In Requiem

Bands returning to their metal roots again is nothing new nowadays, but still remains a little fishy and tricky if you ask me. We’ve all heard of bands promising their new album to match their earlier albums in terms of style and whatnot – something that more often isn’t true. Paradise Lost’s approach seemed pretty honest as far as promoting In Requiem goes, as the band the band said they also wanted to pay tribute to what they had been playing the last ten years before.

However, the biggest problem is how you get a mixed bag of material here. I’ll admit that Paradise Lost’s softer period, aside from a few catchy tunes here and there, just isn’t what I want out of the band. While In Requiem certainly marks a return to a more metallic Paradise Lost nonetheless, it sounds like the band is trying to combine the best of two worlds here and it just doesn’t work. First let’s talk about the pacing of this album. Putting almost all the heavier songs in front might lead to a good first impression, but come on now! It’s a little deceiving and unfair considering what the whole package is all about. At worst Paradise Lost come up with terrible tracks such as ‘’Unreachable’’ and ‘’Your Own Reality’’ here. The guitars might sound huge on those, but what’s the point if you decide to aim for sappy gothic metal with overdramatic vocals and clichéd lyrics anyway? The band could come up with another ‘’Sane’’ or even ‘’Fader’’ as far as I’m concerned instead – those songs feature catchy hooks at least.

I also dislike how certain songs have potential but only start promising. ‘’The Enemy’’ kicks off with those classic Greg leads; haunting and full of misery before the song unfortunately takes a turn for the worst and turns into a lame, plodding rocker. ‘’Requiem’’ has a more epic feeling to it with more inspiring leads that lead into a gritty verse of demolishing riffs and surprisingly aggressive vocals…before taking a more melodic route that’s rather unexpected and somewhat disappointing. Still, despite my complaints I won’t deny that In Requiem features some fantastic tunes that fortunately sound good from the moment they start until they end. ‘’Never for the Damned’’ is a grandiose opener with guitars wailing through for a rather bombastic effect, sounding arguably heavier than anything you had heard on Draconian Times. ‘’Ash & Debris’’ is another highlight as it consist of a strong, moving chorus with some moody leads on top, almost sounding like a modernized ‘’Hallowed Land’’ in certain ways. ’Prelude to Descent’’ has some shattering verses and a chorus that’s full of moving guitar lines. I also like how Paradise Lost decide to rock out and speed up a little after the second chorus gets repeated…probably just because they could.

My final complaint is about Nick Holmes’ performance, which is a bit so-so. His masculine lower notes and belted higher notes work, but once he sticks to his mid register, I can’t help but find his performance rather dull, with the exception of some harsher lines here and there. On Icon and Draconian Times, while technically not that good, he sounded like a man who believed what he sang about. Here I’m not so sure.

In Requiem proves that playing metal again just isn’t a guarantee for success. Having down tuned guitars back in the mix and varied vocal styles back in the front just isn’t enough to save bad songwriting. Prior to this, Paradise Lost played heavier music, catchier music and…simply better music. While putting out several solid albums ever since, In Requiem remains one of the band’s weaker metal albums to me.

For Paradise Lost fans who were holding their breath after 2005's self-titled effort, 'In Requiem' was a cause for celebration - a shove back in the direction of the band's early 90s gothic doom style. Initial reactions were very positive, as evidenced by the 100% scores lurking suspiciously below my own review, but the real storm was yet to come, as the following 'Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us' brought out the band's massive doom arsenal again, further developed by the crushing 'The Plague Within' that dropped onto our stereos like a concrete aeroplane this year. 8 years on from 'In Requiem', the claims of sudden regeneration and renewed heaviness that met this album's release are looking increasingly dubious, as are those cries of "Perfect!" that should always be approached with caution.

In the first place, what was 'In Requiem' a return to exactly? It certainly didn't replicate the heaviness of pre-'Icon' efforts, nor was it as startlingly creative as 'Gothic', 'Icon', or PL's oft-cited gothic metal benchmark 'Draconian Times'. In any case, for those who thought that 'Draconian Times' was perfect, how could 'In Requiem' - a reprise of that album's style and mood - be thought equally great, since it attempted nothing new, pedalling back 12 years in time? The truth is somewhat murkier, and has taken far longer to emerge.

