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
Diffidentia
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(I will never submit to all the things you've said god!)
No!
We're breaching the core - we're breaching the core
We're breaching the core - we're breaching...
To taste it
Cut my hand
To crave it
Enslave it
Pluck my eye
I can never submit to all the things you've said God
If you want me dead, I'm right here God
But fear is a funny thing God
In that it gives you the strength to resist just about anything God
And friend turns to enemy
So easily
When you defend your legacy with guilt
And talk of blasphemy
God
You know
You created a golden cage for you sheep
A stage too wide and deep for us to even see the play
But hey
You know what they say about catching the bird
But you can't make it sing?
You lose the bird the second it loses its wings
Just like I reckon you will lose your herd
To choirs of ”I am, I am, I am”
And mountains and mountains of money and things!
We're breaching the core - all breaching
We're breaching the core - still breaching
Animae:
"Help me I'm starting to fade
Save me I'm drifting away"
Imago:
But we can change
We can change...?
I said we can change!
We can change, we can change - still breaching...
We can change, we can change - still breaching...
I hold it
I'm never
Letting go
I settle for rash rather than risk going to slow
I sought it
I killed it
But now I know
I'm left somewhat broken but I won't let it show
Hear me now!
Animae:
"Man is shattered
I am shattered
My shards have become shards of their own
Pieces of pieces, impossible to put back together
Spending their lives seeking a context they were always a part of
And so, they leave the context
And we shrink
I fade
And nothing more can be learnt or taught
I have no choice but to leave them to their own devices
I have come to understand one thing and one thing alone
One little piece of understanding
Glowing through this void of blankness and clean slates
Like a beacon of hope
Or just a reminder that I was always wrong:
Searching for yourself is like looking for the house you stand in
How could you possibly find it?
It's everywhere
It's all you know
And there are no other points of reference"
Animae:
Help me I'm starting to fade
Save me, I'm drifting away
Help me, I'm dying now
(Imago: What are these stains? They stay, stay when it rains...)
Curtains before my final bow
(Imago: ...burning my skin. It's burning... burning... burning my skin!)
Drifting, just drifting away
(Imago: Burning... Take it away, it's burning me... Burning my skin!)
Leaving with all that's still left to say
(Imago: Now life... now life... fails our kin!)
I failed
I failed
We failed
We failed...
The lyrics to Pain of Salvation's song Diffidentia are quite heavy and loaded with meaning. It speaks about rebellion against the authority of God and the consequences that come from defying that authority. The first part of the song seems to be making a point about man's defiance of God and his tendency to want to taste and touch forbidden things rather than submitting to God's will. The singer seems to be saying that they will never submit to God's authority, even if it means giving up their life. But they also recognize the power of fear and the way it can strengthen someone to resist even the most powerful authority. The singer is warning that a person's friends can turn into enemies when they try to defend their legacy with guilt and accusations of blasphemy.
The second half of the song presents a dialogue between two characters, Imago and Animae. Imago seems to be encouraging change and urging everyone to continue the process of breaching the core (which could represent breaking free from the constraints of religion). Meanwhile, Animae presents a bleak and hopeless outlook, noting that man is fragmented and searching for context, but the pieces are impossible to put back together. She resigns herself to the fact that there's nothing left to teach or learn and that she must leave everyone to their own devices. The song concludes with a sense of failure and despair as the characters realize that they have failed themselves and each other.
Line by Line Meaning
No!
I refuse to submit to what you say, God.
We're breaching the core - we're breaching the core / We're breaching the core - we're breaching...
We're breaking through the surface, we're making progress.
To taste it / To touch it / Cut my hand / To crave it / Enslave it / Pluck my eye
I will go to any length to get what I want, even if it hurts me.
I can never submit to all the things you've said God / If you want me dead, I'm right here God / But fear is a funny thing God / In that it gives you the strength to resist just about anything God / And friend turns to enemy / So easily / When you defend your legacy with guilt / And talk of blasphemy / God / You know / You created a golden cage for you sheep / A stage too wide and deep for us to even see the play / But hey / You know what they say about catching the bird / But you can't make it sing? / You lose the bird the second it loses its wings / Just like I reckon you will lose your herd / To choirs of ”I am, I am, I am” / And mountains and mountains of money and things!
I don't accept blindly what you say, God. Fear may motivate me to resist you, and I'm well aware that defending your ideals can turn people against you. You've set up a system that restricts and confines us, and it's impossible to see the big picture. You've brought this on yourself by trying to control us, and you'll lose all you've built to those who proclaim their own greatness and gather wealth.
Animae: "Help me I'm starting to fade / Save me I'm drifting away"
I'm losing my way, and I need help to stay on track.
Imago: / But we can change / We can change...? / I said we can change! / We can change, we can change - still breaching... / We can change, we can change - still breaching...
We can change our lives, but it takes effort and persistence to do so.
I hold it / I'm never / Letting go / I settle for rash rather than risk going to slow / I sought it / I killed it / But now I know / I'm left somewhat broken but I won't let it show / Hear me now!
I have a firm grasp on my life, and I won't easily let go. I'm willing to take risks in order to move forward, and I've made mistakes but learned from them. Though it may have left me hurting, I won't let anyone see my struggles.
Animae: "Man is shattered / I am shattered / My shards have become shards of their own / Pieces of pieces, impossible to put back together / Spending their lives seeking a context they were always a part of / And so, they leave the context / And we shrink / I fade / And nothing more can be learnt or taught / I have no choice but to leave them to their own devices / I have come to understand one thing and one thing alone / One little piece of understanding / Glowing through this void of blankness and clean slates / Like a beacon of hope / Or just a reminder that I was always wrong: / Searching for yourself is like looking for the house you stand in / How could you possibly find it? / It's everywhere / It's all you know / And there are no other points of reference"
People can feel lost trying to find their place in the world, and sometimes it's impossible to navigate. The search for oneself is a lifelong journey and can feel impossible, but it's something experienced in common by others.
Animae: "Help me I'm starting to fade / Save me, I'm drifting away / Help me, I'm dying now / (Imago: What are these stains? They stay, stay when it rains...) / Curtains before my final bow / (Imago: ...burning my skin. It's burning... burning... burning my skin!) / Drifting, just drifting away / (Imago: Burning... Take it away, it's burning me... Burning my skin!) / Leaving with all that's still left to say / (Imago: Now life... now life... fails our kin!) / I failed / I failed / We failed / We failed...
I'm slipping away and need saving before it's too late, as this is my final act where everything is becoming unbearable. I'm dying, and it hurts me and those around me to see me in pain. Despite everything left unsaid, I've failed in life and left with regrets.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Daniel Gildenloew
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind