Pain Of Salvation

Daniel Gildenlöw launched Reality in 1984 at the age of 11. Seven years of fluctuating membership followed under that name until the ensemble adopted Pain of Salvation in 1991, by which time the roster comprised Gildenlöw, Johan Hallgren, Johan Langell, and Kristoffer Gildenlöw. Fredrik Hermansson’s arrival in 1996 prompted the decision to enter the studio, yielding Entropia the next year. One Hour by the Concrete Lake appeared within twelve months, after which The Perfect Element I surfaced in 2001 and the concept album Remedy Lane arrived the year after that. Further personnel shifts eventually left Gildenlöw as the sole remaining founder, now joined by bassist Gustaf Heim, guitarist Ragnar Solberg, drummer Leo Margarit, and keyboardist Daniel Karlsson; Gildenlöw’s literate, philosophical lyrical themes came to define the band’s identity.

The orchestral album Be emerged in 2004, followed three years later by Scarsick, the group’s greatest commercial achievement, which reached number six in Sweden. The two-part opus Road Salt was released across 2010 and 2011, with the acoustic album Falling Home appearing in 2014. During this period Gildenlöw contracted the flesh-eating bug necrotizing fasciitis, endured four months of hospitalization, and required an extended recovery that delayed the next Pain of Salvation album by six years. Remixed and live editions of Remedy Lane were issued in 2016 to sustain interest, allowing the ninth album, In the Passing Light of Day—inspired by Gildenlöw’s illness—to appear in 2017.