Three years after the very personally colored "In The Passing Light Of Day" Pain of Salvation again present a modern concept album with depth. On "Panther" bandleader Daniel Gildenlöw develops a unique, fascinating musical and lyrical world, dissecting social erosion zones as usual
"Daniel would like to give longer interviews this time," says the responsible PR agency. A statement that makes you smile when you consider that the singer and guitarist generally tends to overflowing, but at the same time highly intelligent and even at times extremely polished monologues. Overruns of the interview times had to be planned anyway. In the end, almost one and a half hours pass in an interview that spans the range from musical to personal and socially significant topics.
eclipsed: Before we talk about the origin and content of "Panther", a question about your health: In the beginning of 2014 you fell ill with a streptococcus infection and had to spend several months in hospital. What at first was only a small inflammation quickly turned into a life-threatening situation. You had a hole in your lower back so that the spine was visible. You also processed the experiences from this time on the last album "In The Passing Light Of Day" (2017). How do you feel today?
Daniel Gildenlöw: Basically I am very satisfied with the situation. But there is still this spot on the back that will probably remain permanently numb. On one of the last tours there was an incident because the guitar strap with the radio transmitter rubbed permanently on this spot, but I didn't notice it until blood suddenly flowed under the shower. But with regard to the fitness I am very satisfied. I could easily kick the ass of my 20-year-old self. (laughs)
eclipsed: Health is a big issue these days anyway: How has the Corona pandemic affected you?
Gildenlöw: The band hardly influenced them, because we were already in the last stages of recording when the pandemic broke out. There were tour plans, of course, but they were all set for the fall anyway, so we had enough leeway to cancel, rethink and replan. The mixing process took some getting used to, though, because I couldn't go to Daniel Bergstrand's studio in Stockholm and we had to send the recordings to each other over the internet and talk on the phone all the time instead. That was no longer an intuitive process and became quite annoying
eclipsed: After the last album Johan Hallgren has returned for guitarist Ragnar Zolberg, now bassist Gustaf Hielm has left
Gildenlöw: The departure of Ragnar in the past, say 10 or 20 years ago, would probably have made me doubt the future of the band. I have often experienced this when members left the band or things didn't turn out well. But I just kept on writing music. By the way, Gustaf's leaving had purely personal reasons: After years of juggling a full-time day job, the band, his family and a career as a session musician, last fall he came frighteningly close to total exhaustion and had to step on the brakes. We fully understand his decision.
eclipsed: Your compositions probably don't come out the way they were written anyway?
Gildenlöw: The times when you spent hours in the rehearsal room working on a demo and then recording it all over again in the studio are long gone. Nowadays I record the bass directly during the composition process anyway. The plan was, of course, that Gustaf would replace my tracks in the studio as usual, but that never happened.
