Paradise Lost
Shades Of God

THE REVIEW

Just over a year after the previous GOTHIC, the third work of Paradise Lost presents notable differences from its distinguished predecessor. While Gothic was a Doom Metal masterpiece—slow, dark, and oppressive, with a sound that left no room for hope—here, from the very first track, MORTALS WATCH THE DAY, the band's ability to not be pigeonholed into one genre is spotlighted, brilliantly alternating between Death assaults and slow, decadent pieces like the following CRYING FOR ETERNITY, which stands out for its excellent final guitar solo. EMBRACED shows us how this album is suffused with destructive rage, elevated by an extraordinary vocal performance from Nick Holmes, perhaps at his peak as a singer here.

After the long DAYLIGHT TORN, it's the turn of the phenomenal PITY THE SADNESS, an electric ride distinguished by its stunning lyrics and the sense of harrowing despair that pervades it. It is followed by the structured NO FORGIVENESS and the unsettling YOUR HAND IN MINE, introduced by an eerily spectral choir of voices.
But it is the last track that represents the album's pinnacle. AS I DIE, that song destined to be the anthem of Paradise Lost, perhaps not their best track but the one that, for the anger, emotions, and intensity it releases, is the key to understanding the meaning not only of this album but of the entire career of the English group.

" TAKING A CHANCE / AND TAKE WHAT YOU GAIN / MY SOUL IT HAS NO PRICE / TOTAL RELEASE IS OUT OF HARMS WAY UNTIL I CAN DECIDE / YOU PUNISH ME / CAN'T YOU SEE / I'M NOT REAL / TEARS ARE FLOWING FREE / PASSING BY / AS I DIE "