Paradise Lost
Icon

THE REVIEW

In 1992, Paradise Lost bid farewell to their Doom period with a gem like "Shades Of God." At this point, Nick Holmes' band decided it was time for a change.
Everything was ready within a year, and in 1993, Music For Nations released ICON.
From the very first listen, it's clear that the choice was to set aside obsessiveness in favor of a good dose of melody. Doom is now just part of the atmosphere and no longer the backbone of the tracks. Holmes' voice has moved away from growling while still being very raw and aggressive (though sometimes not technically flawless).
The opener EMBERS FIRE is illustrative of the band's new direction. A simple but effective riff, an unforgettable chorus, and a solo to be passed down to posterity as one of the band's absolute masterpieces.
Throughout the grooves of the record, the group does not forget its origins with JOYS OF THE EMPTINESS, pure slow and gloomy Doom Metal.
The album continues with other hits long considered classics of the band such as DYING FREEDOM, WIDOW, and WEEPING WORDS. Up to the tenth track TRUE BELIEF, the true masterpiece of the album and one of Paradise Lost's anthems (second only to As I Die). A track of great intensity, emotional, with a refrain for the ages. After a few tracks in line with the dark atmosphere, the first chapter of the second period of a band too important to be ignored concludes, the progenitor of a Metal style today too often mimicked by pseudo-gothic bands of questionable integrity.
After the success of the subsequent Draconian Times, the band itself would no longer have the strength or desire to continue down this path, but if today Paradise Lost are remembered for having almost single-handedly invented a genre, it is precisely thanks to their courage to constantly renew themselves.