Pain of Salvation: Remedy Lane Revisited – Re:Mixed and Re:Lived

Remedy Lane. Even if you’ve long since stopped following Pain of Salvation, that’s an album that still has the power to stop most progressive metal fans in their tracks. Originally released in 2002, it was the Swedish band’s fourth album, and is arguably their defining work. It pushed the boundaries of the progressive metal genre and had some of the most emotionally intense lyrics and themes ever put to music. It was also recorded in a hurry to meet label obligations and without the benefit of today’s recording technology.

Fast forward twelve years and Pain of Salvation is set to perform Remedy Lane in its entirety at the 2014 ProgPower USA festival. This prompted founder Daniel Gildenlow to revisit the original Remedy Lane recordings, which in turn inspired him to have the album remixed. Not just remixed, but remixed by Jens Bogren of Fascination Street studios. Bogren, who has worked so notably with bands like Leprous, Opeth and Katatonia, was the perfect person to handle this task.

Forward two more years and we have the final product: Remedy Lane Revisited – Re:Mixed and Re:Lived. It’s a two-disc set that has the newly remixed Remedy Lane on disc 1 and the live Remedy Lane performance from ProgPower USA on disc 2. The remixed album is the main attraction, and true to expectations Bogren managed to breathe new life into this classic album without changing the tone and atmosphere that made it such an impacting album in the first place. It’s a fuller, richer Remedy Lane experience, but one that requires your undivided attention, preferably with a good set of headphones. Remedy Lane was never meant to be background music, after all. The one thing that’s missing from this revisiting is the song “Thorn Clown,” which was originally a bonus track on the Japanese version of Remedy Lane but was included on the recent LP reissue of the album. Since the song fit in the middle of the album and added another layer to the overall experience, it would have been nice to have it here as well.

The Re:Lived portion of this set is a nice addition, especially for those of us who were there to experience it in person. It gives you an appreciation not just for the material, but for how much of an effort it was to tackle the whole thing in a live setting. It also makes you appreciate the vocal talents of the rest of the band, as this album has such immense backing vocals.

They top the whole thing off with new, or at least revised, artwork (on a digipack, but hey, nothing’s perfect) and a booklet that has two new essays (one for each disc) by Daniel Gildenlow, lyrics and new credits. Reading the liner notes makes you realize just how much a labor of love this whole project was for him.

Remedy Lane was already a must-have album for serious progressive metal fans. Remedy Lane Revisted – Re:Mixed and Re:Lived is a must-have for those of us who hold that album sacred. Unlike your average reissue, this set is not one that replaces the original Remedy Lane release. Rather it is meant to accompany and enhance it.

Label: InsideOut

Where to get it: http://amzn.to/2dk0cdR

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