Evolve

Paradise Lost evolve DVD review

Paradise has released three (to date) live performance video/DVDs’, the best of which is the out of print ‘Harmony Breaks’ from 1994. The original contained three tracks from ‘Gothic’ those being: (the original opening track) Desolate, Gothic & Eternal. Its anyone’s guess as to why PL has done their damnedest to erase their first two records from their consciousness but it’s a shame.

This DVD starts out with the abbreviated version of 94’s ‘Harmony Breaks’ which is more or less PL in their prime on the ‘Icon’ tour in Stuttgart on September 5th, 1993. The production is amazing to say the least. The only complaint here (aside from the cutting of the ‘Gothic’ tracks that is) would be that it goes from color to black and white periodically; this gives the performance more of an “artsy” feel that isn’t really necessary. The guitars, drums, bass and vox are without a doubt superb on their own.

The next part of this DVD (also taken from ‘Harmony Breaks’) are the promo videos: ‘Pity the Sadness’, ‘As I Die’, ‘Embers Fire’, ‘Widow’ & ‘True Belief’. The newer parts of the DVD include a live segment from Shepherd's Bush Empiere, London, 26th January 1998 which has got to be one of the worst recorded live performances from a band you could ever hope to not see.

The production and set list should be the saviors here, but they fall terribly short. What we see on display here are four short-haired and somewhat out of shape musicians halfheartedly playing their new (actual) “Gothic” Metal in front of a crowd of youths (the drummer still has his hair and his physical form is unchanged). The musicianship is good, if you take into consideration that the band rose the tuning of their guitars once again to standard (this up from the ‘D’ styled tunings of ‘Shades of God’ through ‘Draconian Times’). This causing the bands prior hits, such as “Pity the Sadness” and “Forever Failure” to sound weak and uninspired. The drums and back vocals are good; however Nick’s vocals are beyond terrible.

He cannot pull the “clean” vocals off live and often falls flat or out of key when he tries. On the other hand, drummer Lee Morris’ backing vocals are outstanding as he is always on key and often has to save Nick from his vocal blunders. Nick does, on a few occasions, almost slip into the ‘Draconian’ vocal stylings but quickly forces them away.

The newer promo videos of: “The Last Time”, “Forever Failure”, “Say Just Words” & “One Second” are excellent. There is also an interesting, but pitifully short “behind the scenes” segment that shows outtakes from the recordings of ‘Icon’ and ‘One Second’ and shows touring segments from ‘Draconian Times’ all the while playing the “Sweetness” in the background.

This could have been a great DVD had they not cut the ‘Harmony Breaks’ set list and had they NOT shown the dreadful ‘Shepherd’s Bush’ concert (Nick really is a shitty vocalist when it comes to singing clean vocals live). This is worth getting for all but that.

Let's see exactly what this wonderful DVD contains:
Harmony breaks: seven live songs from a concert in 1993. The sound is fantastic and we can see all the members clearly as there are a lot of cameras. Paradise Lost play some of their early hits, as As I die, Widow, Mortals watch the day etc. The only bad point is that it does not contain the songs from Gothic, which were played in this concert, as they belong to Peaceville and not to Music for Nations. But instead of this you can watch the band sitting around a fire and talking about their songs etc. Really cool.
Shades of God/Icon promo videos: five promo videos from these memorable albums. The videos are FANTASTIC, the band always makes really interesting videos. Pity the sadness and Embers fire are the best for me.
Home videos: man... that's awesome! this is the more interesting part of Evolve, as you can see the band in the studio, on the road and in concerts. You will laugh a lot of times with the jokes the band makes (especially with Nick Holmes).
One second live: a concert with 18 songs from 1998, just after the release of One second. Again the sound is really good, the cameras are doing a wonderful job, and the band plays fine the songs from One second, but not so good their old songs. Nick Holmes can not scream as he did back in 1993 and so the old songs (as Remembrance, Forever failure, Hallowed land) are a bit annoying for someone who is used to Holmes' old good voice.
Draconian times/One second promo videos: 4 videos for these albums, and of course The last time and Forever failure are the best. I can say that Forever failure is Paradise Lost's best video ever, and defintely one of the best in metal history.
So, that's it. An amazing DVD, that every fan of Paradise Lost should have.