KRISTOFFER GILDENLOW – The Rain (2016)
KRISTOFFER GILDENLOW’s eleven year career as bass player in the progressive rock band Pain Of Salvation set the wheels in motion for his solo career, which took flight with the release of his debut album three years ago, paving way for this second CD “The Rain“, released today, April 7, 2016.
In addition to vocals, Gildenlöw performs a wide range of instruments and uses carefully selected guest musicians – adding strings, church organ, etc – to make this new album something special.
Born in Sweden, Gildenlöw is best known for his eleven year career (1995-2006) as bass player for world-renowned Swedish band, Pain Of Salvation (PoS). But his pedigree includes recordings / band member with the likes of Lana Lane, Consortium Project, Harmony, Epysode and dozens more.
His skill as a bass guitarist granted him the well-earned 2014 worldwide ranking of ‘8th Best Bass Player in Progressive Rock. In addition to bass guitar, Gildenlöw studied and mastered piano, drums, double bass, guitar, classical vocals and music design; all of which have served the artist well in his transition to a solo career.
“The Rain” is progressive rock album, and hence has a concept telling the story of a man fighting his oncoming dementia, giving in only shortly before dying. A theme that is all to common, in a world where we are still dealing with Alzheimer.
After the sounds of rain, the first violin notes of ‘After the Rain Part II’ (Part I is on the 200 copies limited edition bonus EP) make clear that this album is full of emotion and melancholy. Kristoffer’s voice carries the melancholy, which is joined by Paul Coenradie (Robby Valentine Band) equally emotional guitar to set the stage for the rest of the album.
Next in ‘Holding On Pt. I’ Kristoffers voice is joined by that of violinist Anne Bakker, resulting in a duet full of questions and despair. The effect of the vocals, and the use of vocals as another instrument becomes even stronger on following track ‘Seeking The Sun Pt. I’, where a complete choir (Popkoor Zuilen) joins in with the other two voices to create an intricate and touching layering of melodies.
This matches perfectly with the piano and guitar melodies in the short instrumental ‘The Sun Pt II’.
The short piano (Fredrik Hermansson) and male vocal piece ‘Worthy’ found me staring out the window into the dark of the night, ‘waking up’ to the slightly faster strings of ‘Holding On Pt II’.
This leads up to the slow ‘See it All’, which starts with dark drums and then a piano to accompany Kristoffer’s low voice, again joined by the choir – putting down the emotions of the dementing man wanting to see it all once more.
The cello (Maaike Peters) and violin on ‘Peripheral Memory’, accompanied by a low guitar riff and almost haunting drums (by Gazpacho’s Lars Erik Asp) lead to the soft, slow ‘Breath In, Breath Out’. Here, the man gives in, knowing the end is near.
With ‘The Evening’, which starts small and ends big, and the acoustic ‘It Was Me’, the album works it’s way into the haunting ‘Drizzle’. This song starts with a very low voice (Norman Ebecilio) and the sound of chains and cart wheels and develops into something that is not a blues but certainly has the feel of one. A very dark one that ends in the sound of rain.
Three short tracks; ‘All for You’, and ‘The Funeral Pt I & II’ remain, reflecting the sad ending to a sad story – with the piano and the sound of rain and distant church bells ending the album.
“The Rain” is a true progressive album where lyrics, vocals melodies and instruments work together as an orchestra to convey a story. Musically is very calm, atmospheric, and requires attentive listening.
Production of the album is crystal clear, making all the layers of the music shine through.
The deep tones of how the mind fights against itself resonate throughout this strong and poignant work by Kristoffer Gildenlöw.
01 – After the Rain, Pt. II
02 – Holding On, pt. I
03 – Seeking the Sun, pt. I
04 – Seeking the Sun, pt. II
05 – Worthy
06 – Holding on, pt. II
07 – See It All
08 – Peripheral Memory
09 – Breathe In, Breathe Out
10 – In the Evening
11 – It Was Me
12 – Drizzle
13 – She
14 – All for You
15 – The Funeral, pt. I
16 – The Funeral, pt. II
Kristoffer Gildenlöw: Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Piano, Keyboards, Bass Guitars, Double Bass, Percussion, Glockenspiel
with:
Lars Erik Asp: Drums, Percussion (Gazpacho)
Paul Coenradie: Electric Guitar (Robby Valentine, Aniday)
Fredrik Hermansson: Piano (Pain of Salvation)
Anne Bakker: Violin, Viola, Vocals (Blaze Bayley)
Maaike Peterse: Cello (Ayreon)
Special Guests:
Norman Ebicilio: Vocals on ‘Drizzle’
Theo Teunisen: Church Organ
Popkoor Zuilen, Norman Ebicilio: Choir Vocals
Popkoor Zuilen: Conductor
BUY IT !
melodicrevolutionrecords.com/album/the-rain
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