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
Innocence
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who somewhere on this road led me astray
And I've seen so many broken souls
Broken in despair
Lying at the curb gasping for air
Always thought I'd change somehow
Altered by the road
But every step along the way
Every mile of road
Wore down the fearless manchild that was me
Restless mind
You steal my time
Need to find a place to hide
Slowly losing my innocence
Slowly losing my innocence
Slowly losing
Once there was a me who always knew what's right
But somewhere on this road he lost his light
Always thought I'd be much more
I would transform
Somehow someday
Never thought I'd be this weak
Never thought I'd fall
And lose myself along these dusty roads
But here I am
Reckless time
You steal my mind
Need to hide each place I've found
Still I'm losing my innocence
I'm still losing my innocence
We're all losing our innocence
I want that invincible time, that invincible me
I want it all back
I want it all back
I want myself back
The lyrics to Pain of Salvation's song Innocence explore the idea of losing one's sense of self and innocence while navigating through the challenges and trials of life. The singer of the song remembers a time in his life when he felt confident and knew his place in the world, but along the way, he has lost his way and his light. The broken souls that he encounters on the road serve as a reminder of the fragility of life and the loss of innocence that comes with it. The singer is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he is not the invincible manchild that he once thought he was, as every mile of the road has worn him down and made him realize his own weaknesses.
The lyrics also speak to the struggle of trying to find oneself again, to regain that sense of invincibility and purity that was once there. The restless mind and reckless time that the singer speaks of are the forces that have wearied him and caused him to feel lost. The loss of innocence is not just his own, but a universal theme that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. The singer longs to reclaim his former self and to find a place of refuge where he can hide from the world and the challenges that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Once there was a me who always knew the way
There was a time when I had a clear sense of direction in my life
Who somewhere on this road led me astray
But at some point, I got lost and off track on my journey
And I've seen so many broken souls
Along the way, I've witnessed a lot of people who are struggling and hurting
Broken in despair
They are broken and hopeless
Lying at the curb gasping for air
Metaphorically, they are hurt and struggling to survive
Always thought I'd change somehow
I used to believe that I could change my fate and circumstances
Altered by the road
But the journey itself has changed me
And become what I was always meant to be
I hoped to find my true purpose and destiny
But every step along the way
However, every single step has been challenging
Every mile of road
The long and difficult journey has taken a toll on me
Wore down the fearless manchild that was me
I used to be fearless, but the journey has made me weaker and more vulnerable
Restless mind
My mind is constantly uneasy and anxious
You steal my time
It feels like my thoughts are stealing my time and energy
Need to find a place to hide
I wish I could escape from my own thoughts for a while
Slowly losing my innocence
As I journey through life, I'm losing my sense of purity and naivete
Slowly losing my innocence
I'm becoming more aware and exposed to the harsh realities of life
Slowly losing
It's a gradual process, but I can feel it happening
Once there was a me who always knew what's right
I used to be very confident in my own morality and values
But somewhere on this road he lost his light
But my sense of morality and values has dimmed over time
Always thought I'd be much more
I had always hoped that I would accomplish great things
I would transform
I believed that I could change and become a better person
Somehow someday
I was hopeful that it would happen eventually
Never thought I'd be this weak
But I never imagined that I would be so vulnerable and powerless
Never thought I'd fall
I didn't expect to experience failure and defeat so often
And lose myself along these dusty roads
But the journey has caused me to lose my sense of identity and purpose
But here I am
Despite everything, I am still here
Reckless time
Time seems to be passing by too quickly and uncontrollably
You steal my mind
It feels like time is robbing me of my sanity and reason
Need to hide each place I've found
I feel like I need to keep my experiences and knowledge to myself
Still I'm losing my innocence
I'm continuing to lose my sense of purity and idealism
I'm still losing my innocence
It's an ongoing process, and I'm not done yet
We're all losing our innocence
I'm not the only one going through this - everyone is experiencing a loss of innocence in some way
I want that invincible time, that invincible me
I long for the time when I felt invincible and like I could do anything
I want it all back
I wish I could go back to that time and feeling
I want myself back
More than anything, I wish I could regain my sense of self and purpose
Contributed by Grace A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.