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painofsalvation theperfectelement ptI
Artist: Pain of Salvation
Title: The Perfect Element, Pt. I (Anniversary Mix 2020)
Genre: Progressive Rock / Progressive Metal
Release Date: 20th November 2020
Label: Century Media Records


Review Flash

Swedish band PAIN OF SALVATION are part of the Rock and Metal scene for nearly 30 years now and 2020 marked the birthday of their album ‘The Perfect Element Pt.1’. “When we did ‘Remedy Lane’, we did think that this might be fun to do with other albums. At that point we were obviously thinking about ‘The Perfect Element’, because it’s really a sibling album to ‘Remedy Lane’ in many ways and the 20th anniversary was on the horizon.” explains Daniel Gildenlöw. The band teamed up with Pontus Lindmark, who already worked with PAIN OF SLAVATION during the original recording of ‘The Perfect Element Pt.1’, and the result is a completely new remixed album that was mastered by Thor Legvold.

The album comes with several bonus tracks and ‘Epilogue’ is available worldwide for the first time, for it was originally a bonus track for Japan. A blast of drums attacks your ears with ‘Absolute Kromata’ and if you want some shivers down your spine you should try the strings and vocal version of ‘Her Voices’ and if you love the original version of ‘Ashes’, you should give the instrumental version of this song a chance. The band also added some live versions of fan favourites for those who want some live sounds in their lockdown living rooms. The version of ‘Used’ is fantastic, the song opens a lot clearer and nearly sprawling, but to be honest the title track ‘The Perfect Element Pt.1’ is my favourite track on this album. The remix and the remastered sound pay more attention to all the layers of sound, the exact timing of the instruments and the vocal range of Daniel Gildenlöw. One of the few epic long tracks in the Metal word, that don’t get boring, but become more interesting minute by minute.

For those who are newbies in the PAIN OF SALVATION cosmos: ‘The Perfect Element Pt. 1’ was released as a concept album 20 years ago and consist of three chapters.
Chapter I: As These Two Desolate Worlds Collide (Tracks 1 - 4)
Chapter II: It All Catches Up on You When You Slow Down (Tracks 5 – 8)
Chapter III: Far Beyond the Point of No Return (Tracks 9 – 12)
The lyrics deal with the human life of two characters and emotions they face during their childhood and adolescence. The addition of ‘Epilogue’ to the 2020 version of the album is a great benefit, as it offers some more insights of the albums message. If you like concept album check out the follow up album from 2007 called ‘Scarsick’ (‘Perfect Element, Part II’).

One can say that ‘The Perfect Element’ was reborn, it was already a Prog. Metal masterpiece in pre-digital times, but the newly mixed and mastered version sharpens the listeners focus on all the instruments played by the band members, that gives the stories characters even deeper emotions and shows how the band achieved their unique sound, while the lyrics sound a lot clearer. The band made the remastered and remixed version masterpiece for long-time fans and those who are just about start their Pain of Salvation fan career.

Rating: 9 / 10




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