Scott's Song by Song #75: Kristoffer Gildenlöw - Humanised

 Welcome to issue #75 of Scott’s Song By Song (#scottssongbysong).For more information about this series, click here: 

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Kristoffer Gildenlöw was first known to many prog fans as the brother of Daniel Gildenlöw, leader of the Swedish band Pain of Salvation, with which Kristoffer was the original bassist (see my review of the wonderful “Remedy Lane” album on the blog).  He left the band in 2006, after he had begun a thriving career as a session player.  While initially known as a bassist, he began his musical journey on the piano as a child, and can also play guitar and drums; a true multi-instrumentalist.  Kristoffer began releasing well-received solo albums in 2012, and today’s album, “Humanised” (stylized [Humanised] on the album and promotional campaign), is his sixth solo album. The album is set to be released on May 29, 2026. Kristoffer played everything other than drums, and two guitar solos on the album.  The drummer is Leo Margarit who has been the drummer in Pain of Salvation for several years, but joined after Kristoffer left the band.  As for the guest guitar soloists, the first is Daniel Magdic of PreHistoric Animals, and who also has been a member of PoS, who appears on track 3, and Thijmen van der Meer, called “an emerging talent from The Netherlands”, who plays on Track 7.  According to the information I have been given, Kristoffer has decided to lean into his Prog-Metal origins on this album, using seven-string guitars to create “weighty-riffs” and “shifting time signatures”; sounds like it's going to be a wild ride!

The album comes courtesy of Anne Claire of Bad Dog Promotions.  As always, I receive no additional compensation, and I always “call it like I hear it”.  As per my usual method, this is a cold listen.

Let’s jump in!

Track 1 - Rendering (3:56)

The track fades in slowly, with synth tones, leading to a synth orchestrated introduction with reverb-drenched, clean guitar on the top. After a little pause the full “band” comes in hard and heavy at around 1:45, with power chords, moving synth lines and tribal drumming; very nice! At around 2:45 a very syncopated rhythm takes over.  The tribal drum riff then returns.  I am wondering if this opening track is serving as an overture of themes that will return later in the album; time will tell!  The production is clean as a whistle.  An outstanding start to the album.  I look forward to what is to follow.

Track 2 - Nothing Lasts Forever (6:19)

A clean guitar riff is joined by bass, then drums.  Leo Margarit is showing himself to be an outstanding drummer.  I like the synth choirs that join in.  The first vocals of the album start about one minute in.  They have some effects making them sound as if they are coming from some distance away, but are smooth and engaging.  There is an excellent turnaround between verses, providing dynamic contrast. I love the rhythm change and vocal harmonies around 2:50. I believe we are in 5-4 here. There is a nice mellow guitar solo next.  My only minor issue is that I wish the vocals were a bit more up front, they get buried a little here and there with so much cool stuff happening instrumentally.  The tempo is at a high-pace.  The song ends suddenly with the title phrase.  Super cool track, but maybe bring the vocals out a bit more.

Track 3 - Landfill (5:11)

This is the one with a guest solo from Daniel Magdic. This track fades in with an intentionally “glitchy” sound effect.  That sound effect becomes the basis for the rhythm in the monstrously heavy riff that follows. When the vocals enter at around 1:20, they are much more out front than on the previous track.  Although effects are employed on them as well, they are different effects from before.  The underlying rhythm is quite frantic, but the melody line is smoother over the top. Leo gets a real workout on the drums! The bridge quiets things down a little, and some of the effects on the vocals almost hint at growling, but not quite.  The guest solo starts just after 3 minutes in.  Magdic plays smooth legato phrases interspersed with spectacular tapping lines and precise rapid-fire alternate picking (forgive my guitarist geeking-out moment there). The vocals return, then the song ends with a huge heavy riff.  Awesome modern sounding prog metal track, that is super-heavy, yet not harsh sounding!

Track 4 - The Almosts (6:26)

This title has been intriguing me since I saw it.  I suspect it talks about the things that “almost” happen, but never come to fruition, but we shall see!  After a few seconds of nearly inaudible drone sounds, a catchy palm-muted riff with just a touch of distortion takes over that’s almost bluesy.  Some lead phrases come in over the top, before the very fat sounding bass guitar lines lead the full “band” in; nice!  When it does fully kick in, it really kicks in!  Watch your volume levels, particularly if wearing headphones!  This one really rocks with a great mid-tempo groove.  The vocals once again employ effects. I was wrong about the song's meaning, however.  It really has to do with people who are marginalized by society.  “The Almosts” are the marginalized people, while the “Normals” are the mainstream members of the culture, who are suppressing the “Almosts”.  At least, that’s how I interpret it.  I like the layered vocal parts after the three-minute point.  Kristoffer himself plays lead on this one with a nice melodic solo with soaring, sustained notes, to which he eventually adds a harmony line.  The guitar harmonies continue as the vocals return to take us to the song’s conclusion. There is a long gap at the end with several seconds of silence, which I am not sure if it is intentional.  This was a fantastic track that I hope gets a lot of attention, as it is truly unique.

