‘Tragic Idol‘ is Paradise Lost’s 13th full-length release…yes you read right 13! This prolific band just keeps on getting better with ever release. I had the pleasure of witnessing their live performance at this years Soundwave Festival, they were fantastic with ever song they had the power of an extremely young band but the musicianship of an extremely grown and mature band, they are one of the most under-rated bands in the metal scene, they deserve to be as big as Metallica. The reason why I believe they have stayed so consistently great, is due to the fact their line-up has basically never changed, apart from the drummer who has changed several times, this allows them to have such a musical connection that can progress in such a way that a band with many line-up changes just can not. However this is not to say that a band without line-up changes will stay consistently good, there are a lot of examples that I could mention however I will not in this review.
This album is such a pleasure to listen to, the main thing that I love about Paradise Lost is their doomy riffs, ‘Tragic Idol’ is in a lot of sense an album that goes back to their roots but in a matured fashion. Paradise Lost has become more and more melodic, this is shown through many of the songs but most in ‘Worth fighting for‘.
The first glimpse I had for this album was the song ‘Crucify‘ that they released 2 months prior to the release of the album on the 23rd of April. ‘Crucify’ is such a chunky song, there is so much balls behind this song, the guitars and vocals together just make you want to get out of your seat and bang your fucking head, especially at 2:34 with the vocals roar of “CRUCIFYY” this slow tempo classic doom riff made the hairs stick up on my arms. The next highlight on this album is the music video track of ‘Honesty in Death‘ this song is as easy to headbang to as ‘Crucify’ but this song just chugs along with so much power..as I say of this kind of track, it is a great walking song. The melodic guitars on this song contrast perfectly with the chugging of the rhythm. The song ‘Worth Fighting for’ as mentioned before is fantastic the melody is perfect, the song has a such a fantastic structure to it that makes for such a powerful, epic feel.
For lovers of old-school Paradise Lost, this album is for you, the rich melodies and fantastic vocal work makes for an album that comes close to the album of 2012. I recommend this album to anyone who likes Gothic, Doom, Melody or bands like Metallica (old-school) I guarantee you will love this album. View Track listing, Duration, Genre and Rating below video.
Track Listing
01. Solitary One
02. Crucify
03. Fear of Impending Hell
04. Honesty in Death
05. Theories from Another World
06. In This We Dwell
07. To the Darkness
08. Tragic Idol
09. Worth Fighting For
10. The Glorious End
drummer149 