CD Review: Paradise Lost-Tragic Idol(2012)

20 plus years this band has been bringing metal to us and have we thanked them yet? Thanks! for the great music!

I have said this in a number of reviews so far, but this has been an incredible 4 month start into the year for metal.

Recorded at The Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, England, with vocals laid down at Fascination Street Studios in Orebro, Sweden and produced, mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (OPETH, BORKNAGAR), Tragic Idol is a no-holds-barred album that, according to guitarist Greg Mackintosh, was “influenced more by classic metal and classic doom metal than anything else.”

As for calling the album Tragic Idol, it’s the appropriate title for an album unleashed upon a modern day society that, in general, believes all that glitters is gold. The title track is a
classic case of Paradise Lost putting life in perspective and pounding the message home: “It’s about the beauty and innocence of youth,” Holmes says of ‘Tragic Idol’. “Worshipping another human being with an equal amount of susceptibility to pain, suffering and depression as the next person, but by some chance has been propelled into some godlike status. Adulation eats away and makes the person ugly on the inside, believing their self importance to be above others, not realizing their insignificance and irrelevance in the
grand scheme of things.”

This is a great album that I really enjoyed listening to and the vocals mesh so well with the music, this album is a treat for the listener. The songs are really well structured and thought out you can feel the experience as a band shining on this album.

The guitars so crisp, bass and drums in unison together all brought together by tough and clear vocals.

“I wrote a lot about truth and honesty,” says Holmes. “We've got a song called ‘Honesty In Death’, and (my) initial thoughts were about how humble death makes people, how insignificant little problems are. It makes you realize what’s really important in life.”

NEW Video!!

September 27, 2012

I thank you for reading this

Written by

Anthony Nadeau