In crafting a cinematic world populated with dogs and panthers, Pain of Salvation mastermind Daniel Gildenlow has tapped into a similar vein of inspiration to that which informed Pink Floyd’s vitriol-soaked masterpiece, Animals. And, in the same vein that Animals jettisoned the more ethereal trappings of the Floyd’s oeuvre, so Panther departs from Pain of Salvation’s more organic past in favour of a hard edged electronic sound that, in places, sounds like Ulver and No Man doing battle with Aphex twin. Not that PoS have entirely abandoned the hard-edged riffing of yore – rather, it’s often twisted into new shapes on an album that delights in pushing the increasingly strict boundaries of progressive to their very limits.
It takes a moment, it really does, for the stuttering EDM of Accelerator to coalesce into something approaching form. At the outset, Gildenlow seems lost in a synth-powered soundscape that seems to endlessly form and reform in fractal patterns around the earnest vocals. It’s easy to imagine the hapless streamer bypassing it in sheer exasperation, yet persevere and a rather beautiful melody, gossamer fine and strangely memorable, emerges from the heat haze of overloaded synthesisers. It’s an unconventional, even obtuse, opener from a band a hair away from its thirtieth anniversary and it showcases a creative spark that burns brighter than ever. With COVID still in the ascendency, it’s hard not to look at a track title like Unfuture and not consider it depressingly prescient. Opening with a dusty, bluesy guitar that is the antithesis of what went before, it is soon mutated out of recognition as metal, industrial and prog combine on a track of startling power.  It contrasts nicely with the spasmodic Restless Boy, a track that veers from a trip hop verse to stuttering chorus that recalls the relentless Coil remix of Nine Inch Nail’s Gave Up. By this stage, really nothing should be surprising, and yet the rippling piano of Wait still manages to come out of leftfield, as does the deftly picked guitar work that follows. Not that the electronica is dispensed with altogether, for subtly menacing sequenced noise remains omnipresent, occasionally bubbling over, even if the overall vibe is of a latter-day Porcupine Tree recording, stretched out over seven glorious minutes.
Another lengthy piece, Keen To A Fault emerges from a sequence that sounds suspiciously like a 303, before Daniel layers jazz-influenced drums and acoustic guitars over the surface to create a strangely dynamic piece of music that, as with Accelerator requires multiple listens to fully appreciate. It hands over to the brief, gloriously incongruous Fur before the slinky title track emerges, in a storm of Ulver-esque percussion and half-rapped vocals that sound like De Staat going head to head with Live. Easily the album’s most atypical moment, it’s a surprisingly catchy track powered by muscular guitars and a sense of wide-eyed innovation that, with its hip hop stylings, is bound to wind up a significant portion of the increasingly staid prog community. Rather more typically prog rock, Species is a powerful track that eschews electronics to such an extent that it almost feels as if it were beamed in from another album. Yet, given the mercurial nature of what has gone before, it actually fits. it all leads up to the eleven-minute finale, Icon, a sweeping piece that more or less incorporates all of the various elements demonstrated across the album. With strings and Floyd-esque fretless bass leading the way, you’d be forgiven for anticipating a calm epilogue to the album but, of course, it’s another instance of Daniel leading us astray, as the track expands into a gnarled rock beast in a classic King Crimson vein. Even then, it must pass over a number of different sonic pastures before finally concluding this remarkably diverse collection of songs.
Panther is not an easy listen. A number of songs claw and bite whilst others simply disorientate. On first listen, it’s wilful – even obtuse – but persevere and what lies below the surface is an impressively varied and carefully considered set of songs that flow far better across the album than an initial reading would suggest. Well produced and beautifully played, Panther may alienate some, but it more than repays those willing to stay the course and it emerges as one of the most adventurous collections in Pain of Salvation’s impressive back catalogue. Progressive in a literal sense, Panther is a surprise highlight of the year. 8.5/10
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