Review Summary: An album of pure emotion that garners multiple listens for the full effect.
Raw. Personal. Thought-provoking. Possibly incomplete. You could use all of the above to describe In the Passing Light of Day and you'd only be scratching the surface.
Let me start by saying I'm a very big Pain of Salvation fan, but not a blind one. Their Road Salt albums weren't the most exciting or entertaining to me (outside of a few tracks), and Scarsick and Be before them were... unique to say the least.
I was excited when this was announced. The first single Meaningless caught me off-guard but it was stuck in my head for the rest of the week. Reasons followed that and didn't really strike me as being nearly as catchy but damn did I love that chaotic ending. Then the album finally arrived.
Woah. We are not writing Road Salt Three here, and that's fine by me.
Something I love about Pain of Salvation is the emotion they put into their music. You never really know what is true and what is not. Remedy Lane is supposedly personal and based off of Daniel's experiences but which parts are exaggerated and which aren't? The song Sisters from Road Salt One is powerful yet we aren't sure if what is being said ever happened, meaning Daniel is just that good at playing the characters he writes, or if this is really his experiences being presented to us in their truest of forms.
In the Passing Light of Day comes from a man who was seemingly on his death bed and nothing encapsulates this more than the titular song. The raw emotion, sadness, happiness, and pureness of this song makes the journey through the previous tracks leading to it all the worthwhile. From the thundering riffs in On a Tuesday to the softer metaphoric Silent Gold, the journey ends with a look into what Daniel had experienced while fighting death.
Or is it exaggerated?
See we may never know as we only know the struggle he tells us. What we're then left with is an incredible performance that makes us truly believe what he's singing about. Each listen gives through gives you something new to find and hear and while some songs fall flat, the journey as a whole makes you feel things you may not have thought were invokable through something as simple as a song.
And the supporting cast behind him do an amazing job. Léo Margarit does things with the drums that make me wonder if he is indeed human. Daniel Karlsson and Gustaf Hielm lay a strong foundation and atmosphere. And we obviously can't forget Ragnar Zolberg assisting Daniel's vocal and harmonizing on the upper end of the ranges Daniel may never hit again.
In the Passing Light of Day was one of my favorite albums from 2017 and while I don't feel it was perfect, it was absolutely powerful. For that reason alone it garners another listen, and the well-written pieces of music within keep me coming back for more.
