The dark doom band Paradise Lost is back with another extraordinary album. “Tragic Idol” brings back a lot of their older sound yet with a refreshing new tones. It’s the bands 13th full length studio album and contains 10 trains of gorgeous death/doom metal. It contains more aggressive vocals combined with some softer clean singing that goes together perfectly.
Heavily slammed guitar riffs crack open the first track, entitled “Solitary One.” The eerie tones fill the air quickly as booming drums rumble their way in behind them. The vocals enter with a much different approach then some of their recent work. They have more of a shouting vocal that echoes high over the guitars. The refrain has a nice mix of mellow singing that goes back and forth with the shouting. It adds a soft side to such an aggressive track. Haunting piano riffs follow behind each chorus consuming deeper into the song. Meanwhile blaring guitars step right back in to crush you. “Crucify” starts out slow with heavy chugging guitar riffs that slowly open to a fast paced melodic meltdown. Detail drum rolls fill the background with energy as double bass patterns run right into massive cymbals that shatter right through you.
“Fear Of Impending Doom” and “Honesty In Death” have got to be two of my favored songs on the album. The song structure is constantly changing with tons of different instruments and melodies keeping you guessing the entire time. Gorgeous melodic solos are layered together with perfection in each track leaving you no choice but to hit the replay button. I had a hard time getting passed these songs with all of the different elements that they have to offer. “Theories From Another World” also leaves you speechless with its beast of an opener. Chomping guitar riffs rip through you as complicated drum rolls smash into echoing cymbals. The vocals step in with harsh raspy tones throwing a more violent sound in your face. The guitar solos will knock you on your ass as they come out of no where every time. This is a great track to bash your head to.
Songs like “To The Darkness” and “Tragic Idol” really keep your blood pumping as screeching guitars and high speed tempos force you to move around. Relentless snares and cymbals destroy you with their punishing explosions along with wild double bass pedal patterns. Deafening vocals jump out and grab you by the throat as you constantly gasp for air. Then the album slows down drastically to their more dooming sounding material. The closing tracks “Worth Fighting For” and “ The Glorious End” contain depressive guitar riffs and weeping solos that scream with sadness. However the insane drumming continues to do with it does best and that is to beat you down into the ground with pulverizing drum fills. These track give you just enough yet at the same time, will have you dying for more.
Paradise Lost is far from losing their touch as they have proven themselves with another excellent album. “Tragic Idol” is explosive, energetic, depressing, and just heavy as all hell. The vocals are well balanced between aggressive shouting and bone chilling clean singing which helps each track have their own sound. If you are new to this band then this album is the perfect album to start with. It’s captivating and addictive in every way.
8/10
Official Site - http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/
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