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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 becoming a father in May, the
album recordings are still proceeding according to plans. " 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 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
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. 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 Motley'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..."
Source: http://www.painofsalvation.com |
