Today in 1993 Paradise Lost released the album Icon Halifax, England Doom/Death Metal (early), Gothic Rock/Metal (later) Status:Active Years active: 1988-present Paradise Lost - initally one of the premier death/doom bands (along with their former labelmates Anathema and My Dying Bride) that later incorporated electronic elements in their music. They formed in 1988 in Halifax, UK. Along with bands like Dream Death, Sempiternal Deathreign, Asphyx, Winter etc... they are also credited for helping develop the subgenre known as gothic metal. Ironically, the band is almost unknown in their home country, but in mainland Europe they have been extremely popular for many years, especially in Greece, Germany and Bulgaria (most of the people from Plovdiv town), where they are regarded as mainstream rock stars. Although they have also been partially attributable for pioneering gothic metal, throughout their career the band have also confounded fans and critics alike with their perpetual taste for reinvention and experimentation, a desire to work with producers from other musical genres, and an oft-stated refusal to repeat themselves for fear of stagnation. For instance, vocalist Nick Holmes used a muddy sounding grunt-style of singing in the bands early duration (Lost Paradise (1990), Gothic (1991)); Upon the release of Shades Of God (1992), Icon (1993) and Draconian Times (1995), he refined his voice to a cleaner tone almost akin to James Hetfield of Metallica; And on One Second (1997), which was distributed by hip hop label Jive Records, the band experimented with Depeche Mode-styled synth pop and electronica. Despite criticism from traditionalists, this bold approach has also garnered them many new fans along the way, and cemented the loyalty of progressive old-timers. Paradise Losts line-up has remained remarkably consistent for a long-standing band, consisting of singer Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmonson. Holmes and Mackintosh are the principal composers, with almost all of the bands songs credited solely to them. Only the bands drumming position has changed, with original sticks man Matthew Archer leaving in 1994 to be replaced by ex-Marshall Law drummer Lee Morris. In March 2004, Morris also left the band. Drummer Jeff Singer was brought in as a session and live drummer for the Paradise Lost album, and is now a permanent member of the band. Paradise Lost released their 11th album In Requiem which takes heavier guitar sound and a more aggressive vocal direction than in their past records. Over the Madness, a documentary by Diran Noubar, displaying the impact Paradise Lost has had on Gothic Metal will be shown in 2007. A single named The Enemy from the new album was released on April 13th. Their much awaited 12th studio album Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us was released on October 2009. The album was produced by Jens Bogren. This album is the first one in over a decade where new fans wont be scratching their heads wondering why this band is known as one of the forefathers of doom. In this album, the band stripped off their poppier sound, which was replaced with doom of their first few releases. As a matter of fact, they managed to create the heaviest and darkest album of their career. Music for Nations - Nick Holmes / Vocals - Gregor Mackintosh / Lead guitars - Aaron Aedy / Rhythm and acoustic guitars - Stephen Edmondson / Bass - Matthew Archer / Drums Guest Musicians: - Denise Bernard / female vocals - Andrew Holdsworth / keyboards 1. Embers Fire (4:44) 2. Remembrance (3:26) 3. Forging Sympathy (4:43) 4. Joys of the Emptiness (3:29) 5. Dying Freedom (3:43) 6. Widow (3:04) 7. Colossal Rains (4:35) 8. Weeping Words (3:50) 9. Poison (2:59) 10. True Belief (4:30) 11. Shallow Seasons (4:55) 12. Christendom (4:30) 13. Deus Misereatur (1:57) All music written and arranged by Gregor Mackintosh Lyrics by Nick Holmes Published by Zomba Music Produced and engineered by Simon Efemey Mixed by Simon Efemey and Pete Pee Wee Coleman Mix Engineer: Pete Pee Wee Coleman Assisted by: Andrew Holdsworth Keyboards: Andrew Holdsworth Assistants: Paul Nixon, Sally Butler Recorded at Jacobs Studios, Surrey June/July 1993 Mastered by Geoff Pesche at Townhouse Studios Additional Female vocals by Denise Bernard Design and art direction by Stylorouge All photography by Matt Anker Originally available as CD, limited edition digipack, double vinyl version with a large poster, and tape. Videos were made for Widow and True Belief. Re-released in 2007 by Metal Mind Productions in digipack format (Cat. # MASS CD 1105 DG) without bonus tracks. Again re-released in 2008 by Metal Mind Productions (Cat. # MASS CD 0061) - Limited to 1000 copies - with following bonus tracks: 14. Sweetness (05:34) 15. Your Hand in Mine (live) (06:40) Reissued in 2011 on DLP (lim. 2000) with gatefold sleeve by Peaceville. Icon is the fourth studio album recorded by British doom metal/gothic band Paradise Lost in 1993. This marked the end of their early death/doom sound. It was also the last album to feature Matthew Archer on drums. In 2008, speaking to Kerrang! about the albums music, Nick Holmes remembered: We were pretty much the first band to coin the phrase gothic metal so I dont have a problem with that label. Weve actually done gothier albums than Icon, but if people want to say that it sums up something up thats fine with me. At the time there was also black metal, thrash metal and everyone wanted to describe what type of something was so we went Okay, weve got The Sisters of Mercy elements in our music, lets call it goth metal. We were getting better as musicians as well and I was hopefully getting better as a vocalist. When that happens you want to fine-tune what youre doing. Its also about not wanting to get stuck or pigeonholed into one particular musical place. Weve kept the whole gothic thing going right throughout our career, but we did want to do something a little different. With the vocals, a lot of it was kind of shouting in key as opposed to just shouting, its okay singing like Beelzebub, but your voice can get into trouble if you have a big tour youtube/watch?v=k4R9ykiSQrk
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 17:56:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015