Pain Of Salvation ‎– Panther

10.5/12

This was a tremendous new long-awaited album. Pain of Salvation is one of my favorites and extremely underrated at that. I've listened to most of their music but I still have a lot to delve into and become familiar with. I adore that they mix progressive rock and progressive metal with any other genre they choose and seem to make everything a concept album. This album shares the same innovation but is very different from the rest. First of all, it looks and sounds like a Twelve Foot Ninja record with the increased use of electronic instruments and re-emphasis on their metal sound. But, I listened to this album over and over again and enjoyed it the more I listened. It's strange and almost sounds like an amalgamation of everything they've ever done. Also, another reason to tie into Twelve Foot Ninja, is that combining the music with the artwork, there really feels like there's a ninja subplot happening on this album. Sneaking through the rain, climbing up gutters, heightened awareness. It feels like it's from feudal Japan, yet the electronic and metal feel brings us back to modern day.

ALBUM ARTWORK: This artwork likely takes the cake for me for best album cover of the year. I adore the grayscale and texture, looking like ashy smoke in the rain. It's as if I can almost feel the smoke in person. The gold title is subtle and complimentary, not taking away from the monochrome of the rest of the album. My favorite part is the actual panther, standing amid the smoke in a bomber jacket, staring into the distance. I don't know much about this character, but I love them. They're badass and ominous and look so aesthetically pleasing. The last bit I adore is the very subtle "smoke panthers" that appears as ghosts passing through the cover. There's so much here to adore.

Among these 300 copies, there's a strictly limited edition of 40 copies hand numbered (from 1/40 to 40/40) and signed by Daniel Gildenlöw

Man what an exceptional vinyl Pressing. The color is gorgeous. Daniel's signature and lyric dedications are lovely too.