Scarsick

Last updated
Scarsick
PainOfSalvation-Scarsick.jpg
Studio album by
Released22 January 2007
Genre Progressive metal [1] [2] [3]
Length67:52
Label InsideOut Music
Producer Pain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation chronology
BE
(2004)
Scarsick
(2007)
Ending Themes (On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation)
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Blabbermouth.net Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]

Scarsick is the sixth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation, released on 22 January 2007. It is a concept album focusing on contemporary issues including capitalism, materialism, and consumerism. Scarsick is the last album to feature Johan Langell on drums.

Contents

Overview

According to Daniel Gildenlöw, "Scarsick is much more band oriented and down to the core. Threatening and disturbing".[ citation needed ]

The liner notes reveal that Scarsick is actually The Perfect Element, part II - "he". The album is divided into two chapters: side A and side B. [6]

Concept

Scarsick is the second part of a planned, three-piece concept and the follow-up to The Perfect Element, part I. It continues the story of the male character from the latter album. Unlike its predecessor, Scarsick is a politically charged social commentary, and deals with a number of topics, including:

Daniel Gildenlow has revealed in interviews that the life of "He" is an allegory for all of mankind; that in him we see the problems of society on an intimate, personal level. Thus as The Perfect Element, part I deals with the subject of dysfunction in a psychological context that deals with the individual, Scarsick deals with them in a sociological sense and explores the relationship between the two. Just as the final song on the first part of the concept ("The Perfect Element") witnesses the falling of "He" on a mental level, the final song on Scarsick ("Enter Rain") sees him fall on a physical level.

Track listing

Concept, music and lyrics by Daniel Gildenlöw.

Side A: His skin against this dirty floor
No.TitleLength
1."Scarsick"7:08
2."Spitfall" (Introducing Star/Thus Quote the Craving/Redefining Vomatorium/Man of the Masses/YO)7:17
3."Cribcaged"5:56
4."America"5:05
5."Disco Queen" (Tonight I'll Fall/A Cheap Sellout Drug/A Tighter Groove/My Disco Queen)8:22
Side B: Why can't I close my eyes?
No.TitleLength
6."Kingdom of Loss"6:41
7."Mrs. Modern Mother Mary"4:14
8."Idiocracy"7:04
9."Flame to the Moth"5:58
10."Enter Rain" (Running/Standing/Falling)10:03

Scarsicker

The band offered an edited version of the album as a download from their official store in 2008. It also featured two new short tracks. Gildenlöw said on the release,

I had this idea about making edits where all of the songs would clock in under 5 minutes each. My absolute first idea was to make a radio edit version of the album, where every song would simply be cut at precisely 3:50 or something, except for the track America, in which we instead would add like 10 minutes of commercials after the "We'll be back after this short break!" phrase. But once I was sitting down with the tracks it became sort of a challenge. Some of the songs I prefer in the original version, but some (like Idiocracy and Mrs Modern Mother Mary for instance) really turned out more like I initially intended them to be, and I prefer them. Also, I could use my original idea for an intro to the album - it was scrapped for the official release since I felt it gave away the TPE1 link way too soon. The Slipsync track uses recurring themes, a trademark POS conceptual instrumental passage, and was originally thought as a Japanese bonus track, but then it felt more right on this edited album version, called SCARSICKER. [7]
No.TitleLength
1."Nausea"0:25
2."Scarsick"4:38
3."Spitfall"4:56
4."Cribcaged"4:26
5."America"3:39
6."Disco Queen"4:11
7."Kingdom of Loss"6:41
8."Mrs. Modern Mother Mary"3:52
9."Idiocracy"4:52
10."Flame to the Moth"4:55
11."Slipsync"1:07
12."Enter Rain"9:52

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transatlantic (band)</span> Multinational progressive rock supergroup

Transatlantic is a multinational progressive rock supergroup consisting of Neal Morse, Roine Stolt, Pete Trewavas and Mike Portnoy. They formed in 1999 as a side project to their full-time bands, but disbanded in 2002. They then reunited in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pain of Salvation</span> Swedish progressive metal band

Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive metal band led by Daniel Gildenlöw, who is the band's main songwriter, lyricist, guitarist, and vocalist. Pain of Salvation's sound is characterised by riff-oriented guitar work, a broad vocal range, oscillation between heavy and calm passages, complex vocal harmonies and the structures of their albums, syncopation, and polyrhythms. Thus far, every album released by the band has been a concept album. Lyrically, the band tends to address contemporary issues, such as sexuality, war, the environment, and the nature of God, humanity, and existence.

