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Pain of Salvation
is an established band in the progressive
metal idiom and they have achieved
this through their massive creativity.
Their restless spirit and their co-operations
have given them the reputation that
they deserve. Right before their new
opus release, they attempt something
that -according with my own personal
opinion- is going to be practiced
a lot in the next years. The acoustic
albums were something that was usual
in the mid nineties in the mainstream
field, but the perspective of Pain
of Salvation is very different and
stands away from the trends. Their
own music is very demanding and provocative
in a way, as the term progressive
sometimes is inadequate to cover their
music.
This acoustic live
album is recorded in a single live
appearance in their hometown and has
a retrospective feeling. They cover
their whole discography (except from
"One Hour by the Concrete Lake")
in a very interesting way. The term
"cover" is the right one,
as they do not perform the songs just
acoustically, but they have adapted
their music in the circumstances of
such a performance. Once again the
album is divided in three parts. There
are some soul-stirring versions of
"Obliveon Ocean", "Winning
a War", "Chainsling"
and "Undertow" which overload
the atmosphere. There is also a medley
of their extreme progressive ego,
which ends in a rather disappointing
cover of "Ashes". I can
understand that this is a very different
version of a wonderful track, but
it's in a frame that doesn't support
such feelings. As usually the mood
of the record is dark and bitter,
so the "sweet" version of
"Ashes" isn't absolutely
fitting in "12:5". Anyway
these are subjective issues and we
shouldn't concentrate on them.
The essence of this
album is the point where high skilled
musicianship and the nakedness of
the feelings are met. I propose this
release to all the fans of good music.
The reason I rate this CD somehow
mediocre is that I do not think that
these releases are truly indicative
of each band's progress and I wouldn't
include them in a formal discography.
I think it's a good intermission between
a masterpiece ("Remedy Lane")
and their next release, which from
what we hear is going to be -at least-
very interesting.
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