PAIN OF SALVATION: Studio Update

Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION has entered the studio to begin recording the follow-up to 2004's "BE", entitled "Scarsick", for a tentative late 2006/early 2007 release. The group has checked in with the following update:

"A lot of fans are wondering about the coming album, 'Scarsick', so what could be better than a studio report at this point? That said, let's take a trip to Sweden and see what's happening with the coming album...

"Despite Daniel's [Gildenlöw, vocals] becoming a father in May, the album recordings are still proceeding according to plans. [He says], 'I had a few weeks completely off, as planned, before slowly gathering momentum again. I refuse to be one of those fathers who miss their kids' first months for work or a career, but I also refuse to deprive my son of the possibility to have a dad that can bring him on tour when he gets older.'

"The last weeks have mainly been spent recording guitars, and at this point, almost everything is done. For both Johan and Daniel. The keyboards were done in May, and though the drums were done in April, Johan Langell [drums] has visited the studio from time to time to check out the progress, especially since the other Johan was all fired up because of the guitar sounds. 'Well, he talked it up so much I had to hear it for myself,' he concludes. And Johan Hallgren [guitar] still thinks it is by far the best guitar sounds that have been used on any of the PAIN OF SALVATION albums. "They are closer, and more dominant in the mix, heavy but still warm.'

"Daniel has worked a lot with finding the right personalities, matching sounds with songs. 'I was never a big fan of Rectifiers and DiMarzios, to be honest,' he says. 'They sound impressive in many ways, but they have that sparkly cardboard high end that reminds me of pouring sugar over breakfast cereals. Impressive is just not all. THE BEATLES' version of 'Helter Skelter' will kick MÖTLEY CRÜE's version any day of the week, because it has sweat and blood in it — that's what I like. Still, they would not have used that sound on 'Oh Darling' or 'Happiness is a Warm Gun'. A Rectifier though, will always sound like a Rectifier. Just like a Marshall will never provide you with a stable low end to stand on."

"So, drums, keyboards and guitars are done — how about the rest? 'Well, I have recorded vocals on half of the songs and bass on all songs, but that was for demo purposes and much of it will have to be re-recorded properly, even though some of the demo vocals turned out so nice I might just let them stay.'

"They all describe the album as the most energetic one so far. 'It feels very powerful and intuitive,' says Johan Langell. 'Spontaneous and band oriented, and the sound has really taken a step out of the speakers on this album.' Johan Hallgren agrees. 'You can hear that a real musician is mixing, the music is always in focus. There are too many engineers and producers out there who do what they do because their own music careers failed.' Daniel smiles. 'I hope no one will quote you on that one. The last thing we want is to be provocative...' The irony of that statement will be quite clear once 'Scarsick' hits the stores. Just the first five songs will make quite a few people choke, and it is obvious that PAIN OF SALVATION has never felt or sounded so young and angry. 'In a world like this, fury is a sign of mental health,' says Daniel. 'I just like to see thinking go along with it.'

"The whole band seem very pleased with lyrics and concept, but nothing more is revealed as of yet. Apart from the already mentioned 'Scarsick' will probably be 'Spitfall', 'Cribcaged', 'America', 'Disco Queen', 'Godscent', 'Flame to the Moth' and 'Enter Rain' but they say it might change up until the last minute. 'When the songs are all done, recorded and mixed, you might feel the name should be different. It's like deciding your baby's name before he or she is born, and then you realize it doesn't fit.'
"So, isn't there a risk that, now when Daniel is a happy father, he will only write happy songs in major, tributing Life and Love? Daniel laughs. 'Well, I think I'll just let the album answer that for me...'"

Check out pictures from the recording studio at this location.