One Three Seven (2018 Remaster)

Sweden’s PAIN OF SALVATION continue their ever-progressing, highly sophisticated musical journey with a double album project, “Road Salt”, which showcases this outstanding band at its most emotionally intense, but also leaning towards a more classic, yet extremely colourful 70’s Rock style. In a world governed by increasingly rigid rules and conformist conceptions of art, PAIN OF SALVATION have created their own niche on the international music scene. Their intelligently composed and cleverly arranged songs have mixed metal, pop, funk, disco, blues, goth and folk with Arabian and Oriental influences plus other more or less extreme musical styles into a homogenous whole. PAIN OF SALVATION consciously do without any kind of artistic compromise, the only criterion for their compositions being top quality and profound contents. “Skills and complexity should be part of the machinery, not the functionality or design,” says the band’s frontman Daniel Gildenlöw, “so I try to hide it away where the engine is supposed to be – under the hood of a machine built mainly to process ideas and emotions.” This is precisely why their albums go down so well with fans and media from a variety of camps, from the progressive metal scene through nu metal to prog rock and even world music.Since the foundation of his first significant band, Reality, in 1984, mastermind and bandleader Daniel Gildenlöw has consistently followed his own concept of diverse, technically accomplished and border- transcending progressive rock. He renamed the band to PAIN OF SALVATION in 1991 and has ever since released six studio albums and one unplugged recording, among them classics such as “Scarsick” (2007), “BE” (2004) and “Remedy Lane” (2002). Each of these releases has impressed as a multi-layered concept album, dealing with tough socio-political themes, while manifesting very intimate, individualist views at the same time.PAIN OF SALVATION’s latest release in November of 2009, the “Linoleum” EP, marked the advance introduction of the “Road Salt” double album project and served as small forecast of greater things to come. The band backed up the launch of the EP with a string of headlining tourdates throughout Europe and Russia, a run of support shows for Dream Theater in Australia as well as with the participation in the Swedish Melodifestivalen, the national competition for the Eurovision song contest, an event followed by Millions of viewers in national TV. PAIN OF SALVATION appeared in the contest with the new album’s atmospheric title track ‘Road Salt’ and the quality of the song as well as its performance not only left an impressing note with the audience despite the band’s rather untypical character for such event, but also catapulted the band into mainstream media attention. The band successfully moved into a “second chance” next round of the event but in the end didn’t manage to qualify for the finals. Nevertheless, the song ‘Road Salt’ acquired massive praise from all corners within Sweden, climbed the national single charts up to # 12 (as digital only release!) and consequently sets a great pace to kick off the new album’s release.“Road Salt One” (previously also referred to as “Road Salt Ivory”) includes not only the album’s magnetic title track alongside the previously mentioned ‘Linoleum’ EP track (for which the band shot an energetic performance video clip), but also features other instant highlights like the captivating opening song ‘No Way’, the awe-inspiring ‘Sisters’ (which will serve as second single release) or the acute ‘Where It Hurts’ (which will be the second video clip), making “Road Salt One” a creative rollercoaster of the highest quality and strongest impact, sure to once more please the band’s committed followers but also likely to reach new listeners due to the music’s versatility and its richness of texture as well as lyrical depth.Gildenlöw further comments: “Road Salt One is twelve tracks of sweaty gravel, asphalt butterflies, untrodden paths and brave decisions. It will not beg for your liking, it will not make excuses, it will not carry you safely across the dangerous waters. If you don't pick up its pace it will leave you stranded at the curb of the road. Yes, Road Salt One might indeed be a harsh lover, but if you have the guts to follow it whole-heartedly and dare to surrender to its voice, it will take you places you need to visit.” 

