Note that the actual photos are not square, only the thumbnails below, so a few of them might look a bit weird in square format. Just saying…

More info on the video can be found HERE.
(Additional links on its banning and removal from YouTube can be found HERE)

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Daniel 1

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Daniel-1.jpg

• Daniel

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Daniel.jpg

• During shooting

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/During-shooting.jpg

• Editing 1

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Editing-1.jpg

• Editing 2

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Editing-2.jpg

• Daniel and Ida-Lisa 1

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Daniel-and-Ida-Lisa-1.jpg

• Daniel and Ida-Lisa 2

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Daniel-and-Ida-Lisa-2.jpg

• Daniel and Ida-Lisa 3

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Daniel-and-Ida-Lisa-3.jpg

• Daniel and Ida-Lisa 4

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Daniel-and-Ida-Lisa-4.jpg

• Ida-Lisa and Daniel

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Ida-Lisa-and-Daniel.jpg

• After shooting

   

  http://www.blog.painofsalvation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/After-shooting.jpg

The video is as brave and uncompromising as Pain of Salvation in general, and Road Salt especially (from the first promotional photos to the mixing). Its aesthetic profile balances between the Japanese fight movie style of the 70s to the strict comic books’ chiseled and minimalistic graphical style of the 90s, landing beautifully in the uncharted territory of raw poetic erotica with a philosophical undertow. The two entirely different sceneries of the video make total sense towards the end, where they come together and explain one another. If you happen to be into content, that is. If you are not, the visuals will still last you a lifetime.

“Where It Hurts”
Recorded: Umeå, Sweden, 2010
Director: Owe Lingvall
Actors: Daniel Gildenlöw, Ida-Lisa Hellström
Film Crew: Oscar Hägglund, Joakim Jonsson, Jessica Lundberg

Daniel Gildenlöw: “Folkets Hus, Obbola. I have been sitting here, stark naked, in front of the cameras for almost 7 hours now. The floor is hard and the entire room is covered with white paper. A papered room, can you say that? In my hands I am holding a real heart. Isn’t that strange? I was a vegetarian for 10 years and here I am, naked in a papered room (sure you can say that, why not?), holding a heart that just days ago used to pound and pump blood. Though I am seemingly covered in it, there is no blood today. The stuff I am covered with is fake movie blood. It is sweet and sticky, and the smell mixes weirdly with that of the dead heart, getting worse by the hour in the hot spotlights.

This whole scene might strike you as strange, but you have heard nothing yet. Hiding just behind me, a camera technician named Oskar is crouching, frenetically using an old air-mattress pump which black hose is deeply sunk into the smelly heart. Every time he pumps there is a very disturbing sound, like that of a choking goose in panic (ok, I am only guessing here). Or a mad donkey. The frenzy of his pumping derives from the fact that we are playing back Where It Hurts in double tempo, resulting in a stressy and high pitched Smurf-like rendition of the song, to which I am to lip sync, while still trying to appear deep and profound.

Opposite me, also sitting on the papered floor, very naked and covered in fake blood, is a beautiful young model. In a few minutes we are going to make out, hardcore style. Although the 7 long hours have certainly helped taking the edge off, I still can’t help thinking that this simply has GOT to be the most dysfunctional foreplay ever!”

Pain of Salvation has been in India for almost two weeks, headlining two bigger festivals, making lots of interviews, clinics and other public appearances. Among other things, they were invited to judge two music competitions. Daniel Gildenlöw: “It was wonderful to witness how highly regarded knowledge still is in India. The bands and artists in the competitions were very skillful and people in general seem to have a great understanding for music as a language, perhaps because of the musical heritage the country has, with complex polyrhythmics and advanced melody structures.”

Pain of Salvation’s music draw big crowds and the reception was immense. When the band headlined the Saarang festival no less than 8,000 fans showed up, which is substantially more than for both Opeth and Hammerfall the previous two years. The show reviews in regional and national media also received accordingly better grades. Daniel: “It was amazing to see and hear them sing along, and when we started playing Linoleum we saw how people literally threw each other up in the air! Completelly surrealistic, like watching the jumping penguins in The Muppet Show, for those of you who remember that…”

Daniel also held a much appreciated work shop in composing in Chennai, and Léo held a drum clinic, also with high attendance. Indian Rolling Stone magazine had a reporter following Pain of Salvation throughout the whole trip in India. Daniel: “It turned out to be valuable not only from a media perspective but also on a social level – Tushar would always step in as a cultural link and resolve things that risked getting out of kilter. Also, he was highly educated in experimental physics with focus on string theory and M-theory, so he and I naturally had lots to talk about during the trip!”