<i>One Hour by the Concrete Lake</i> 1998 studio album by Pain of Salvation

One Hour by the Concrete Lake is Pain of Salvation's second studio album. It is a concept album focusing on the issues of nuclear power and waste, displacement of indigenous peoples, the firearm industry, and human discovery.

<i>Entropia</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Pain of Salvation

Entropia is Pain of Salvation's first studio album. It is a concept album concerning the story of a family in a fictional society that is torn apart by a war. The title is a portmanteau of Entropy, and Utopia. This is the only album to feature Daniel Magdic on guitar.

<i>The Perfect Element, Part I</i> 2000 studio album by Pain of Salvation

The Perfect Element, Part I is Pain of Salvation's third studio album, released in October 2000. It is a concept album that focuses on the forming of the individual, particularly on the events from one's childhood and adolescence. It is the first segment of a planned three-part concept. The Perfect Element, Part II was released in 2007 under the title Scarsick.

<i>BE</i> (Pain of Salvation album) 2004 studio album by Pain of Salvation

BE is the fifth studio album by Swedish band Pain of Salvation, released via InsideOutMusic in September 2004. It is a concept album focusing on the existence of God and humankind. Along with the band it features a nine-part orchestra, The Orchestra of Eternity, which features prominently throughout the album. It is the last album to feature Kristoffer Gildenlöw on bass and is the first Pain of Salvation album to be divided into more than three chapters.

<i>Remedy Lane</i> 2002 studio album by Pain of Salvation

Remedy Lane is the fourth album by Swedish progressive rock band Pain of Salvation, released in January 2002. It is a concept album focusing on a character's search for self-discovery. It was described by Allmusic as Pain of Salvation's breakthrough album.

<i>12:5</i> 2004 live album by Pain of Salvation

12:5 is the first live album by Swedish band Pain of Salvation. It was released in 2004 and was recorded from a concert in the band's home town of Eskilstuna, Sweden, on 12 May (12.5) 2003. It was an "unplugged" show, meaning that there were only acoustic instruments, i.e. no electric guitars; grand piano and harpsichord instead of synthesizers. It features songs from all the band's albums to that date except One Hour by the Concrete Lake.

<i>BE (Original Stage Production)</i> 2005 live album by Pain of Salvation

"BE" is the second live album by Swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation, documenting one of the performances of their 2004 album BE in its entirety in Eskilstuna, Sweden, on 12 September 2003. In contrast to the studio album, The Orchestra of Eternity are given credit on the front cover of the album.

<i>Unfold the Future</i> 2002 studio album by The Flower Kings

Unfold the Future is the seventh studio album by the progressive rock band The Flower Kings, which was released in 2002. It is also the band's third studio double-CD. A limited special edition of the album contained an instrumental bonus track.

<i>Adam & Eve</i> (The Flower Kings album) 2004 studio album by The Flower Kings

Adam & Eve is the eighth studio album by the progressive rock band The Flower Kings. A Japanese edition contained an extra disc which includes the bonus tracks from The Rainmaker bonus disc, as well as three songs recorded during the Space Revolver sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fredrik Hermansson</span> Swedish musician (born 1976)

Fredrik Hermansson is a Swedish musician. He was a keyboardist and backing vocalist in the Swedish progressive rock band Pain of Salvation from 1996 to 2011. He also works as a freelance piano player and composer. Fredrik studied both classical and jazz piano at Birka Folkhögskola in Östersund, Sweden, and chamber music in Västerås, Sweden, where he received a master's degree. On 8 November 2011, a message to fans by Daniel Gildenlöw noted that Fredrik Hermansson would also be leaving the band at the conclusion of the current tour.

