Undoubtedly the debating issue of the year for progressive metal is the latest album of Pain of Salvation. I do not want to argument on this album, as I believe that we have already read a lot here and there. A lot of people have deposited their opinions in webzines and fora, so I find it quite aimless to add another about them. I prefer to stay on the track of reviewing the record and not the band.

"Scarsick" was much anticipated. After "Be" a lot of people foresaw that Pain of Salvation, in pursuing a continuously changing identity, would turn their faces to progressive rock and would deny their metal past. Partially this was wrong, but in a sense it was validated. Let us see "Scarsick" in detail. For sure it’s heavier than "Be". It can be said that it is an epitome of their distinctive features that they have presented during the years of their career; the heavy and nu-metalish guitars, the rap-style vocals, the dark atmospheres, the emotional choruses, the mazy structures and so on. But it’s more that this and this is the winning point of the album. "Scarsick" is conceptually divided in two sections. The first half of the album is a parade of styles and mixtures of styles. For example the much discussed "Disco Queen" is what the title implies; a track that adopts the Kiss disco-meets-rock perspective and goes it beyond to meet progressive rock. "America" dares to say, in a musical kind of way ("West-Side Story" and so on) all the things that many of us think about the contemporary empire. At the same time, we witness the paradox of "Spitfall", which embraces the prevailing rap music of USA in order to deliver a very strong and probably one of the best tracks in the album. However these are surface observations. Underneath these tracks there are deep meanings, not only on the lyrical level, but also on the allegoric one. The first part contains also the self-titled track and "Cripcaged", which is probably the best track they have written since "Ashes". A song of colossal proportions, which grows as the seconds pass by and structures the one and only truth in this world ("..just human") in a repetitive motif that imprints on your mind instantly and for ever. I can understand and accept many of the contradicting opinions, but not for this track. This shows that metal musicians can dare to articulate a political speech in times when others turn their back to the problems around us and force us to join the legions of the blind and the mute.

The second part is more coherent. It’s also very dark. The second part is more coherent. It’s also very dark. "Kingdom of Loss" gives the first clear sound evidence that "Scarsick" is "The Perfect Element II". Its closing part, with the vast orchestration, is so emotionally charged that you think it can crash your heart. "Flame to the Moth" is an angry song and "Enter Rain" comes to supplement monolithic tracks, like "The Perfect Element" and "Beyond the Pale".

Now question yourselves, as I did. Do I dare to choose between these two parts? Regardless if it was their intention to build the album in such a way, it worked this way. My opinion is that the second part is surely better. Why? Because the songs are naked of the decorative and illustrative elements of those in the first part and after the numerous times of listening "Scarsick" are more attractive. Their seduction hides within their "simplicity" and their emotion.

Is "Scarsick" an easy album? "Scarsick" is an album that, as any other PoS release, needs time and many-many listening sessions. The issue here is if you can dedicate these that the album needs. If you think you can, you will be rewarded. If you don’t, then there is no problem. There are plenty of great releases out there that will match your likes and you will appreciate more (for instance Threshold’s "Dead Reckoning"). I feel that the band knows it and doesn’t have hard heart-feelings with those that will not invest in this album.

Is "Scarsick" their best album? Surely not. But again, who can say for sure, which one is the best? All are from the same band (easy to say), but so many different. Can you say that you are a better person than your brother or your sister?

Is "Scarsick" the best album of the year in prog metal? Surely not. Why it should be? Is there a race out there and we don’t know it? Progressive metal purists have criticized "Scarsick" in many ways. Some said that it’s not prog, because it doesn’t follow prog metal norms. It may be not, but it has the progressive metal (or rock) ethos and these that deny it are simply pigeonholing. Others said that it’s not supported by a good production. It may have severe faults and I am not a sound engineer to certify it, but definitely the production is appropriate for this album.

So, what is "Scarsick"? For me it’s an album that, like every other album of PoS, made me think of certain fundamental aspects of our life, that most of the times we forget. And sometimes this is important in music and not only to "impress" or to "preserve".