A founding (ex) member of supreme heavy prog band, Pain of Salvation, Kristoffer Gildenlöw is on a creative roll. On 29th May, he releases his sixth album, Humanised, and it is another cracker. As an introduction, why not click on the button below to read my review of 2024’s Empty?
You can purchase it in varying formats at https://www.kristoffergildenlow.com/
This is a heavy album, almost a return to his PoS roots. It is not a concept work, as such, although the artist describes it as a mirror (or selfie) held up in front of the modern-day person, with all the impacts of selfishness we witness.
Before we discuss the music, a quick word on guests. Léo Margarit features on drums (the latter day PoS drummer). Daniel Magdič (also formerly of PoS) adds a guitar solo on Landfill, as does Thijmen van der Meer on The Fields.
First off, we have a trailer, and second, we can also embed the artist’s note on his guests.
So, 45 minutes of music over nine tracks. Let’s go.
We start off with an instrumental, The Rendering, and it acts as a perfect overture to the main body of the album, slightly doomy initially, but the soundscapes created by synths and guitars bringing more a sense of anticipation, I think, before an explosion of sound, thunderous riffs, the synths turning up the heat, the drums crashing, the riffs filling the mind. Simply a start that most heavy and metal progressive rock fans can swoon over.
Nothing Lasts Forever follows, which I take as referencing the fickle nature of fame. Whilst on holiday recently, I saw more than a couple of people holding their phones up, gawping with admiration, selfies as “influencer”, but worth nothing, really, and lasting such a short time. It is fast-paced, riffs circling, the reflection of the speed at which “fame” and “events” swirl around. I have always liked Gildenlöw’s voice, descriptive, and emotional, and he utilises these attributes perfectly here, also managing that trick of allowing the music to step back or encroach according to the mood the words wish to convey. I might add that this really has hit rock single written all over it, some of the guitar work here achingly beautiful.
Landfill follows, the waste of modern consumer desires, tempted by the snake oil salespeople, acquiring goods according to the latest fads, all ending up in both the physical, but also mental self, landfill, a loss of control, the addict failing asleep. It starts with some clever effects before some pulsing riffs kick in, and Margarit continues his incredible skins work. It is a prog metal fans’ dream track, including some of the intense vocals I know more melodic prog followers dislike in this music, but bear with it, because this artist brings to the table a supreme orchestral, operatic, and symphonic metal taste to his music. The guitar solo from Magdič is intense and emotional. Heavy, hard, and massive impact.
The Almosts is the single released in advance of the album, and it is embedded below for you (I played this on a recent radio show). We are The Almosts, pushed aside, and we will rise up against The Normals, who always turn to grey. We are simply ourselves, not creatures of the machine. I adore the ghostly guitar we get in the opening passage but again segueing into a passage where the words speak for themselves, the music allowing them to breathe, interspersed with explosions of glorious noise. Exceptional commercial hard rock music, and a very good example of the quality inherent in this album.
We have an Intermezzo to follow, fretwork dripping with blues sensibilities, acoustic and electric, chops being displayed right at the forefront of the shop window. It is followed by Nothing Stays the Same, a lesson in history we would all do very well to remember. We gaze at ancient ruins such as Gigantija on Gozo, without any conscious thought that the brand-new apartments being built near the site of these ancient temple ruins will, one day, be incorporated into those ruins. In between the at once thundering riffs and then dark balladic tones, I do hear clear references to Floydian glories of yore, circa WYWH, and I believe this is done quite deliberately, contrasting the ancient against the modern, but ultimately fated to all meld into one. This wonderful track is a clear contender for “best commentary of 2026” award on the website.
The Fields follows, the madness of us allowing one man, one narcissist, to inflict conflict and pain, the collective suffering exemplified here by a farmer and his son, dragged into war quite against their will, but unable to resist the flow. This is a brooding track, perfectly suited to the lyrics, thudding riffs entering the consciousness, but again the melodic breaks allowing the emotion to filter through, here with the backdrop of some gorgeous guitar work, in parts this track deeply moving, the solo from van der Meer suitably emotive, leading into a chaotic closing segment.
I will be playing Before I Fail Asleep on my radio show this coming Saturday. It has arguments, and a realisation of the ease with which “the machine” can beat and render us obsolete, lifeless, beat and broken. The lesson? Don’t allow it and them to do so. This one is for fans of imperial bass guitar playing, driving all around it, but also leading the gorgeous melodies in the quieter moments. As we move into the final couple of minutes, we get some heavy psych, post-rock tendencies coming to the fore, and the guitar burst when it comes fills the room. The dystopian, minimalist notes at the end are, if anything, more disturbing than the noise which preceded it.
We close with Binary, which I think can be viewed in several ways. A love song, memories of younger fantasies, mature companionship which simply cannot last forever, our mortality key, nothing lasts forever, but we have the opportunity to live that magic whilst we can. It opens with light electronica before another bass guitar masterclass fills the senses. The layered vocals are done well (our man mixed and produced), and the more you listen to this track, the more you realise the complexities which lie at the heart of it, a metaphor for the album as a whole, which is a stunning achievement in my opinion.
Very highly recommended.