 
Paradise Lost are a British band from Halifax
in Yorkshire and have been storming the Doom and
Goth metal scene since 1988. After its original
release 16 years ago the band has decided to re-release
Draconian Times as a “Legacy Edition”
which includes 2 disks; on disk one there is the
12 tracks along with 2 demos and 5 live tracks
from Germany then disk 2 contains the 12 tracks
in 5.1 surround sound and 3 videos.
Now when I first heard of Paradise lost and the
genre “Doom Metal” I stayed well clear
because I did not know what that entailed and
didn’t like the sound of it; however as
it turns out they were only a doom metal band
for their first few releases 1990’s “Lost
Paradise”, 1991’s “Gothic”
and then last seen on 1992’s “Shades
of God”. They then transitioned to a more
Goth metal sound with clean vocals for “Icon”
and then “Draconian Times”.
The sound that I’m hearing on this album
is that of a mellow but sinister nature purely
in the music not the vocals, dark and eerie in
a way but in another way just pure heavy metal.
The vocals on the album sound quite influenced
by James Hetfield of Metallica with the way in
which they are a bit gritty and the way he sings
certain words. That doesn’t matter it makes
for a very good sound, the way the put things
together with all the different tones happening
at the same time gives it a certain atmosphere
that makes them stand out.
First track “Enchanted” is very mellow
but dark and it changes pace and tones throughout
the song keeping it interesting which is followed
by “Hallowed Ground” which is more
of the same but with a bit more of an eerie edge
to it.
Now “Once Solemn” is a very fast paced
and upbeat song that’s plain heavy, it’s
great! There are other songs like this like “The
Last Time” and “Shadow Kings”
they aren’t as upbeat but they’re
leaning towards this style.
Then there’s the 2 demo tracks “Enchanted*”
and “Last Desire*” which show 2 tracks
at the bare bones before they went through the
process of being on the album (“Last Desire”
didn’t make the cut but you still get to
see what was considered) which is nice to hear.
The 4 live tracks from Germany in 1995 are also
an added bonus to see how the band’s material
sounds live – which in this case is extremely
well.
After a few listens to the whole thing, this reissue
has everything you could possibly want. Better
sounding tunes, demos and live tracks; it is also
clear why they chose to reissue this album, because
it has some of the best tracks from their entire
career on it. I would recommend anyone to listen
to this album as it has an element in the music
for many different types of music lover.
5/5
Review by James Webb
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