Paradise Lost, despite their rather epic career detour that has looped back round in recent years, have usually made a habit of utilizing their heavier and more detailed songs to promote an album, so that the first impression leans towards declaring a tougher sound than the average song. Cast your eyes back to 'Symbol of Life', which was accompanied by 'Erased', 'Paradise Lost', which was accompanied by 'Forever After', and this album, for which 'The Enemy' was chosen as the single. All of these offered significantly darker impressions of the band's direction than the subsequent album, not least 'The Enemy', which thunders along in gloomy doom style, chugs viciously on a downtuned riff, and packs a powerful chorus to boot. Likewise, 'Never for the Damned', the opening track on this album, is bruisingly heavy compared to the other cuts, some of which sound almost like another band. Thus, the initial declarations of renewed heaviness and a return to the pioneering gothic metal sound ring true only in part, ignoring the broader trend of the album.

All this contention over the style of the album rather ignores the more important issue of PL's form on 'In Requiem'. Some elements remain entirely consistent from the preceding self-titled album, such as Nick Holmes's roughly melodic vocals and increasingly knotty word games, plus the gradual resurfacing of Gregor Mackintosh's lead guitar playing, which here contributes simple melodies to most songs and several leads that are worth waiting for. What is apparent is that the band, by expanding on those strengths, managed to deliver a more focused effort with a darker tone, also concentrating more on the specific instrumental ideas that had once made them so special. As if he had merely been going through the motions for the previous decade, Mackintosh pulls out several (though still a slightly disappointing number) of sterling gothic doom riffs, meaning that those stronger riffs enable the band to play at slower tempos (there being something to actually engage the listener), meaning in turn that the dark glower of the five Yorkshiremen accrues greater potency and gravity, so that content and atmosphere come back in step with one another.

What remains curious about the atmosphere and general feeling of 'In Requiem' is that - while other PL albums have tended to dwell in negativity - there are moments of upbeat abandon and simple enjoyment that are at odds with all the forms of music that the band have dabbled in over the years. Thus, the straightforwardly gothic introspection, regret, and doubt of a song like 'Beneath Black Skies' gets a huge boot in the arse by a rampant chorus; likewise the bright orchestral accompaniment of 'Fallen Children' that skips and twists as if in free-spirited play. In the past, higher speed songs like 'The Last Time' had come off feeling unsuitable, yet here there is a sense of triumph that PL carried forward successfully to 'Faith Divides Us' and the diversity of pace has been a resoundingly positive element in the band's resurgence.

Another remarkable feature is the strong keyboard presence on this album. Although actually uncredited, someone has added a great deal of choral and ambient keys to many of the songs, blurring the edges of starker compositions like 'Requiem' and layering 'Unreachable' with delicate piano in nearly the same creepy manner that occurred on 'Solitary One' a few years later. They also provide some other interesting moments, like the pseudo-symphonic movements of 'Fallen Children' and the oddly haunting first minute of 'Your Own Reality', which actually seems to reference some of Mortiis's ambient work. Nevertheless, the keyboards are my main consideration in judging this album only a partial return to form for PL, since they are far more of a presence than they ever were on 'Draconian Times' and - here's the crux - they water down some of the heaviness and make this album sound more like the work of a gothic imitator, rather than one of the leaders of the genre. The keyboards are not entirely abused, but I feel the need to point another finger, this time at Rhys Fulber and Mark Fraser (the producer and mixer respectively), who have given precedence rather more to the gothic than the metal, allowing guitars to sound thin and powerless in 'Sedative God' and 'Requiem', where they should be towering and imperious. It's a big drawback, because it means the performance must be totally stellar for the album to succeed, and that isn't always the case.

There is a slight sense that creativity was not in free flow when writing all of these songs and also that there was still some pull from the commercial market that troubles a few of the songs here. For starters, there is a strong tendency to make use of popular song structure, with a similarly notable focus on chorus and dynamics as the previous few albums, all of which were hindered by predictability due to the generic nature of most songs' progression. There are far fewer yawn-verses than the band were offering five years earlier, but a few of the verse riffs still do little but keep the pace up, such as on 'Ash & Debris' and 'Sedative God', while 'Praise Lamented Shade' drops out the guitars and trundles along with a little electronic backing, providing neither diversion nor atmosphere. The song lengths still indicate the formulaic approach to songwriting, though there are features of 'Never for the Damned', 'Requiem', and 'Your Own Reality' that dare to step off the beaten path. Some of these issues could have been solved (and, broadly speaking, were solved on the follow-up) by enhancing the production and giving Mackintosh a freer reign, though the result is that 'In Requiem' is an accessible album rooted in some of PL's past unique qualities.

