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Scarsick

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Scarsick
Studio album by
Released22 January 2007
Genre
Length67:52
LabelInsideOut Music
ProducerPain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation chronology
BE
(2004)
Scarsick
(2007)
Ending Themes (On the Two Deaths of Pain of Salvation)
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[3]
Blabbermouth.net[4]

Scarsick is the sixth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation, released on 22 January 2007. It is a concept album focusing on contemporary issues including capitalism, materialism, and consumerism. Scarsick is the last album to feature Johan Langell on drums.

Overview

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According to Daniel Gildenlöw, "Scarsick is much more band oriented and down to the core. Threatening and disturbing".[citation needed]

The liner notes reveal that Scarsick is actually The Perfect Element, part II - "he". The album is divided into two chapters: side A and side B.[5]

Concept

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Scarsick is the second part of a planned, three-piece concept and the follow-up to The Perfect Element, part I. It continues the story of the male character from the latter album. Unlike its predecessor, Scarsick is a politically charged social commentary, and deals with a number of topics, including:

  • Frustration (with society in general, and most of the things listed below)
  • Consumer culture
  • Materialism
  • Industrialization
  • Capitalism
  • Commercialization
  • American imperialism
  • Conformity
  • Idolization of celebrities
  • Collectivist nature of religion
  • Decline of civilization

Daniel Gildenlöw has revealed in interviews that the life of "He" is an allegory for all of mankind; that in him we see the problems of society on an intimate, personal level. Thus as The Perfect Element, part I deals with the subject of dysfunction in a psychological context that deals with the individual, Scarsick deals with them in a sociological sense and explores the relationship between the two. Just as the final song on the first part of the concept ("The Perfect Element") witnesses the falling of "He" on a mental level, the final song on Scarsick ("Enter Rain") sees him fall on a physical level.

Track listing

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Concept, music and lyrics by Daniel Gildenlöw.

Side A: His Skin Against This Dirty Floor
No.TitleLength
1."Scarsick"7:08
2."Spitfall" (Introducing Star/Thus Quote the Craving/Redefining Vomatorium/Man of the Masses/YO)7:17
3."Cribcaged"5:56
4."America"5:05
5."Disco Queen" (Tonight I'll Fall/A Cheap Sellout Drug/A Tighter Groove/My Disco Queen)8:22
Side B: Why Can't I Close My Eyes?
No.TitleLength
6."Kingdom of Loss"6:41
7."Mrs. Modern Mother Mary"4:14
8."Idiocracy"7:04
9."Flame to the Moth"5:58
10."Enter Rain" (Running/Standing/Falling)10:03

Scarsicker

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The band offered an edited version of the album as a download from their official store in 2008. It also featured two new short tracks. Gildenlöw said on the release,

I had this idea about making edits where all of the songs would clock in under 5 minutes each. My absolute first idea was to make a radio edit version of the album, where every song would simply be cut at precisely 3:50 or something, except for the track America, in which we instead would add like 10 minutes of commercials after the "We'll be back after this short break!" phrase. But once I was sitting down with the tracks it became sort of a challenge. Some of the songs I prefer in the original version, but some (like Idiocracy and Mrs Modern Mother Mary for instance) really turned out more like I initially intended them to be, and I prefer them. Also, I could use my original idea for an intro to the album - it was scrapped for the official release since I felt it gave away the TPE1 link way too soon. The Slipsync track uses recurring themes, a trademark POS conceptual instrumental passage, and was originally thought as a Japanese bonus track, but then it felt more right on this edited album version, called SCARSICKER.[6]
No.TitleLength
1."Nausea"0:25
2."Scarsick"4:38
3."Spitfall"4:56
4."Cribcaged"4:26
5."America"3:39
6."Disco Queen"4:11
7."Kingdom of Loss"6:41
8."Mrs. Modern Mother Mary"3:52
9."Idiocracy"4:52
10."Flame to the Moth"4:55
11."Slipsync"1:07
12."Enter Rain"9:52

Personnel

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  • Daniel Gildenlöw - lead vocals, guitars, bass guitar, banjos and samplers
  • Johan Hallgren - guitars, vocals
  • Fredrik Hermansson - keyboards, samplers
  • Johan Langell - drums, backing vocals

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pain of Salvation - Scarsick".
  2. ^ Pytlarczyk, Karolina (30 January 2007). "Pain of Salvation - Scarsick Review" (in German). metal.de.
  3. ^ Bowar, Chad. "Pain Of Salvation - Scarsick". About.com. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  4. ^ Alisoglu, Scott. "Pain Of Salvation - Scarsick". Blabbermouth. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  5. ^ Pain of salvation Daniel Gildenlow scarsick concept P 2 on YouTube
  6. ^ ""Release "Scarsicker" by Pain of Salvation - MusicBrainz"".
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