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
Circles
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
news so he's lost some faith, but still there are fire deep inside that he
must drench to numb ...deep inside, that he must drench to numb...
The lyrics to Pain of Salvation's song Circles convey the story of a man who is struggling with addiction and the toll it's taking on his life. He is counting time using beggings and bottles, indicating his reliance on alcohol as a coping mechanism. He feels himself fading away beneath old news, suggesting a sense of hopelessness and despair. Despite this, he still holds on to a small glimmer of hope - there are fires deep inside him that he must numb in order to survive.
The use of the word "circles" in the title of the song reinforces the notion of a repetitive cycle that the singer is caught in - a cycle of addiction, despair and hopelessness. The repetition of "deep inside" also highlights the inner turmoil that the singer is experiencing, and suggests that the roots of his addiction lie within him.
Through these lyrics, Pain of Salvation offers a poignant commentary on the nature of addiction and the devastating impact it can have on a person's life. The raw emotion and honesty conveyed in the lyrics make it a powerful and moving statement on this important issue.
Line by Line Meaning
now he's counting time in beggings and bottles fading away beneath old news
He has reached a point where he measures time in terms of unfulfilled desires and addiction, while old news continues to fade away into oblivion.
so he's lost some faith, but still there are fire deep inside that he must drench to numb
Despite losing some faith in life, there is still a burning passion inside him which he must suppress to escape the pain and trauma of living.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DANIEL GILDENLOEW, PAIN OF SALVATION
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Travis McGinnis
Really enjoyed this video! It's so interesting to hear some behind the scenes stuff. I would personally love to see a bass playthrough of Dea Pecuniae or Martius-Nauticus II. Or maybe a discussion about your approach to the bass parts on the BE album. Those songs have some of the tastiest bass lines out there in my opinion. Either way, I'm looking forward to more videos!
william aviles
If I could see a lesson on a particular bassline of yours it would have to be the one that starts the final movement of Martius/Nauticus II from BE. It kind of has a sea shanty vibe to it, I don't know what other description works best. But ever since I was 14 years old and I heard that for the first time it has been an all time favorite of mine. It really carries the entire weight and emotion of the album in it and just brings me to tears every time.
Blair Millward
Thank you for sharing - love seeing behind the scenes and how it's made stuff. You should choose whatever you want to share, I think most of us would appreciate anything that you feel like sharing!
Jason Kirby
Very cool! I liked the description of the writing process at the beginning of the video. The studio diary would be a very interesting read! Did the writing process change much as your career in Pain of Salvation progressed?
Kristoffer Gildenlöw
It changed a lot
btb300
Great stuff, Entropia must be my favourite PoS album. Maybe a palythrough if Nightmist some time?
Ryan Wall's Infinite Atrium
Alright this video touched my damn heart thank you Kristoffer always great to hear these stories!
Osanan Anthony Oliveira da Silva
Awesome!!! Thank you very much for the playthrough and for the lesson!!!
Van Hendler
I hope see you live again in Brazil stages, Nice work Man
Onur Sarıçiçek
That bassline always reminded me of Seemann from Rammstein :) (and your editing skills are really on point my dude)