Title: Gothic Artist: Paradise Lost Label: Peaceville Records Release Date: 1991 Rating: 3 Skulls
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Reviewed by Solomon:
Despite recent wanderings into pop and electronic music, the band Paradise Lost are legends within the metal scene and, along with bands such as The Gathering (pre-Anneke) and My Dying Bride, helped to define the "gothic" or "doom-death" style of metal in the early 90's. Harsh death vocals were combined with often slow, grinding guitar parts worthy of Black Sabbath or Candlemass, and the music was punctuated with "symphonic" sounds and female vocals. Gothic was not the first metal record to incorporate these elements but, in 1991, giving a girl something to do other than have big hair and crawl around in videos was still a novelty.

Despite the "artier" elements, Gothic is still a raw product, relying more on gritty vocals and guitar sounds than any fully-stocked orchestra or fleet of synthesizers. There is no doubt Gothic is a benchmark release but, personally, I found it difficult to warm up to. Nick Holmes' death grunt lacks appeal, and the guitar parts, while competently played, sound pretty clunky and dull. Granted, this was a band still in its prime, and groups don't tend to start out as a fine-tuned engine. Those uninitiated with the band might be better off delving into Draconian Times, for instance. Gothic isn't all bad, though. Sarah Marrion provides some very good, haunting vocal tracks on the title tune and "The Painless." There are some attractive guitar parts, and the lead tone is hypnotizing with a warbly, spacey tone that I've never come across on a metal record before. Check out the first few seconds of "Shattered," "Eternal," and "Falling Forever."

Not my first Paradise Lost pick in terms of enjoyment, but an undeniable classic.

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