During the trip, EMI India took the opportunity to start distributing all of Pain of Salvation’s records, previously available only through import. This was announced at the Landmark store at the big Spencer’s shopping mall in Chennai (previously Madras). Pain of Salvation performed an acoustic gig and did a signing session that went on for a long time after the show had officially ended. Daniel: “The thing is, the Indian audience seems less genre oriented, which I find interesting. At least judging from those who approached us after the Landmark gig or the many fans who recognized us at airports for instance. People of all ages and backgrounds were represented. Old men and ladies, children and youths. I think we were recognized and approached at basically every airport, which is quite impressive considering we had 12 flights in 11 days!”

Daniel was interviewed by the big and highly respected newspaper The Hindu and the article was referred to as politically courageous. The article (which can be read in its entirety here: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article1128367.ece) opens with the following words:

Gazing into Daniel Gildenlow’s mind is like peeping through a kaleidoscope. Thoughts shift in irresistible patterns. /…/  The intensity of his words lets you know why the Swedish band “Pain of Salvation” is a vehicle for strong views.

Gildenlow’s candour puts you at ease straightaway. The conversation begins with the musician-songwriter calling himself opinionated. He believes every thought — of course, his included — is inherently flawed. The reason why he thinks there can be no justification for people to maim or kill one another over ideologies.

Being asked what the highlight of the trip was, Daniel can’t choose just one – a profound adventure to India demands at least four:

1. “The traffic. It was an incredible experience to witness the Indian traffic from the inside. To sit in a small Tuk Tuk and hear this constant honking; to see this high-function chaos that’s maintained without fear or apparent respect for driving lanes; to see a big family making way on a small vespa with only millimeter margins.  And all the side rearview mirrors folded in of course, since those 5 cm are more valuable than being able to look behind you!”

2. “Agra. Not for Taj Mahal. I mean, sure it was amazing and all that, but what I will remember most is Zoltán (our road manager) and Léo entering their room only to discover a big monkey who had climbed in through the window, and sits there chewing on Zoltan’s nasal drops. Priceless…”

3. “Sri Lanka. Me and Zoltán visited a tea plantation in Sri Lanka, guided by a few fans who arranged the trip. Amazing nature! Then we ended up swimming in the Indian Ocean at 3 a.m. when the water and the sky seamlessly blended together, so you wouldn’t see the waves until they came crashing down on you out of the pitch blue.”

4. “For the encore at Saarang in Chennai we decided to go on stage in a Tuk Tuk. The roar that met us when we came on stage in this three-wheeled moped was unbelievable. They had gotten one from downtown Chennai and the driver had this huge smile on his face. I can only imagine how surreal it must have felt for him to drive that Tuk Tuk onto a fully lit stage in front of 8,000 screaming people, considering the harsh and tiresome everyday grind they normally experience. That was big.”

On a sidenote it’s worth mentioning that Pain of Salvation had a substitute keyboard player for their trip to India, since Fredrik had other commitments. The musician in question is Daniel Karlsson; both a talented keyboard player and bass player who, as a piece of curious trivia, was actually following the band on tour back in 2007 as a stage technician. For those who have no life, it’s quite possible to spend a few hours trying to spot Daniel Karlsson on the side of the stage during the Amsterdam show on the Ending Themes DVD. He can actually be seen yawning during Disco Queen! Another amusing fact: Daniel Karlsson is referred to as “D2″ by Pain of Salvation and crew, as there are two Daniels when he’s around.

Type of show: Festival
Length of show: TBA
Time of show: 3pm

Are you going to attend the show? Or did you attend it? Share your thoughts…

Venue: Bar Opinião, Porto Alegre (http://www.opiniao.com.br)
Type of show: Co-headline
Length of show: ca 90-120 minutes
Time of show: 9pm
Entrance fee: EU$35 to U$70
Tickets: www.ticketbrasil.com.br
Other bands: Symphony X (http://www.symphonyx.com)
Official site (venue): www.opiniao.com.br
Contact: (51) 3026-3602 abstratti@abstratti.com.br

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