Pain of Salvation : changements de line-up

[Everflow]

Leur guitariste de longue date s'en va, pas bon ça...

After 13 years in the band, Johan Hallgren has decided to leave Pain of Salvation to focus on his daughter and wife. He will not leave music altogether, but plans to work with music in a way that allows him to stay at home with his family in Sweden. That means that the band's upcoming Nov/Dec tour together with Opeth will be his last. He will of course be sadly missed, both musically and personally, and very difficult to replace. So, if you know someone who sings and plays the crap out of basically anyone, send him or her our way - we might just have a thing or two to discuss.

Johan: "I'm leaving the band with both joy and sadness. I need to stay close to my daughter and my child-to-come, they will be my greatest concern along with my wife. I will miss everyone I've met during the years, and the band will continue to have a warm place in my heart. So finally, treat yourself and all that surrounds you with respect, and stay with POS - the greatest band on the planet! Sorry if I disappoint you, I miss you already!"

[Everflow]

Ça continue : le claviériste Frederik Hermansson va également partir à la fin de la tournée actuelle.

"To that fan of POS or Opeth...

You'd think we'd had enough, right? RINGLESS TOILETS, OPEN WOUNDS, BROKEN TOES, SPRAINED ABDOMINAL MUSCLES, BRUISES, BEE STINGS... For those who long for tour life - we'd gladly give you a few weeks on tour. Just one advice - when they deprive you of all sanity and spirit, make sure to cling on to your legs, 'cause they're the ones you will need when you will run the hell away from it all!

Nah, it's never that bad (yes it is). No, really, don't worry (worry!).

Take the last tour we did for example, it was a dream. Seriously, we were deeply honored to have Von Hertzen Brothers open up for us. These guys tour massively in Finland, have won Grammies, and supported Neil fucking Young, and the fucking Foo Fighters for crying out loud. Now here they were, with Pain of Salvation, rocking the stage silly every night. I hope people understood the quality of the music that was given them! Anyway, wonderful musicians, wonderful guys, wonderful people to have around when the bus breaks down for the third time and you're stuck in Stara Zagora in Bulgaria for five days. And this is all hypothetical of course. No bus breaks down three times on a three week tour. Right? Right?

This mess made us have to cancel our second show ever. Damn, that hurt! We had such a good track record! The first ever show we cancelled was in 2005, where we didn't have any gear on location 30 minutes before the show (file under "good reason";). Ankara was cancelled because we were simply in another country, expecting to leave every day - we were all Bill Murray living in Groundhog Day for a few days, saying goodbye to the waitresses at the restaurant after every meal, then ridiculously returning again for the next meal. And the next. And the next. The heartbrokenness (that's a word!) was less and less severe with every farewell. Still, there should be a Pain of Salvation fan club in Stara Zagora by now.

All over Eastern Europe, despite very different size crowds from night to night, the devoted passion was the same every night. You gave so much back to us, really you did! And then there are always a number of fans who want to hear older material, but the funny thing is, they all commit to the fullest when we let them explode in Linoleum, No Way, Conditioned and To the Shoreline. And they never sing along more tearfully than in 1979. The old Pain of Salvation might have an eternal grip of their teenage cleverness, but the newer Pain of Salvation has an even tighter grip on their souls and guts. I was gonna go for balls but then I changed my mind last second. Good.

Now we've been home for less then two weeks, barely regrouping and catching our breaths. Come Monday and we're leaving for five more weeks with Opeth. That odd feeling in our stomachs will be even more prominent this time around, since this tour marks the farewell of both Johan and Fredrik. See, I went and dipped my toes into the serious now, but I can't dwell on it too long then I won't have any energy left for convincing ending! Anyway, Léo and I are already guessing who of us will get to be Christopher Lambert in Highlander. Léo does have the youth, energy and motivation on his side. But I have red-hot statistics holding my fort.

