Progressive Rock
Ever since leaving Pain of Salvation in 2006, parting ways with his brother Daniel Gildenlöw, Kristoffer has released several solo works, this being the fifth in his discography.
Now settled in the Netherlands, he presents us with “Empty”, a calm, mournful album, with energetic doses, passages of standout beauty, and outstanding performance quality.
In a very nostalgic way, with a dragged, filtered voice, the guitar picks out notes in a sad, intimate atmosphere. The band’s entrance with a guitar solo in the purest David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) style gives it a bit more energy. The ending, with melancholic guitars, deepens those feelings. “Time to Turn the Page” is this album’s opening statement.
A keyboard introduction, into which some violins — which sound virtual — are inserted, continues this downcast mood on “End of Their Road”. The vocal work is quite interesting, doubling voices and applying effects for a different feel; the harmonisation stands out once we reach the song’s group section. The track evokes the most classic progressive rock compositions, with a certain flavour of The Moody Blues or Barclay James Harvest, and a solo that keeps the same reference point.
And continuing with that festive mood, “Harbinger of Sorrow” lets a fretless bass emerge beneath the vocals and piano, complemented by the drums coming in and by a second, more aggressive bass with an excellent tone. Here we get close to an influence of bands like Radiohead, in particular. The lovely, recurring guitar figures build toward a crescendo that, once it reaches its peak, gradually fades away.
And if you’re a diehard Floydian, you’ll have plenty of fun with “He’s Not Me”, a mid-tempo track full of minor chords and soft, relaxed vocal lines. It’s worth listening closely to the quality harmonies in the backing vocals. It’s partly a similar kind of composition to “Black & White”, with great beauty in the voices, introducing a female one, always a welcome addition to add variety to a long record like this. Both are gentle, classy tracks, built on the same musical foundations.
That said, by this point, on “Down We Go”, we’re already seeing that the general — almost exclusive — tone will be this kind of composition: a persistent dysthymia. Yes, it’s very beautiful, but if you’re having a somewhat upbeat day, this isn’t the best album to listen to in one sitting. And if you’re having a rough day, well, let’s hope you have an electric oven handy, because you might feel like sticking your head in it. Even so, it’s a very well-made track with great musical taste, though it repeats all the ideas we’ve been hearing already, even the charming but recurring solos.
“Turn It All Around” would be darker still if it weren’t for the string arrangements, which are unmistakably digital, making it a bit pointless to talk about the choice of pizzicato as a standout feature of a composition that’s really just solid filler. The same could be said of “Means to an End”, where, after a somewhat syrupy opening section, we get a rather mawkish, extremely clichéd song — not everything can turn out as one would like.
Once again we hear a use, which is starting to become an overuse, of intimate track openings that progressively add layers and arrangements to build the full track. It’s genuinely a pleasant surprise that “Beautiful Decay” brings in a string instrument that could be a mandolin, though since we can no longer trust technology, who knows if it was a keyboard emulation. Either way, a good production choice to keep us from getting overly fatigued.
But it makes things hard for us again on “The Brittle Man”, since once more we get that minimalist, mannered opening shared by every track. Sure, it’s very pretty, and nobody’s asking for rock’n’roll here, but 60 minutes of gloom isn’t exactly thrilling. And, fittingly, now that we’re thoroughly saturated, “Saturated” turns out to be different, with a livelier rhythm. Careful, though — it’s still no party, but at least it steps a little outside the usual. It’s really more of a mid-tempo pop song, with simple instrumentation and solid vocal work, and honestly could have done without the obligatory guitar solo too — though we can’t really demand drastic changes at this point.
As the closer, we get the album’s title track: “Empty”. It features a three-minute introduction that might recall an Alan Parsons Project track, especially through its sparing use of electric piano. The first verses show that the best thing about this record is the vocal work, which is very emotive and well delivered. The final third of the composition makes room for the guitar solo that had already been kept waiting.
Truth is, within its own narrow set of parameters and ideas, this is a magnificent record. But it’s always the same kind of composition, which means that if you’re not a fan of this style, you might end up disliking it. Best to listen to it calmly on a relaxed day with no great expectations, or on a long car journey — one that certainly won’t tempt you to put your foot down.
Writer: David Sàez