One Hour by the Concrete Lake by Pain of Salvation

One Hour by the Concrete Lake by Pain of Salvation, from 1998.

Pain of Salvation are a Swedish progressive metal band, led by the great Daniel Gildenlöw, composer, guitarist, singer, and also responsible for the lyrics. Their sound revolves around stunning guitar riffs and a great vocal ability with a wide range, moving between heavy and calmer atmospheres, harmonies and complex structures, syncopations and polyrhythms. 

Their albums are generally concept albums that address current themes both of society and of human existence.

The name "Pain of Salvation" was created by Daniel Gildenlöw who explained it as follows

"the meaning of balance. Accepting good and evil. It is also a good everyday expression: when something doesn't go as expected, [the expression 'pain of salvation'] indicates that it is just a small setback on an otherwise painless path towards one's goal".

Second album, which is a concept album that tells the story of a man who works in the arms industry and experiences a moral conflict that leads him to embark on a journey to see the consequences of his work, discovering the destruction caused by war and pollution, with a focus on the emblematic case where the two tragedies merge, that of Lake Karachay, a highly radioactive lake that was enclosed in concrete for this reason, hence the album title "One Hour by the Concrete Lake".

Powerful, intense progressive metal made of aggressive riffs but also melodic and acoustic sections with a great vocal performance by Daniel Gildenlöw, with highly emotional interpretations that convey feelings of anger, hatred, sadness, and desolation in songs with complex structures.

Eleven tracks for about an hour in total that, after a brief intro, deal with three fundamental themes of the concept.

- Spirit of the Land with its 43 seconds is a dark and menacing intro based on intense synthesizers

Part of the Machine is the section in which the concept of the war machine is explored, of which the protagonist realizes he is merely a cog.

- Inside is a heavy progressive metal track with great guitar riffs and powerful vocals, with a mood immediately charged with drama.

- The Big Machine is a slow, dark-toned track, with great vocal harmonies and a keyboard backdrop creating an unsettling atmosphere as a substrate for great guitar riffs and a great vocal performance by Gildenlöw.

- New Year's Eve is a more catchy track with a great bass line.

Spirit of Man is the section that deals with man (humanity) and his way of relating to the environment, exploiting its resources without any respect despite the consequences.

- Handful of Nothing is a complex track with many variations in intensity and rhythm, a great progressive metal song.  

- Water deals with the theme of global water consumption, a powerful track with a huge emotional impact.

- Home is a dark track that begins with a syncopated tempo with great acoustic and electric guitars and piano, with a great guitar solo at the end.

Karachay is the section of the album that deals with the lake mentioned in the title, highly radioactive and covered in concrete. 

- Black Hills is a great epic track with dark tones and heavy and acoustic guitars.

- Pilgrim is a beautiful ballad, mostly acoustic with beautiful strings.

- Shore Serenity has a military sound with choirs and a distinctive drum tempo.

- Inside Out closes the album and is its most beautiful track, great metal with Spanish-style guitar inlays and a spectacular guitar solo. 

A must for progressive metal fans, fitting between the amazing debut with Entropia and the masterpiece The Perfect Element - Part 1 and only for this reason considered a minor album, which in my opinion it is not. Highly recommended album.

Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page

Tracklist

1. Spirit Of The Land (0:43)
- Part of the Machine -
2. Inside (6:12)
3. The Big Machine (4:21)
4. New Year's Eve (5:37)
- Spirit of Man -
5. Handful Of Nothing (5:37)
6. Water (5:05)
7. Home (5:44)
- Karachay -
8. Black Hills (6:32)
9. Pilgrim (3:13)
10. Shore Serenity (3:17)
11. Inside Out (6:37)

Duration 58:35 

LineUp

- Daniel Gildenlöw - lead vocals, guitars, co-producer
- Johan Hallgren - guitar, vocals
- Fredrik Hermansson - keyboards, samplers
- Kristoffer Gildenlöw - bass, vocals
- Johan Langell - drums, percussion, vocals

With:
- Katarina Åhlén - cello