Pain of Salvation

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Pain of Salvation is a Progressive Metal band. The only consistent member is Daniel Gildenlow, the lead singer, guitarist, composer and lyricist. They are known for their emotional music, use of Uncommon Time, switching between heavy and soft passages and Daniel's wide vocal range. Unusually in Progressive Metal, they concentrate less on displays of instrumental technicality and more on emotion and precise execution.

Discography:
  • Entropia (1997)
  • One Hour by the Concrete Lake (1998)
  • The Perfect Element: Part I (2000)
  • Remedy Lane (2002)
  • "BE" (2004)
  • Scarsick (2007, Part II of The Perfect Element)
  • Road Salt One (2010)
  • Road Salt Two (2011)
Pain of Salvation provides examples of the following tropes:
  • Abusive Parents: Both of the protagonists of The Perfect Element had them. "Used" is partially sung from the viewpoint of He's abusive father.
  • Anachronic Order: The songs on Remedy Lane are presented out of chronological order.
  • Break Up Song: Basically all of Remedy Lane, and several songs from their other albums.
  • Canis Latinicus: The song titles on "BE".
  • Childhood Friend Romance: The protagonist of Remedy Lane tries to resume one. It doesn't really work out for him.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: "Cribcaged", especially compared to most of their other songs which very rarely contain cursing.
  • Concept Album: All of them (with one exception - the Road Salt albums have been said to be concept albums, but they don't have a cohesive storyline like all the others).
    • Entropia deals with a family torn apart by war.
    • One Hour by the Concrete Lake is about a weapon manufacturer who realizes the ramifications of his job.
    • The Perfect Element is about two mentally disturbed people who fall in love with each other. It doesn't end well.
    • Remedy Lane is about the reawakening of a childhood romance, loosely based on events in Daniel's life.
    • "BE" is (mainly) about God becoming disappointed with his human creation and leaving them to fend for themselves.
    • Scarsick is a follow-up to The Perfect Element, and concentrates on the male protagonist from the original becoming disillusioned with modern life and celebrity culture.
  • Creator Backlash: Daniel has reluctantly stated that One Hour by the Concrete Lake is his least favorite Pain of Salvation album.
  • Creator Breakdown: Quite a lot of Remedy Lane deals with Daniel's past. The most obvious is "A Trace of Blood", which is about Daniel's wife having a miscarriage.
  • Downer Ending: Both parts of The Perfect Element. Part I ends with He killing his mother, being rejected by She and considering suicide. Scarsick ups the ante by having it end with the implication that He has committed suicide.
  • Driven to Suicide: "Rope Ends", and He at the end of Scarsick.
  • Epic Rocking: Unusually for a Progressive Metal band, they barely ever go over ten minutes, though they still do this all the time. "The Perfect Element" and "Dea Pecuniae" are the longest, both coming in at 10:09.
  • Eurovision Song Contest: They entered in Melodiefestivalen (the Swedish national final for the contest) in 2010. They reached the finals and came second, narrowly losing to Pernilla Wahlgren.
  • Everything Is an Instrument: Daniel is credited for playing "eggs" and "floors" in "BE".
  • Funny Moments: "Sleeping Under the Stars":

Wait darling wait, "You're the shit!" as they say in...
as they say at...
wherever they say that.

  • Green Aesop: One Hour by the Concrete Lake.
  • Guyliner: Daniel in the video for "Linoleum".
  • Heroic BSOD: He, for the entirety of Scarsick.
  • Human Popsicle: Mr. Money turns himself into one in "BE". He wakes up having become immortal... but it's After the End and he is the last man alive.
  • Intercourse with You: "Sleeping Under the Stars". Their other songs about sex generally have a darker edge to them which disqualify them for this trope.
  • It Got Worse: Both parts of The Perfect Element. Have some tissues ready.
  • Little Boy Blue Note: Daniel started the band when he was eleven.
  • Metal Scream: Daniel gets some high-pitched ones in.
  • Mind Screw: The entire concept of "BE".
  • Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: A 6/7 most of the time, occasionally reaching an 8.
  • New Sound Album: Basically all of them.
    • Entropia had a very eclectic progressive metal sound with funk influences in some tracks.
    • One Hour by the Concrete Lake is somewhat more streamlined and has some slight industrial leanings.
    • The Perfect Element had a darker and more complex style of progressive metal, which was continued on Remedy Lane.
    • "BE" was the most experimental and conceptual album they had released; among much else, it contained a gospel track, folk songs, a ten-minute blues-rock song and "God's answering machine".
    • Scarsick had a more commercial, almost Nu-metal edge to it.
    • The Road Salt albums represent a general softening of the band's sound, sounding very much like 70's progressive rock and hard rock as opposed to metal.
  • No Export for You: For a while, they refused to play in the U.S. as a means of protest against the Bush administration.
  • No Name Given: The protagonists of The Perfect Element are only referred to as "He" and "She".
  • The Pete Best: There were quite a few members who left the band before they recorded anything. There is a slight aversion, in that one of them, Gustaf Hielm, is now their touring bassist.
  • Physical God: Nauticus in "BE".
  • Piss-Take Rap: Used in "Spitfall" to comment on hip hop culture.
  • Precision F-Strike: Arguably all of Scarsick, given how profanity-laden it is compared to the band's previous output. However, there's also the extended version of the track "No Way" from Road Salt One - "There is no way that you can FUUUCK her like I can!"
  • Revolving Door Band: Daniel is the only consistent member. Though the lineup of Daniel, Johan Hallgren, Fredrik Hermansson, Johan Langell and Kristoffer Gildenlow did last for 9 years.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Mr. Money in "BE".
  • Signature Song: "Ashes"
  • Silly Love Songs: "This Heart of Mine (I Pledge)".
  • Something Completely Different: "Disco Queen", which is - you guessed it - a disco song (or at least part of it is), right in the middle of one of their darkest albums.
  • Spoken Word in Music: Several, but "Vocari Dei" is a very unusual example - fans from around the world sent in their messages to God, and the band edited them into a track.
  • Take That: Scarsick is one big Take That to modern popular culture and the Bush administration.
  • True Art Is Angsty: The vast majority of their songs fall under this trope.
  • True Art Is Incomprehensible: "BE". Oh so very much.
  • Uncommon Time: A lot of their songs.
  • Unplugged Version: 12:5. A slightly unusual example, in that a lot of the songs were heavily rearranged instead of just being played acoustically.
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