"Santana's fourth album, Caravanserai, finally being reissued and remastered by Columbia Legacy/Sony, is a landmark recording for the band. Originally released in 1973, this album marked a change for the band, as they were moving away from the Latin tinged psychedelic pop rock of their earlier recordings to a more ethereal, jazz fusion based sound. Change also brought about line-up shuffles, as after this album second guitarist Neal Schon and keyboard player/singer Gregg Rolie left the band to form Journey. Famed keyboard virtuoso Tom Coster made his first appearance on this release, and he later spent many years alongside Carlos Santana in various incarnations of the band. The influence of groups such as Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Lifetime, Miles Davis, Larry Coryell's Eleventh House, and John Coltrane are heard all throughout this CD. Latin percussion mixes with swirling organ while Santana and Schon's guitar licks run rampant on each track. While the bands signature melody on "Song of the Wind" still remains a classic, it's the extended breakouts on tunes like "La Fuente Del Ritmo" , complete with an amazing electric piano solo from Coster, and the energetic "Just in Time to See the Sun" that really shine. Drummer Mike Shrieve comes into his own on this albums more jazzy context, and the percussive tandem of Jose "Chepito" Areas, Mingo Lewis, and the legendary Armando Peraza provide the perfect Latin rhythms. "Every Step of the Way" features some wicked guitar work from Schon and Santana, supported by manic percussion and raging organ from Rolie, and stands out as a classic example of Latin jazz fusion.My advice to you all, don't walk, but run to your local CD shop and indulge yourself in this timeless classic. The remaster job is superb, with every instrument crisp and clear, and you get a nice booklet that goes into the history behind the album. A must have!" - Sea Of Tranquility

Woodpecker is the debut release from singularly named Swedish vocalist AnnaMy (her spelling not mine).  Its a gorgeous album.  This is beautifully recorded gentle, melodic psychedelic folk.  Plenty of electricity here - most notably on electric guitar courtesy of Reine Fiske.  Undercurrents of flute and organ spice up the mix but the focus is on AnnaMy's stunning voice.  The overall sound pays homage to the greats of the 70s.  Think in terms of Trees, Mellow Candle, Caedmon, and Vashti Bunyan.  This one is a real grower.  Highly recommended.

Andy Latimer goes Celtic!

This is kind of a shocking release to turn up on Napalm Records. It looks as though they are joining the ranks of Nuclear Blast and Century Media in picking up progressive metal bands...and that can't really be a bad thing. Serenity hails from Austria. They've been kicking around for awhile but this is their debut release. The music is a mix of melodic and progressive metal with some power touches. Georg Neuhauser's vocals have a plaintive, emotional feel that suits the music quite well. They focus on melody but are smart enough to lure a prog head like me in with occassional instrumentals of the Dream Theater variety. Savatage, Vanden Plas, Threshold, DT - these guys have their bases covered. Solid debut. Highly recommended.

"With a mighty thunder and shout one of the most anticipated albums of 2011 is upon us, that would be Theocracy’s latest album entitled As the World Bleeds. Taking the seeds that were spread across the bands two previous albums As the World Bleeds is that previous work come to fruition.The song writing is world class through out with fabulous arrangements that bring subtlety to the forefront. Opening with an 11 minute track (I Am) isn’t always advised but Theocracy pulls it off building to a crashing crescendo. Epic choruses which have become their trademark are arranged with precision and executed flawlessly.What I love about Theocracy is that their arrangements are memorable and are a stark contrast to the extreme vocals heard in so many of today’s metal acts. Some reviewers have compared them to Dream Theater, but I find a comparison with Stratovarius is must more compelling.Even though the musical territory on As the World Bleeds is similar to their previous release Mirror of Souls, the band just feels must more comfortable. Safe in their own skin as it were, one of the elements this time that was not apparent in the prior releases is the quality of the guitar solos. Many of the tracks benefit from a scorching solo that wouldn’t have appeared before. Let it made clear that the solos don’t occur at the expense of the songs, there isn’t a sense of ridiculous noodling.Power house tracks like Nailed, The Master Story Teller and Altar to an Unknown God are all top drawer compositions which are indicative of the release as a whole. Lyrics, riffs, melodies, performances are world class and deserve the accolades they receive.The production elements are of the highest caliber as the sound of the instruments and vocals are clearly defined. Listening to the lush composition The Gift of Music is an epic arrangement that sounds fabulous. The package of songwriting, arrangements and performance is in the upper eschelon.Having said all this I simply don’t want to over hype this album. This is a top 10 album for this year, but having read some of the negative thoughts all I’m gonna say is if you don’t care European flavored Power Metal with touches of progressive whimsy, you might want to pass on this and grab Terraphobia’s latest (a great album in it’s own right!).However if you want soaring melodies with clean vocals, great guitar work, epic choruses and powerful heavy metal make sure you grab As the World Bleeds. A big thumbs up!!" - White Throne Metal Reviews