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
To the Shoreline
Pain of Salvation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And she's far from sane
When she takes my hand
And she pulls me away
She leads me down to the shoreline
She leads me down to the sea
She pulls me into the water
"Love, you know that I can make you stronger
Love, you know that I can make you brave
But there's one thing that you must remember:
That I am too far gone for you to save"
Sand through her fingers
The night slips away
She gave me her body
But never her name
I followed her to the shoreline
I'd follow her to the grave
Two sinking ships in the darkness
And we are much too close to break away
And I know that she will make me stronger
And I know that she will make me see
And I know that she will make me younger
But I don't know what more she'll do to me
And she said: "You know that I can make you stronger
Love, you know that I can make you brave
But there's one thing that you must remember:
That I am too far gone for you to save"
The opening lines of the song To the Shoreline by Pain of Salvation, "I'm far from sober and she's far from sane", sets the bleak and chaotic tone for this song. The song's narrator is willingly led by a woman whom he knows is not entirely mentally stable. The chorus describes how she takes him to the water, leading him down to the shoreline and into the sea. There, she whispers to him "Love, you know that I can make you stronger, love, you know that I can make you brave, but there's one thing that you must remember: that I am too far gone for you to save". The lyrics suggest that the woman is aware of her own mental state and has warned the singer that she is not stable enough to be saved.
As the song continues, it becomes clear that the singer is in a relationship with this woman, but he doesn't even know her name. The imagery of the "sinking ships in the darkness" further highlights their doomed and chaotic relationship. In the second verse, the singer admits that the woman will make him stronger, see, and younger, but he doesn't know what else she'll do to him. The final chorus repeats the warning that the woman is too far gone for the singer to save her.
Overall, the song To the Shoreline is a haunting portrayal of a tumultuous relationship with a partner who is aware of her own instability. The lyrics suggest that the singer is aware of the danger of the relationship, but he stays anyway, drawn in by the woman's allure.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm far from sober
I'm not thinking clearly and my judgment is impaired
And she's far from sane
She's mentally unstable and her actions are unpredictable
When she takes my hand
When she initiates physical contact
And she pulls me away
And she takes me to a different location
She leads me down to the shoreline
She guides me to the edge of the land and sea
She leads me down to the sea
She guides me towards the vast body of water
She pulls me into the water
She forcefully takes me into the sea
And then she whispers to me:
And then she speaks to me softly
"Love, you know that I can make you stronger
"My affection for you can empower you
Love, you know that I can make you brave
My affection for you can give you courage
But there's one thing that you must remember:
But there's an important fact you need to keep in mind
That I am too far gone for you to save"
That I'm beyond help, and you can't save me
Sand through her fingers
Grains of sand slipping away from her hand
The night slips away
The time passes quickly
She gave me her body
She had sex with me
But never her name
But didn't reveal her true identity
I followed her to the shoreline
I pursued her to the water's edge
I'd follow her to the grave
I'm willing to follow her until death
Two sinking ships in the darkness
We are both struggling and doomed
And we are much too close to break away
We are too entangled to separate
And I know that she will make me stronger
I'm aware that she can boost my confidence
And I know that she will make me see
I'm aware that she can provide me with a new perspective
And I know that she will make me younger
I'm aware that she can make me feel youthful
But I don't know what more she'll do to me
But I'm uncertain about the other effects she'll have on me
Contributed by Jayce E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.