink of Solitude
The love between these two people was born from their loneliness.
Bidding to dance in the swing of a rope end
They are struggling to stay together, and it feels like they are hanging by a thread.
Walking their Remedy Lane through this interlude of pain
They are trying to find a way to fix their broken relationship.
Please let me be yours please never leave
Please let me be yours forever, and please never leave me.
Please stay here close to me
Please stay close to me.
All love we shared where is it now?
Where has all the love that we had gone now?
Please let me be better than I was
Please let me be a better person than I was before.
Please don't give up on us
Please don't give up on our relationship.
The thought of leaving you...
The thought of leaving you hurts me deeply.
...I DO NOT KNOW HOW
I don't know how to leave you.
Contributed by Dylan S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.