One must try to judge all of a band's albums on their own merits, though with PL it is a notoriously difficult experience, since there is generally some preference towards one or other of the band's styles. As a standalone piece of music, this is an enjoyable listen, but ultimately neither very influential nor outstanding, with a little inconsistency, some generic features, and some issues with the mix. However, even within Paradise Lost's own challenging discography, 'In Requiem' deserves a share of your attention.

Gothic metal is a quite diverse sub-genre of metal – starting from pretty light and melodic, balancing on the border between „rock” and „metal”, ending at heavy and very dark, even slightly doom-influenced. Paradise Lost, basically the creators of gothic metal, clearly originate from the latter with roots deep in doom metal, and after a fairly long period of experimentation with lighter and more electronic styles, „In Requiem” was a kind of return to the roots – although it's definitely more than just that.

The album is a combination of dark, heavy and epic style with beautiful, melodic guitar solos and soft keyboards – this description shows the style of „In Requiem” quite well, although each song is an entity of its own here and the album doesn't just blend together. It seems, however, that the album is divided into two halves – the first half, from „Never from the Damned” to „Requiem” clearly emphasises the heavier side of the band, with even some doom elements, while the second half – from “Unreachable” to “Sedative God” shows the “rockier” side of the band, with a slightly lighter style and more “catchy” songs. The closing track, “Your Own Reality” is something different than the rest – being probably the lightest song, with plenty of melody and soft vocals. This adds to the diversity of the album, although one thing seems obvious to me – the first half is clearly much stronger. All five songs are flawless, with some “out of the box” structure and great songwriting, with both the heavy riffs and melodic solos being top quality. The second half, unfortunately, sometimes loses its way a bit – it's a bit repetitive, the songwriting is more predictable, they also lack the emotion of the first half. “Unreachable” and “Sedative God” are quite strong songs with very good choruses and many memorable parts, but “Prelude to Descent” and “Fallen Children” seem to be clearly the weakest point of the album, with nothing particularly remarkable about them. The album as a whole, however, is fairly consistent – the second half seems a bit less creative, but there aren't many obvious weak moments.

The strongest point of the album are definitely the guitars, especially the lead guitar. The riffs themselves are mostly truly excellent - “Never for the Damned” particularly shines here - but the melodic lead guitar and solos are simply impressive, “Requiem” being definitely the best example here, with the best guitar work on the album and its beautiful solos. The drums and bass work very well as the rhythm section here providing a very good base for the music, and occasionally creating some remarkable moments (intro of “Never for the Damned”). The controversial point of the album seem to be the vocals – but personally, I don't have any criticism towards them. They're mostly truly emotional and powerful – even if at a few moments they seem slightly forced – with many great moments, like the chorus of “The Enemy”, but the soft vocals in “Your Own Reality” are also flawless.

I can find three obvious highlights on the album – the opening track, “Never for the Damned”, with it's amazing riffs, monumental style and great vocals, instantly allows to enter the atmosphere of the album. The second one is the closing track “Your Own Reality” - like mentioned before, probably the lightest and softest one, with brilliant, melodic guitar work and very nice, soft vocal style. The greatest one, however, is the (nearly) title track “Requiem” - with some of the best moments of the whole album, truly beautiful and melancholic guitars, and probably the most powerful vocals on the album. These three are clearly the strongest points of “In Requiem”, but even the weakest tracks of the album are far from weak.

Overall, “In Requiem” is a great example of gothic metal done right – just like it can be expected from the genre, it's dark and heavy, monumental and epic, and also beautiful and melodic – there are many memorable parts here, and it's obvious that it's been created by a band with a lot of experience, but still plenty of ideas and creativity. It's not flawless, but certainly a very strong one and worth recommending.

Talking about Paradise Lost, everyone knows that they are the fathers of gothic metal, although in some discs they have experimented with electro music.

Now, they are back to the roots of their first albums and they seem stronger than ever! This album, ''In Requiem'', put them back to their throne.

Analytically, the guitars here are very strong and dark and makes you cry, because of their depressing riffs. All the Paradise Lost feeling is here more than ever. Depression, esoteric search of our soul, melancholy and anger of our life today are some feelings and imaginable pages which debouch through the songs and haunt our thought. Just with one listening of a riff or a drum solo or a scream of Nick Holmes!

