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
NO WAY
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh no
There is no way - I see through you
Cause when I hold her in the night
All that is wrong will become right
And I know that she feels it too
'Cause no one loves her like I do
Feels like bleeding
From two self inflicted wounds
Feels like dying
Feels like dying
But I'll live
But I'll live
There is no way that you could touch her like I do
Oh no
She thinks of me when she's with you
She wants it gently like a child
But play her right and she goes wild
But you can never ask her why
Then she will close up and deny
But still I'm bleeding
This old road salt
From my self inflicted eyes
Slowly scarring
And corroding
To thaw this young heart of ice
And I'm kneeling
Yes, I'm kneeling
But I'll live
But I'll live
I can see how you would need her to spice up your grind
I can see why she moves you, knocks you out of orbit and mind
And I can see how you need her to save you from yourself
Unmeshing you from your grid, to dust you off on your shelf
But I can't see why she needs you
No
I can't see that at all
You'd have something that I don't?
Would that be possible?
Would that be possible?
The song "No Way" by Pain of Salvation explores the pain and longing of a man who is deeply in love with a woman who is with someone else. The lyrics convey the singer's belief that no one can love this woman like he does, and that he understands her on a level that her current partner cannot. He expresses his emotional turmoil, feeling as though he's bleeding and dying, but ultimately concludes that he will live despite the pain.
The verse "There is no way that you could touch her like I do" highlights the physical intimacy the singer shares with the woman, and how he believes that her current partner cannot match the passion and intensity they share. He believes that the woman secretly thinks of him when she's with her current partner, as he knows her in a way that he does not. The bridge "I can see how you would need her to spice up your grind" conveys the contradictory feelings he holds towards her partner, acknowledging the attraction but feeling as though he cannot understand why the woman chooses to be with him instead.
The chorus "But still I'm crying/Feels like bleeding/From two self-inflicted wounds/Feels like dying, feels like dying/ But I'll live, but I'll live" conveys the singer's emotional pain, feeling as though he's deliberately harming himself by pursuing a love that he cannot have. However, he resolves to live despite the pain, acknowledging that he cannot control his emotions or the situation.
Line by Line Meaning
There is no way that you can love her like I do
I know that nobody loves her the way I do
There is no way - I see through you
I can see through you and know that you don't love her as much as I do
Cause when I hold her in the night
When I hold her at night
All that is wrong will become right
Everything bad in the world will feel okay when I'm holding her
And I know that she feels it too
I know that she loves me back
'Cause no one loves her like I do
Nobody could ever love her the way I do
But still I'm crying
I'm still upset
Feels like bleeding
It feels like I'm bleeding inside
From two self-inflicted wounds
From two things that I've done to myself
Feels like dying, feels like dying
It feels like I'm dying
But I'll live, but I'll live
But I'll keep going
There is no way that you could touch her like I do
There's no way you could touch her the way I do
She thinks of me when she's with you
She's thinking of me while she's with you
She wants it gently like a child
She wants it to be gentle
But play her right and she goes wild
But if you do it right, she'll go crazy
But you can never ask her why
But you can't ask her why
Then she will close up and deny
She'll shut down and refuse to talk about it
But still I'm bleeding
I'm still hurting
This old road salt from my self-inflicted eyes
Tears caused by something I've done to myself
Slowly scarring and corroding
Slowly causing harm over time
To thaw this young heart of ice
To melt my frozen heart
And I'm kneeling, yes, I'm kneeling
I'm begging and pleading for her love
But I'll live, but I'll live
But I'll keep going
I can see how you would need her to spice up your grind
I understand why you need her to add some excitement to your life
I can see why she moves you, knocks you out of orbit and mind
I understand why she's able to sweep you off your feet
And I can see how you need her to save you from yourself
I understand why you need her to save you from your own problems
Unmeshing you from your grid, to dust you off on your shelf
Helping you break free from your routine to get you back on track
But I can't see why she needs you
But I don't see why she needs you
No, I can't see that at all
I really don't see it
You'd have something that I don't? Would that be possible?
Do you have something I don't? Is that even possible?
Contributed by Jeremiah J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.