After a well-performed In The Passing Light Of Day tour in the springtime of this year, we were strengthened in our understanding that five years between concerts is too long. Hence, when Pain Of Salvation announced an autumn minitour of only four concerts, we were quick in deciding that this would be an opportune moment to catch up with the band again.

“Hello Gothenburg, we’re back! We’re back!”
- Daniel Gildenlöw (vocals/guitar)

This minitour was in support of the still less than a year-old above-mentioned album, but it also had another, more immediate purpose, and that was of reintroducing former, now returned, guitarist Johan Hallgren. Hallgren had been with the band since the second album, One Hour By The Concrete Lake, but left due to personal reasons after the release of 2011’s Road Salt Two. He was then replaced by Ragnar Zolberg, who stayed with the band until the end of the above-mentioned spring tour for In The Passing Light Of Day.
I’m sure the audience slightly filling up the mid-sized concert hall was excited to see the old guitar hero back in the gang, I even heard someone call out for him a few times through the concert, but none seemed more excited than the other band members. During more than one lightning fast and noodly solo, nailed by Hallgren, Gildenlöw could be seen shooting a quick smile towards the prodigal guitarist (son seems wrong in this context).

Most of the set was built from In The Passing Light Of Day (or ITPLOD as I so humorously saw it abbreviated at the merchandise stand), but it also had a few looks in the rear-view mirror, which allowed for a nicely balanced set of truly progressive, aggressive, fast and slow songs, and while it surely was an enjoyable set of songs the band had chosen, it was nothing compared to the performance they put into delivering them. You couldn’t tell that Hallgren had ever left, by looking at his delivery, and both Gildenlöw and him jump, headbanged, and were truly alive in the music. Gustaf Hielm was standing at the opposite side of the stage from me, but even at this distance he impressed with a more than usual lively performance, dancing and swinging as he did. Being in the back, and more rooted to their instruments, it wasn’t surprising that Leó Margarit and Daniel Karlsson was a bit more anonymous, but that’s not saying much in this context. Karlsson was headbanging away with the rest of them when the song allowed for it, and he also donned a guitar for Reasons, which allowed a bit more movability. Margarit on the other hand often stood up when delivering backing vocals, so that we could get a better view of him. He also had a funny little smile, upon delivering a soft hit on one of his cymbals in the title track of the latest album, but that’s another story.

About the delivery of the material, I can only say that it appeared flawless to my ears. Admittedly, I wasn’t standing in the optimal spot sonically speaking, being right up there at the edge of the stage (the band didn’t even use monitors, which could have allowed for better sound for us in the front as well), but things were getting through pretty clearly. One question that came to mind was of course what they were going to do about Zolberg’s vocal parts – his extremely high-toned voice is quite singular. The worst solution would have been to use a taped vocal overlay, a thing I’m glad I only believe I caught a single instance of. For the most part, Hallgren took over, and while he obviously couldn’t reach as high as Zolberg, it was still a solid delivery on songs he couldn’t have had too much time rehearsing. At one point, during the “I lost the will, I lost the way…” section of On A Tuesday, Gildenlöw took over the vocals himself, and delivered a chilling, almost whispered, take on them.

I was also curious to see how the band was going to be received – having no idea about the quantity of their popularity here in Sweden’s second largest city, I was glad to see the hall, if not sold out, then at least quite well filled this evening.
However, while Pain Of Salvation was indisputably well received by the Swedish audience – the loud cheers and appreciative shouts between songs told a very telling tale – that very same audience didn’t show much life while the music was playing, as it were. Here we (yes, I too am a Swede) definitely beaten by four young Brazilian women in the front and centre. They were dancing and headbanging along with the band in a delightful way, just the type of response the band deserved for their effort!
Well, I’m sure they could appreciate both this, and the more laidback native response, and they did seem happy enough, when after the show they came out and chatted with the remaining fans, took pictures, and signed whatever needed signing.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I can only assume that you’ve skipped the actual meat of the review, going directly for the conclusion, and for you I have only this to say – go back and read it, damn you!
If you’ve gone through the trouble of reaching the old fashioned way, you’ll not be surprised when I say I absolutely loved every minute of the concert, and as the quiet night crept in at the end, I was left with only two regrets. One, that the concert wasn’t longer than the approximately one and a half hour that it was. Yes, I really do feel that more would have benefitted this show, especially considering Pain Of Salvation was the only band playing. Two, that I hadn’t cleared my schedule, so that I could have followed Lunah Lauridsen to Oslo, and see them again the very next night. Oh well, next time, eh?

Setlist:

Full Throttle Tribe
Reasons
Meaningless
Linoleum
A Trace Of Blood
Rope Ends
Beyond The Pale
Ashes
Silent Gold
On A Tuesday
The Passing Light Of Day