The Perfect Element

I don't know those guys and as I haven't receive any explanation with the promo disk... The first song Used is quite "weird" : imagine a "prog" song, hard drumming, quiet and aggressive voice, symphonic piano and keyboard parts, typical prog "break" compacted in a single song. Welcome the headache! Pain Of Salvation is playing a kind of neo prog metal, mixing quiet moments with more "aggressive" parts, a kind of Pink Floyd meets Dream Theater. Overall : your soul will fly as the "prog parts" leads in this Perfect Element. These guys are not following trend or fashion, but I think that the mixing of different atmospheres is not always a success and songs are so "tortuous" that the listener is .... quite lost. They know to play music for sure and they write some good songs, but I prefer melodies instead of this "instrumental" demonstration. Their music is prog oriented with keyboard playing a supportive role and adding a special atmosphere to their songs. Guitars are sometimes heavy and sometimes totally flying (70's). The production of the album is really good, crystal clear and the singer is the big winner here. The few indifferent moments of the album are not enough to spoil the overall feelings. A promising second album (didn't listen their first work so far) in a genre that is totally new for me. Next time if they do it the "light way", something very interesting could take place.