Nick Holmes has very effective confluence here with his unbelievable voice! If we go back in time, we remember his death voice in ''Lost Paradise'', ''Gothic'' and ''Shades of God''. Then he melted a little bit his voice in ''Icon'' and ''Draconian Times'' but it was still quite soulful (and in my opinion was the best of all time). After that, in their electro project he had a completely clear voice, something like Depeche Mode. And finally in ''Paradise Lost'' and now in ''In Requiem'', he tries to sing like in ''Icon'', but he uses clear vocals sometimes.

I believe that this album shows us the identity of this great band, which after some experiments, it has returned to this great dark music which made them famous. This is, by far, the best material of Paradise Lost!

Paradise Lost are (as many people refer to them) the godfathers of the gothic metal subgenre.
However they’ve been experimenting with some electronic stuff. But with this album they surely get their crown back.

Now, let’s move to the point.
“In Requiem” can be seen both as a sequel to the more metallic but yet still mellow “Paradise Lost” and as going back to the roots with style, found in the classics like “Draconian Times” , “Icon” and “Shades of God”.

The music is so passionate, so mysterious and melodic and at the same time very heavy. There is a good balance between the catchy side and the dark-romantic aggressive-depressive side.
The songs are very good and enjoyable and interesting. They are generally composed around the amazing guitar riffs. Yeah, the music here is much more guitar based than any other goth metal album. Nevertheless keyboards and some synth also play very important role. Most of the time, the attention is directed to the instrumental side, which is really good.
But the vocals and lyrics are beautiful too. Nick’s voice varies from harsh/raspy to clean and deep, going very good with the melody.

But the most important side of the album is its impact and the emotion put in there. I remember that when I was listening it for 1st time, cold shivers went down my spine and I was very excited. I haven’t heard something like this before.

So, in conclusion, this is a must for all metalheads that like gothic metal, doom metal and even melodic death. So go get this. “In Requiem” is a great album.

Paradise Lost fans are generally divided into two groups. The fans who will not listen to anything post Draconian Times and the fans who like the stylistic changes that happened with the bands sound post Draconian.... I'm firmly in the latter camp. Hell, I even thought Host was a great album. Still, after that album came the rather insipid "Believe In Nothing" which did nothing for the band at least in the eyes of long term fans who stuck with the band. The first hint of a return to heavier climes came on 2002s Symbol Of Life while 2005s self titled album was a significant change in style and seemed a return to their heavier doom past while still having a fair amount of the melody and reliance on electronics.

So, it's 2007 now and PL have another album out. What are the fans in for with this, the 11th studio album of the band?

In Requiem grabs you straight away with "Never for the Damned." The song is classic mid period PL and Gregor Mackintosh's guitars sound like its Draconian Times all over again. That album is in fact the closest comparison to "In Requiem." The band has shed almost all of the synth rock, Depeche Mode influences in their sound and return to playing heavy metal. I've always been a huge fan of Gregor Mackintosh's lead guitar playing and there are a number of classic Paradise Lost lead guitar parts on this album. Stand out tracks include the up tempo "Ash & Debris" and album closer, the moody "Your Own Reality."

The core of the band, vocalist Nick Holmes, lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh, rhythm guitarist Aaron Aedy and bassist Stephen Edmondson have been together since the first album "Lost Paradise" and the band gel remarkably well. This is a polished, quality album that should appeal to fans of PL both old and new. The only real sore spot for me is the vocal performance of Nick Holmes. Holmes' has over the years developed into a terrific singer and sounded quite superb singing on the relatively lightweight "Symbol Of Life" and "Paradise Lost" albums. However, on this, while still sounding great when it comes to clean singing he sounds forced and maybe even a little tired when it comes to the heavier sections of the songs. Still, it is a minor quibble and overall Nick Holmes and the band are in fine form.

"In Requiem" though is one of those albums that will grow on you. It will sound better and better with every listen and ultimately become an album that PL fans will grow to love. However, the question is will the fans give this album a chance? Because lets face it, no matter how great a fan of the band you are, PL hit their creative peak with the triumvirate of "Gothic", "Shades of Gods" and "Icon" and then the superb "Host" which showed off a completely new face of the band. So if you're looking at In Requiem from the overall perspective of this band's discography, then you know you've heard these songs before. Yes, they have returned to heavier climes and yes, I am very happy that the PL I grew up with is back.

In the final analyses, "In Requiem" is a good album but PL, by going back to their heavy roots seem to have regressed as a band and this new album really doesn’t add anything new to the wonderfully rich and varied tapestry of their catalogue of work.

