Paradise Lost
Tragic Idol

When bands of the caliber of Paradise Lost come back with a new album, there is always a lot of expectation, sometimes even too much. It is fair that the expectations regarding a reality that has given so much to a genre are always very high.

Last April 23rd, the band's thirteenth studio album "Tragic Idol" was officially released from Halifax. The band members themselves had described this work as being along the lines of the recent ones, but with an even more aggressive approach. Indeed, after numerous listens (but honestly from the very start), it becomes clear that Paradise Lost have continued to pursue the "rigid" and icy sounds that characterized works like "Requiem" and "Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us."

"Tragic Idol" sounds tremendously heavy, though it is not appropriate to compare it to the very first works. There is, undeniably, a general darkening that makes the ten tracks of the album oppressive and "pressing," but we are certainly not facing a revival of "Lost Paradise." The overall impact is what had deeply marked the last two works but had already been glimpsed in the 2005 self-titled platter. A gothic metal heavily influenced by the guitars of Gregor Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, in which the atmospheric and melodic valves of the past find no more outlet. Even Nick Holmes' voice becomes decidedly more aggressive: this is one of the "limiting" elements of "Tragic Idol." Holmes lingers too much on a sparse and monotonous timbre, and his vocal performance does not seem to be the best ever.

Paradise Lost is a band that in the past has accustomed its fans to countless stylistic variations, so much so that each new chapter of their career brought with it an innovative scope: each work of PL surprised fans and critics. That's the case with releases like "One Second" and especially "Host," which threw all the old fans into complete chaos. "Tragic Idol" instead settles on the archetypes of the previous two works, dwelling particularly on a renewed metallic vein. This merges in an inseparable marriage with the perennial darkness created by Mackintosh's six-string. This latest effort by these Englishmen is therefore tied to the aforementioned characteristics, and some tracks highlight their effectiveness: PL in "Solitary One" manages to return to the past ("Icon" might remind you of something). A glacial piece constructed on a chorus as simple as it is evocative. The same result for the splendid "Honesty in Death," accompanied by an equally interesting video: another track worthy of the best Paradise Lost.

Yet, albeit with a generally attested highly sufficient standard, "Tragic Idol" fails to bear either the innovative and experimental scope of some past episodes or leave a significant mark on the future of one of the bands that wrote the history of the early years of European doom metal. "Tragic Idol" suffers from stylistic immobility, with this aggressiveness pushing the more intimate mists of works like "Draconian Times" and "Paradise Lost" into a corner.

Paradise Lost remains one of the most reliable bands in the world metal scene. They have written and composed music that left a mark, for better or worse. But the latest works, beyond the positive opinions, show a band now steered towards a precise "credo." The class remains that allowed them to bring out works like "Gothic" and "Draconian Times," but perhaps ideas are starting to run short.

1. "Solitary One" (4:08)
2. "Crucify" (4:07)
3. "Fear Of Impending Hell" (5:25)
4. "Honesty In Death" (4:08)
5. "Theories From Another World" (5:02)
6. "In This We Dwell" (3:55)
7. "To The Darkness" (5:10)
8. "Tragic Idol" (4:34)
9. "Worth Fighting For" (4:12)
10. "The Glorious End" (5:23)