Paradise Lost - Symbol Of Life review
Band: | Paradise Lost |
Album: | Symbol Of Life |
Style: | Gothic metal |
Release date: | October 21, 2002 |
Guest review by: | hottercraft |
01. Isolate
02. Erased
03. Two Worlds
04. Pray Nightfall
05. Primal
06. Perfect Mask
07. Mystify
08. No Celebration
09. Self-Obsessed
10. Symbol Of Life
11. Channel For The Pain
12. Xavier [Dead Can Dance cover] [bonus]
13. Small Town Boy [Bronski Beat cover] [bonus]
I don't know what they wanted to do, but they made an album with a sound similar to some groups that do Nu-Metal or mix Metal with electronic music, like Rammstein. It is definitely a less Metal sound than in their previous releases, this sounds more Rock than Metal. However, I can say that the vocals are still good and there are good guitar riffs, but it's fucked by the fucking electronic ambient. When we listen to this album, we'll think that we're in space or in a videogame like The Matrix...
This CD doesn't begin really bad, but this is strange. The first song "Isolate" is a good opener, but it doesn't sound much like a Gothic Metal song. The next song "Erased" is very electronic again, but the chorus is more catchy an there are better guitars. There are songs which will begin with an electronic ambient and later it will turn into a powerful and Metal sound, and there are also songs that will begin with strong guitars and Metal sound and later you'll hear electronic Metal. "Symbol of Life" and "Channel for the Pain" are perfect examples for explain this. "Xavier" sounds really strange, I don't know what they were thinking, but this shit isn't definitely Paradise Lost, they have worked more in the fucking ambient, and they shouldn't did it, they should have worked more in their guitars and their drums. I've enjoyed only two songs in this album: "Erased" and "Small Town Boy," this last song is an amazing song, it's... different. If they wanted to make an electronic album, they should have done it better. The most amazing electronic ambience in this CD can be found in "Small Town Boy." It's a really complete song, there are good guitars and they are mixed well with the ambient for the first time. The only masterpiece (with Erased) included in this release, but two great songs don't make a great CD.
Oh, I hope I won't hear this sound anymore from this group, for me this is an enormous deception. But I'm sure they'll do it better in their next releases and, if they abandoned the electronic ambience, they would make some great Gothic Metal CD's, like in the old times.
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 5 |
Songwriting: | 6 |
Originality: | 5 |
Production: | 7 |
Written by hottercraft | 01.10.2006
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
9.0
9.0
Rating: 9.0 |
Even though not many will agree with this statement, "Symbol Of Life" is, to me, Paradise Lost's best album. I could go back in their career and pick albums with distinct characteristics that do, most definitely, stand on their own as solid and original works, but that don't quite effectively transmit to me the sad atmosphere their simple song writing can bring as well as "Symbol Of Life" does. I won't say this one represents everything Paradise Lost has done in their career, because it doesn't, but it sure is their most varied and multi layered album - whether you like this sound or not is a different subject. The truth is that, even though it is also their heaviest album since "Draconian Times" (songs like "Two Worlds," "Self-Obsessed," or "Channel For The Pain" prove it), it is still very much dependent of the electronic influences and generally much mellower rockish style of "One Second" and "Host." Read more ›› |
Guest review by
John P. Dunphy
John P. Dunphy
Rating:
8.5
8.5
Rating: 8.5 |
When a band decides to change direction in musical style, fans may sometimes cry 'sellout!? and refuse to give the new music a chance. For a band like England's Paradise Lost, that possibility has appeared on more than one occasion, as they are definitely a band of much change. Their first release, Lost Paradise, in 1990 revolutionized what would become known as ?doom metal". The slow, trudging dirges generated a large underground following for then-teenagers Nick Holmes , Greg Mackintosh , Aaron Aedy , Stephen Edmondson and Matthew Archer . Read more ›› |
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