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Finally, a back-to-the-roots album that actually deserves being labeled as such. This is the album Paradise Lost should have made after Draconian Times instead of the mediocre One Second, which went in a much more commercial direction than their previous work and, despite featuring a couple of good songs, largely disappointed their fan base. Of course, it was with the follow-up to that record, the notorious Host, that the band really phoned it in, alienating their remaining fans by abandoning almost all metal influences and sounding more like Depeche Mode than the outfit that almost single-handedly invented gothic metal. The painfully shallow Believe in Nothing was still basically pop music and maybe even worse than Host. Realizing they were in a creative stalemate, it took the band two more records to slowly claw their way back to respectability. Symbol of Life marked the return of heavily distorted guitars, while the self-titled Paradise Lost did away with many of the annoying electronics that had plagued previous efforts. In Requiem, however, is the first record since Draconian Times to fully live up to the standard of quality these guys were once known for.

The first thing to catch the listener’s attention is the sheer heaviness of the guitars on In Requiem. The rhythm guitar has a great crunch and unmistakable metal edge that really drives and defines this album. Another trademark of Paradise Lost’s unique brand of gothic metal making a triumphant return are Greg Mackintosh’s minor-keyed guitar leads. They’re all over the album, enveloping the listener in a delightful shroud of melancholy and taking him right back to the band’s early days. Moreover, Mackintosh plays lots of catchy and occasionally shredding guitar solos.

Another positive aspect is Jeff Singer’s drum work: He’s very energetic, yet at the same time quite restrained, always putting his skills in the service of the respective song instead of trying to do too much at the same time. And he obviously knows how to effectively use his double bass pedals, which overall makes him a very worthy addition to the band’s line-up.

As if all this wasn’t enough good news, Nick Holmes has even rediscovered the rough edge in his voice. With a far greater vocal range, he’s undoubtedly a better singer now than he was in the early to mid nineties. However, I still like his vocals best when he reverts to the deep semi-guttural tone he used on classics like Shades of God or Icon, which he does repeatedly on In Requiem. Speaking of Shades of God, by the way, there are actually passages on In Requiem that wouldn’t at all seem out of place on that particular album, which is perhaps the best thing that can be said about Paradise Lost’s latest effort. By and large, though, In Requiem sounds more like the logical successor to Draconian Times, with a few holdovers from more recent albums thrown in occasionally. For instance, there are some electronic arrangements here and there, but they are very subtly and tastefully weaved into the music (think Dark Tranquillity) and never take center stage.

As far as the individual songs are concerned, the album is very consistent throughout. There are no duds, but there are a couple of standout tracks that deserve to be mentioned in particular. The opener “Never for the Damned” is one of those songs that at times remind me of Shades of God. “The Enemy”, the first single, is a relatively fast song, at least by Paradise Lost’s standards, and “Prelude to Descent” even has a short but sweet passage beginning at 2:36 that may very well be the fastest thing the guys have ever recorded. The quasi-title track “Requiem” again has some moments that take me right back to Shades of God, especially the verse beginning at 1:01, which features a crushingly heavy riff and Nick Holmes’ harshest, most guttural vocals in a long time. Another complete winner is the sixth track, “Unreachable”, which isn’t quite as heavy as “Requiem”, but has some amazingly sorrowful and haunting melodies that are just vintage Paradise Lost.

I really have to give these guys a lot of credit: After so many years of half-assed or at least painfully mediocre efforts, which were all the more frustrating in light of what this band is actually capable of, I certainly didn’t expect them to completely get their shit together and put out a record that’s up to the standard of quality established by their classic albums from the first half of the nineties. Well, they surely proved me wrong there. Welcome back, dudes!

