Shades of God

by

Paradise Lost

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Are you still thinking is this the album for you or not? So read what I think, but seriously I truly don't know what to say when we talk about Paradise Lost, not because I don't have anything to say but because when you speak about Paradise Lost words are not enough. I am not a fan of this band but really appreciate their three albums: "Gothic", "Shades of God" and "Icon". After listening to them for several years I can admit that "Shades of God" is their best album though it is more inornate than "Icon". Of course "Icon" has very melodic elements of doom-goth metal and is cleverly made for success but doesn't have such a conception as "Shades of God", and I am able to listen to "Icon" with great pleasure just once in 6 months. After listening to "Shades of God", on the other hand, I can't abandon this compact disk on the deep shelf because I want to remember the melody and refresh the feelings over some time. There are some really catchy and very attractive melodies with gloomy poetry, mainly it concerns such songs as "Pity the Sadness", "Mortals Watch the Day" and "As I Die". Gregor really wrote beautiful music, and Nick has pretty nice vocal but can't say the same about his singing on the last albums, where he has a bad vocal, and maybe it would be better if he wouldn't sing at all, just a music playing. Back to the point: if you like doom-death music with smart melodies and performance - you have to listen to "Shades of God" - in any case it is not the worst album of Paradise Lost.

Many Paradise Lost fans look back to this album as the "good old days"-- and good they were, but not great. Unfortunately, many of these same fans who don't like what the band has done with their sound more recently tend to inflate this album in their memories into some legendary piece of artwork, which it is not. It's a good album, the work of a band still progressing and doing some brilliantly unique things along the way, especially with guitars.

The guitars carry this album, although much of the music is excellent. Songwriter and lead guitar player Greg Mackintosh has one sorrow-filled and beautiful riff after another on display here. He and rhythm guitarist Aaron Aedy work very well together and are a joy to listen to. Their efforts on this album have spawned many imitators, and that is a credit to Mackintosh and co-writer/vocalist Nick Holmes. Holmes brings a despairing growl to the music-- distinctive, but not over the top or a distraction from the musical work. But it is the splendid doom-laden guitars that resound throughout and give "Shades of God" its legacy. "Pity the Sadness", "When Mortals Watch the Day", and "Your Hand In Mine" are monuments in guitar driven dark music.

As good as the guitars are, however, they can't cover up several faults with the album. The foremost of these is that it gets overbearing. Nearly every song is a seven minute slab of melodic, distorted drear. It is beautiful, but in the way a walk in heavy rain is beautiful-- for awhile it is a wonderful and refreshing experience, even in its inherently gloomy character, but two or three miles down the road you're left soaked to the bone and needing a different setting. After five or so tracks, the album drags even in the best of circumstances. It doesn't help that the drumming is terrible-- a sort of half-hearted, amateurish effort by Matt Archer.

"As I Die" is one of their most popular songs to date, and stands out as an up-tempo and shorter variation on what is mostly a trudging sound for the whole album. It's a great song, and when compared with the rest of the album proves that even in the depression and gloom of goth metal, lengthier is not always better.