Dial is a progressive rock band based in the Netherlands.

<i>Ending Themes (On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation)</i> 2009 live album by Pain of Salvation

Ending Themes (On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation) is a live album and documentary by Swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation. It was released on January 26, 2009, with a DVD version released on March 3, 2009. The DVD release has a double disc feature. The first disc has an 80-minute documentary of the band's 2005 world tour directed by Per Hillblom and the second disc has the full concert video from the Paradiso show recorded on March 2, 2007. A limited edition version will also be released that will include a double audio CD version of the Amsterdam concert. The CD version was released independently of the DVDs as well.

"The DVD is starting to come together, and will consist of two separate discs — one will be the live show from our last tour, and the other one will be a documentary following the band on the 2005 tour, which marked the end of that line-up. The fact that the band has seen such major changes the last two years made it very difficult emotionally to invest time and energy in this product, and it wasn't until the documentary draft was proposed by Per Hillblom that I started to see what this DVD was trying to communicate. We still have a few commentary tracks to record but we are starting to see the end of it."

<i>Linoleum</i> (EP) 2009 EP by Pain of Salvation

Linoleum is an EP by Swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation. It features one song each from Road Salt One and Road Salt Two, two exclusive non-album tracks, a satirical spoken bonus track, and a cover of "Yellow Raven" by Scorpions.

<i>Road Salt One</i> 2010 studio album by Pain of Salvation

Road Salt One is the seventh studio album by Swedish band Pain of Salvation, released 17 May 2010 on InsideOut. While a concept album in keeping with all previous Pain of Salvation albums, the album was more song-oriented and streamlined in its production values.

<i>Road Salt Two</i> 2011 studio album by Pain of Salvation

Road Salt Two is the eighth studio album by Swedish band Pain of Salvation, released on 26 September 2011, by InsideOut. It is the final album to feature keyboardist Fredrik Hermansson, who had appeared on all previous releases by the band. Around the inside lips of the back cover is the following sentence: "This album, however, is NOT a part of The Perfect Element concept...but for what it's worth, it easily COULD have been, right? Right?"

<i>Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London</i> 2010 live album by Transatlantic

Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London is the third live album by the progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic. Released in 2010, it documents the May 21, 2010, show by the band at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, England. The show was also filmed and released on a two-DVD set with additional performances and documentary footage. This was the second-to-last show of the "Whirld Tour" in support of the band's third studio album, The Whirlwind.

<i>Falling Home</i> (Pain of Salvation album) 2014 studio album by Pain of Salvation

Falling Home is the ninth studio album by Swedish band Pain of Salvation, released on November 10, 2014, by InsideOut. Falling Home is an acoustic album, featuring acoustic versions of previous work, covers of Dio and Lou Reed and the self-titled track.

<i>In the Passing Light of Day</i> 2017 studio album by Pain of Salvation

In the Passing Light of Day is the tenth studio album by Swedish band Pain of Salvation, released on 13 January 2017 via InsideOut Music. A concept album like every other by the band, the lyrics focus on mortality, death and the joys and angers of life. The album is dedicated to "my lover, my best friend", in reference to Daniel Gildenlöw's wife Johanna Iggsten.

References

  1. "Pain of Salvation - Scarsick".
  2. "Pain of Salvation – Scarsick".
  3. "Pain of Salvation: Scarsick Review".
  4. Bowar, Chad. "Pain Of Salvation - Scarsick". About.com . Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  5. Alisoglu, Scott. "Pain Of Salvation - Scarsick". Blabbermouth . Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  6. Pain of salvation Daniel Gildenlow scarsick concept P 2 on YouTube
  7. ""Release "Scarsicker" by Pain of Salvation - MusicBrainz"".