Paradise Lost
Symbol Of Life
Koch
After a few lackluster albums, Paradise Lost have signaled a return to their death metal roots with this album, combined with their newly found since of melodies and gothic complexity. Well, not quite so, this really is Draconian Times – their biggest artistic and commercial success to date – all over again, although with some less impressive song material.
The opening “Isolate” is a nice slab of pounding Sisters Of Mercy histrionics, and “Mystify” a good, radio-friendly track that should’ve provided an alternative to the dead-end US modern rock, had the world been a better place. The album’s standout tracks, though, are “No Celebration” and the title track, on which Paradise Lost convincingly succeed blending their progressive pop and metal influences.
Obviously, some will be turned off by the sheer slick pop sound of this, but Paradise Lost don’t follow in anyone’s footsteps but their own. And while this sometimes seems like a band revisiting old paths, they seem to do it in an effort to escape the shadow of their recent efforts, and instead to mark out a new road ahead for the band. A good, if somewhat unbalanced album from these elder statesmen of gothic metal pop.
Koch Entertainment: http://www.kochentertainment.com