Track 5 - Intermezzo (2:19)

The title means interlude, so I suspect that it will provide a transition from the first half of the album to the second half.  It fades in softly and has some mellow playing on guitar and bass in a minor key.  It has an improvised feel to it.  I believe it is just a little palate-cleanser for the ears, so to speak. Nice little piece.

Track 6 - Nothing Stays the Same (5:27)

This one also has a fade-in, before the main riff hits big!  Then the vocals enter with minimal accompaniment from clean guitar arpeggios.  We are in 6-8. The drums and bass along with synth washes come in at around 2:20.  I kept feeling like it would kick back in as I was listening, but I had to be patient as it doesn’t until 3:40 or so.  I like the guitar ostinato that joins in here (a repeating part). This is very orchestrated, which I like, but the vocals seem to get buried in parts of this one like on track 2.  Very cool song, otherwise.

Track 7 - “The Fields” (5:00)

This one features the guest solo from Thijmen van der Meer.  After some guitar tones, the giant odd-metered riff kicks in with a swaggering groove.  This is another one that really rocks hard, but doesn't tear your face off.  The vocals have some roughness in the way they are layered, but don’t sound like underworld demons ready to consume your very soul.  I like it that way! (lol) A synth part provides contrast after the one-minute mark when the rhythm takes a break. After about a minute the groove returns.  The contrasting sections happen again, but this time the drums continue into the smoother parts.  Then the guitar solo happens, and he is indeed impressive; I wouldn’t have minded if they gave him a little more time to play.  The closing section is really taking the meter-shifts to a new level.  Great track!

Track 8 - Before I Fail Asleep

I almost typed “Fall” but it is indeed “Fail”.  Kristoffer shows off a bit of his celebrated bass skills on the intro to this track, then a drum fill brings in a syncopated rhythm, eventually joined by heavy guitar riffing and panning synth tones.  There is more meter-trickery here making the timing quite complex.  At 2:10 a sustained harmony vocal takes us to the bridge, which is equally complex.  When it comes out of the bridge there is a cool swirling part on top of the rhythms.  At around 5:20 there are layered and overlapping guitar lines that are orchestrated brilliantly.  The last moments of the song sound like they are on a children' s toy keyboard or something.  They are very delicate sounding  This track is an expert-level lesson on how to build complex rhythms.  I really enjoyed it!

Track 9 - Binary (4:12)

An arpeggiated synth melody fades in and becomes an almost 80’s sounding techno-synth part.  The vocals are kind of floating over the top. While quite different from the rest of the album, I really like it.  The rhythm comes in with a quick tempo, then drops back out.  A delicate piano part plays before the rhythm resumes.  The drumming kind of reminds me of Phil Collins’ playing on tracks like “Los Endos”; really well-done!  The gentle piano part takes back over and fades out as the song, and thus the album comes to its conclusion.  Excellent closer!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:  

What a fantastic album from Kristoffer Gildenlow and Leo Margarit and guests!  My only issues are the places I mentioned where the vocals seem buried in the mix.  Other than that, I can predict that this will be a contender for album of the year in prog circles!  There have already been several great albums in the first half of 2026, so it is a crowded field, but I’ll be shocked if this isn’t a part of the conversation.  I am giving this a nearly perfect 4.75 out of 5 stars (95%).  I will list where you can get it and provide links for listening below.  But if you like heavier prog with complex rhythms, I urge you to give this one a listen!

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Prog On!

Scott

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LINKS FOR LISTENING/BUYING:

I searched his name on YouTube, and teaser videos for each track came up.  Here is the link from my search:

https://www.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEB&search_query=kristoffer+gildenl%C3%B6w

There is a full video of “The Almosts”:

https://youtu.be/fUI9alvR4ik?list=RDfUI9alvR4ik

(Interestingly, the video shows different musicians than are listed on the album credits but makes it clear who actually played the parts in the video description:

In the video:

Lilo - bass guitar

Dirk Bruinenberg - drums

Kristoffer Gildenlöw - guitar/vocals

On the audio recording:

Leo Margarit - drums

Kristoffer Gildnlöw - all other instruments.){yes, it is misspelled on the video description}

The album can be purchased from one of the links on his page, depending on your location:

https://www.kristoffergildenlow.com/