Scarred For Salvation

There are very few bands out there that take the label "progressive" seriously. Pain Of Salvation is one of them and "Scarsick" is their 6th album that fails to fall below perfection. Truth be told, they lost some fans with the previous album, "Be", and this will also be true with "Scarsick". This is to be expected when you really want to progress. "Be" was such a deep, lyrical album and with such an unconventional concept but Pain Of Salvation's fans were already familiar with this side of the band. What was disturbing for them was probably the retreat from more "traditional" metal forms - not that PoS were ever "traditional" in any real sense.
It's hard to make comparisons because "Scarsick" sounds completely new. It is both darker and angrier but hardly metal. It is progressive in a 70s way but you also find that the hip hop elements have increased and that there's a disco track! You will definitely need more than a couple of listens to fully appreciate it but some things are evident immediately, like Daniel Gildenlow's expressive range in vocals and the band's talent in conveying emotions : frustration, sadness, anger, irony.
Definitely, "Scarsick" is a difficult to get album. No, I don't think it's better than "Be" but it is the new album of a band that is always trying something new, is obsessed with perfection and their music can scar you for life. Dare to try it.