Paradise Lost - Icon review
| Band: | Paradise Lost |
| Album: | Icon |
| Style: | Doom metal, Gothic metal |
| Release date: | September 1993 |
| Guest review by: | Deadmeat |
01. Embers Fire
02. Remembrance
03. Forging Sympathy
04. Joys Of The Emptiness
05. Dying Freedom
06. Widow
07. Colossal Rains
08. Weeping Words
09. Poison
10. True Belief
11. Shallow Seasons
12. Christendom
13. Deus Misereatur
Paradise Lost are called the "Fathers of Gothic" and they deserve this title if you look in retrospect at the influence they had on Gothic Metal. Today's Gothic metal scene owes a lot to this band. The fourth album of Paradise Lost, "Icon", may be the best Gothic album a band has ever created. With influences from Death and Doom metal, which increases the pessimism and vanity of the songs, "Icon" is an artistic diamond!
The music of this album (written as always from Gregor Mackintosh) is masterfully created. Every note and melody blends perfectly with each and every other as well as with the next turning, into an excellent outcome. Every instrument scours the pewter ideally. The crest is Nick Holmes's awesome vocals, which can awake the most gloomy emotions from deep inside! One of the best things about this album is the perfection of every solo! Every single solo is outstanding and fits perfectly to the moment and the feeling of the song when it's played. That's what every melody does too!
In "Icon" you won't find a bad song. The band has worked really hard, every song has a different structure from the other -of course there are no filler songs- and that's the reason why it is so difficult to pick out the "best" songs. I'll just mention "Embers Fire" and "True Belief" just because they're the most classic songs in the band's history (with 1-2 songs from "Draconian Times") and "Widow" because it's the most powerful song of the album; the one that creates the biggest mosh pit in every live show.
Every detail about "Icon" has been worked perfectly: The production of the album is amazing; it is really clean, but just in the mood of the songs; the guitars are low-tuned and every note sounds mournful. The pictures in the booklet and the cover art are just beautiful. As for the lyrics, which are another great aspect of the album, Nick Holmes wrote the best possible lyrics for the songs. Every single word makes you feel the pain and sorrow the music creates. Most of the lyrics are allegoric which adds in the intensity of the songs. "Pure Misery" is the perfect phrase to describe these great lyrics!
Warning: Each, I repeat, Each metal fan should listen to "Icon"! It is a great album of one of the greatest Gothic bands. It is a classic album; a historical release. It is, honestly, a diamond of sadness and disappointment. It is true that the term "masterpiece" can lose its value if it gets used frequently. That's why I avoid using it. So, I recommend this Masterpiece to ALL metal fans! It is something more than a great album. Get it and you won't regret it.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 10 |
Written by Deadmeat | 30.04.2009
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.
Comments
Comments: 15
Visited by: 171 users
| Heart_of_METAL Posts: 40  |
Your "ode" to this album, convinced me to try it, I know band name Paradise Lost but never heard anything of them. So,I´m curious.
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437  |
Written by Heart_of_METAL on 01.05.2009 at 20:12 I m happy you ll try this album cause it's great! don't forget to tells us your opinion on it after you hear it!!!
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
Not to mention that in this album they start to abandom their ''death'' feature, and become more and more gothic/doom, the songs are catchier also. But it is still pretty heavy compared to their latest releases. Excellent album, hard to find any bad songs.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| THE_BLACK_GOD Account deleted |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 |
Written by [user id=31891] on 22.12.2009 at 22:11 1. it's all about taste. i love all the songs of this album. 2.this phrase is totally wrong. think about it again. 3.draconian maybe gets a 10 too but i dont know i find this one more atmospheric.
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| THE_BLACK_GOD Account deleted |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 |
Written by [user id=31891] on 25.12.2009 at 00:56 yeah i got you and thats why i said that this one is more atmospheric. i meant that this one imo has a beter atmosphere.
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| renai Posts: 160  |
I'm glad somebody give this album such high points. back in 90s, less information about the music you like in your surrounding community, and I remember listened this album over and over again, for it was so good. and without other person telling you , or a reviews, that it is indeed a good music. not a very bad taste back then... love this one, very influental and I will remember this as long as I live.
---- hey...my blog >>> http://metalharem.blogspot.com/
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by [user id=35732] on 11.11.2011 at 22:00 Not a bad gateway album by any means. Better than where I started. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=35732] on 11.11.2011 at 22:03 Slipknot.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=35732] on 11.11.2011 at 22:22 It's not as good a starting point as this album, that's for sure.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
"Shades Of God" is my fave Paradise Lost album, but this one is almost as awesome.
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| Gawain Account deleted |
Gawain
Account deleted Written by Troy Killjoy on 11.11.2011 at 22:05 I haven't listened to anything from Slipknot, but I heard that they were pretty cool 10 years ago.
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| Gawain Account deleted |
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| renai Posts: 160 |
This is one of my all time favorite album. strange because I rarely listen to gothic metal, but this album absolutely fantastic. for many years, I literally sleep while listening to Icon and Draconian Times. I was teenage in '90s and do not know much about metal genre. meaning this album won my "innocence" years back then. your review re-open my eyes about this album.
---- hey...my blog >>> http://metalharem.blogspot.com/
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