CD Review  

I must say that Pain of Salvation's The Perfect Element  was one of my favourite albums of last year, so it was with high anticipation that I quiveringly put this CD upon my deck. Sadly, on first listen I was rather disappointed with what I was hearing, with memories of Empire after Operation Mindcrime flashing back into my mind. Ok, so the first couple of tracks could've been from their previous effort, and the third started off well, then it all seemed to turn into some big-balled knobs-out rocker, and the softer melodic edge to the fourth track just sent me over the edge. This happened the first few times I played the CD. Always the same, initial high hopes, followed by the gradual drifting off. But I persevered. I had to, I owed it to myself. Then it happened. I found I was humming parts of it. It had got me by the balls, big time!

There's no way this could be described as TPE II but as a piece of music taken on it's own merits, it's cool. Metal prog is growing in popularity as the punters ask for something different. This album has superb production and a bad-ass vocalist. Brilliant guitar and drumming along with strong song writing put this band along side, and even ahead of the likes of Threshold and Dream Theatre. All the songs very good but the tracks A Trace of Blood and This Heart of Mine stand out as my favorites.

01 - Of Two Beginnings
CHAPTER 1
02 - Ending Theme
03 - Fandango
04 - A Trace Of Blood
05 - This Heart Of Mine (I Pledge)
CHAPTER 2
06 - Undertow
07 - Rope Ends
08 - Chain Sling
09 - Dryad Of The Woods
CHAPTER 3
10 - Remedy Lane
11 - Waking Every God
12 - Second Love
13 - Beyond The Pale

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