I really enjoy this album. I don’t know if I should be reviewing it already, since it’s still kind of new and I don’t know if I can be objective. I love Paradise Lost, though they were recording awful albums for more than a decade (for example, I never listened to Host after reading some bad reviews and remembering I wasted 22 dollars when One Second was released. I couldn’t believe they had recorded that crappy album full of bad electronic influences). I think their first 5 albums are great. Yeah, I also like Icon and Draconian Times, though Gothic is THE album. I heard the song Gothic in 1992 on the radio (on a heavy music program) and since that day I became a fan of doom metal. I couldn’t believe hearing something so heavy, different and depressive. It was the first doom metal song I heard in my life. The next day I went to the cd store and tried to buy it, but couldn’t find it, but I bought my first doom metal album: Forest of Equilibrium. Good album, but not even half of what Gothic is/represents.
Anyway, going back to the review, this album is heavier than all the crap they recorded after Draconian. Maybe if you are a fan just of the very early era, this is not going to be enough for you, but if you were able to enjoyed Icon and Draconian, you’ll like this album, I think. The songs are catchy (in a good sense, not in the poppy, radio friendly sense). I would say the first song could have been included in Shades of God. Yes, in Shades of God. Good way to start for a Paradise Lost album.
Nick’s vocals are good. He doesn’t growl (unfortunately), but he uses different ranges of clean vocals, from very deep to the ranges you can find in the last albums. I’m ok with his way of singing. The guitars sound very good. It’s like they realized that to be good again, they should pay more attention to guitars. There are good solos, and good rhythmic guitars. The drums are simple, but fit the music very well.
In terms of the songs, I think none is bad, and you don’t feel there are songs that shouldn’t have been included. Even the songs that are more similar to late Paradise Lost are good in this album, like Praise Lamented Shade or Unreachable (with more keyboards and cleaner vocals than on the heavier songs) and they are in the middle of heavier songs (like The Enemy and Requiem, two very good songs) so they don’t give you enough time to think: “Oh, they put the heaviest songs at the beginning and now the crap is going to start”. No, this doesn’t happen.
So, to conclude, this is a decent album with good songs. I feel Paradise Lost has come back. Though it’s not as good/heavy/unique as it was, it’s enough to make me feel happy and feel I recovered one of my favorite bands of all times. Maybe there’s hope for Anathema and Katatonia to come back? Who knows…

Paradise Lost is a band with great achievements, at first they were included to the big three of death/doom beside Anathema and My Dying Bride. Later they became precursors of gothic metal, but they changed a style for long time to more rock music. In Requiem is a kind of continuation of album Paradise Lost from 2005, and at the same time it’s the return to gothic metal as like on Icon and Draconian Times.

At the first time, attention is focused by the CD cover – there’s a fallen angel on a black background. Why did I mentioned the cover? Because it perfectly shows the album’s atmosphere. It takes from the previous one very many, adding great choirs and keys, mixing it all with a style from Draconian Times and Icon. In result we have heavy, dark and climatic album. For example song Requiem (especially the beginning) sounds like it was from Draconian Times. But Beneath Black Skies or Your Own Reality are more similar to the album Paradise Lost.

The instrumental side is, with exceptions, very good. Especially guitars which give really concrete, heavy sound. However, Nick Holmes’s vocals sometimes are too similar to James Hetfield’s from Metallika, what unfortunately isn’t advantage. Otherwise, it’s very hard to like this album at the first listening, especially for those who know and like only the newer Paradise Lost music. But it could be hard also for knowing the darker and heavier side of their music. The second and third listening may not be enough, but at fourth when you’ll accustom to In Requiem you will see and appreciate amazing deep of heavy guitars mixed with soft keys.

The return to the roots can be regarded as a success, the more so because it was a step forward, too. In Requiem isn’t the perfect album (I just can’t stand The Enemy), it’s close to perfection, though. And when you are listening this music and feel it’s climate, even sometimes not the best vocals are not annoying. This album proves that Paradise Lost playing gothic metal is Unreachable.

It’s been a long hard road for Paradise Lost, but it seems that in this recording we see a band that has truly come full circle.

The latest release from these Gods of DOOM is the official successor to 1995’s ‘Draconian Times’. Right away it’s the heaviest thing they’ve done since ‘Icon’ and it doesn’t let up. The vocals are a mix between ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Draconian Times’ and fit with out sounding forced or strained.

The guitars are heavy, and tight with some decent solos the likes of which haven’t been heard in decade or so. The leads and rhythms bring one to recall the bands early-mid nineties career; however they sound rejuvenated and not rehashed. This is what we’ve been waiting for since ‘One Second.

The bass does its standard job of keeping in time with the drums. The Drums remind one again of mid-period PL but more precise. Jeff is able to do more than what he does here, however he does ad a little more flare to this recording than their last.

The production is even better than PL and over the quality of music is amazing. The music is accessible yet incredibly heavy. This is another quality musical masterwork by these Gods of Doom, because like all of their albums (except Lost Paradise, One Second, Host, & Believe in Nothing) Paradise Lost are the epitome of Doom Metal.