Road Salt One by Pain of Salvation

Pain of Salvation's 2010 album, Road Salt One.

An album that departs from the band's signature powerful metal sound, moving toward a '70s blues-rock sound with a strong emotional charge, a world in which Daniel Gildenlow's voice continues to excel with its soulful notes.

The album is overall more accessible while maintaining the complex musicality. It's less aggressive than previous albums, and is part of a larger project that would culminate with Road Salt Two, released the following year. It forms a single, moving album that requires multiple listens to be fully appreciated.

A significant departure from its predecessor, Scarsick, and for this reason, it has not been without its critics, despite the vocal performance, featuring Daniel Gildenlow, being exceptional: passionate, soulful, and charismatic, with an impressive range, he adds his fundamental contribution to the deeply emotional and introspective music.

Tracks like "Sisters," "Tell Me You Don't Know," and "Sleeping Under the Stars" are magnificent, but the album as a whole is impressively musical, with truly excellent keyboard and piano parts, along with percussion and classic rock guitar that consistently resonate with the new mood.

Road Salt One is a powerful and unique album that pushes Pain of Salvation into new and more accessible territory while maintaining its immense emotional impact. It's an album that divides fans, but its courage in exploring a new sound and Gildenlow's exceptional performance are undeniably exceptional.

Now a very personal note, since it so happens that the day I listened to this album for the first time in a long time was January 21, 2025, the day after my friend Gulliver, a beautiful 9-year-old boxer, passed away. I wrote a few lines about it, which I want to share here to keep the memory of that day alive in my memory.

"A bit like my mood today: Melancholy and sadness. The right album for a few tears to still come out, with the strength of feelings alone, without memories and thoughts, just thanks to emotions.

This is how I say goodbye to my friend Gulliver, who left me yesterday after abandoning himself in my arms on a night I'll never forget, a beautiful 9-year-old boxer and for 9 years my best and most sincere friend.

A beautiful album, combining sweetness with strength.

An intimate album. Beautiful. Which I now link to one of my most important memories."

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