While we go out the next five weeks using this Pain of Salvation to kick the dust off any stage you'll put in front of us, another Pain of Salvation is just now starting to rise from the ashes. We are walking multiple roads here ladies and gentlemen. For these coming five weeks you will witness the third death of Pain of Salvation, and possibly get a glimpse of the beast waking up underneath its skin, soon to be unhinged. Anyway, the way I write this would be a sure sign that I am losing my sanity, but then again, I have always been writing like this. But alright, just for the record I will finish this in a more expected way:

We are looking forward to going out on tour with Opeth. They are truly nice people and we have a lot in common. I also think our fans have a lot in common, so who knows what can happen in the crowds around Europe this fall. I know I'm gonna be there to see it!

You really should be there too. You really should.

Wet kisses,"

Daniel Gildenlöw / Pain of Salvation

[Everflow]

Nouveau claviériste (permanent) et nouveau bassiste (pour la tournée) :

Swedish progressive rockers PAIN OF SALVATION have announced the addition of keyboardist Daniel "D2" Karlsson to the group's ranks. The band has also confirmed that Gustaf Hielm (ex-MESHUGGAH) will be the bass player for its February/March 2012 European tour.

Gustaf previously played with PAIN OF SALVATION back in 1994, years before he became involved with CHARTA 77 and MESHUGGAH.

Commented PAIN OF SALVATION mainman Daniel Gildenlöw: "It feels great to have Gustaf on board for the tour. He is truly one of the best bass players I have ever seen, and I can't wait to hear him take on the songs."

Karlsson previously played keyboards for PAIN OF SALVATION in India and handled the bass for the band on tour in South America and in Europe. In addition, he did the lights for PAIN OF SALVATION in Skellefteå.

Stated Gildenlöw: "Through the years we have always had problems finding people who can master ONE instrument well enough to play our songs the way they should be played, so needless to say [Karlsson] has impressed us by playing both the bass and the keyboard with total conviction. Asking him to join the band was a natural step. Also, band meetings were getting boring with only me and Léo there."

Added Karlsson: "To be a part of this band is a real honor. I'm very grateful to have been around PAIN OF SALVATION for quite some time, both as a technician and a musician and a fan of course, and suddenly I'm being a part of them for real. It pays off to work your way up.

"My intentions is not be the 'new' Fredrik, because there's only one. And a damn good one! But I'll do my best to carry the spirit on and bring a new chapter to the history of PAIN OF SALVATION. I'm looking forward to be a part of the future of the best band in the world."

[Everflow]

Nouveau guitariste (+ chanteur) pour seconder Daniel Gildenlow, un islandais du nom de Ragnar Zolberg :

First, a little background on the auditions. So, we had applications coming in from the whole world (including a few countries we had barely heard of) and it was a pretty massive task to go through them all and make our choices. From close to a hundred applicants we harshly narrowed it down to five guitar players being invited to our rehearsing room for auditions. One from Sweden, one from the UK, one from Iceland, one from Germany and one from France. These were the top-of-the-crop, and it’s quite telling that they were all lead singers in their respective past or present bands. It was hard to choose, especially between the top two guys. However, when the dust settled, it was to Iceland that we turned, and the magical Ragnar Zolberg. So, without further ado, here he is:

Holy ravens! what the f**k just happened!?
My gratitude and excitement for the upcoming tour is far beyond words and I feel unbelievably privileged to be sharing the stage with one of my favorite bands.

I’ve been going through the songs during the whole christmas that I’m spending here in London, but the only guitar I had was my nephew’s guitar…..he’s 2 years old!
Let’s just say that it’s a very small one but it sort of keeps in tune so it’s not all bad.

I can’t wait to start rocking out to the music that we’ve all come to love so dearly and I will devote my whole heart to it!

Peace
Ragnar Zolberg

We are certain that Ragnar will have everything that’s needed to kick your asses on the upcoming tour, and our first four days of rehearsals only strengthened that feeling. He is an excellent guitar player and an outstanding vocalist, and he knows how to make use of those abilities while rocking out on stage. On top of that he is an awesome person. What’s not to like?