The Gothic Metal Thread
A couple points:
A: I'll forgive this 73 minute album for its various flavors. If it was just goth and doom the whole time, chances are I'd get bored. I firmly believe the greatest artists should have mutliple talents rather than boasting about their target sound on and on with no end. I've gone on and on about my preferences for eclectic albums before (although I do need some balance). The personality was a key component helped to balance anything outlandish out, especially since the flow didn't really break anymore than your average Pixies or Nirvana album. It told you that you weren't just listening to a creepy goth band; you were listening to a bunch of guys having fun. This album might not be for those who want a singular longlasting genre experience, especially if you're the slow-moving metal type, but it's an impressively bold one that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
B: Maybe their humor is a bit juvenile at times, but it's also another impressive risk considering that metal is all about seriousness. Maybe it's not like adding synths to black metal, but it's still something you don't easily implement and remain a serious act at the same time. And I didn't sense anything offensive from the intro, as there's really no way to take that kind of concept as a serious message. Think about so many cheesy concepts that plague metal, from the satanism in early black metal to the LOTR fantasy of power metal. Then we've got the sci-fi concept albums. I think a few jokes on the side are fine.
Paradise Lost - "Icon" (1993)
I have a shocking admission to make ladies & gentlemen. Despite being a fan of English doom/death godfathers Paradise Lost from as early as 1991's "Gothic" album, I've honestly never regarded them as a top tier metal band. While I found Nick Holmes' death growls to be a highlight of the bands early material, I also struggled a bit with the very basic nature of the compositional work & a bit of inconsistency in the song-writing. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that I've never really enjoyed releases like 1988's self-titled demo tape or even the band's debut full-length "Lost Paradise" for that matter, instead having to settle for some mild entertainment from "Gothic" & 1989's "Frozen Illusion" demo as far as Paradise Lost's early works go. Strangely though, I'd gone out & bought 1992's "Shades of God" third album on cassette upon release without really knowing what I was getting myself into. It was an another generally positive experience but saw Paradise Lost starting to transition into something a little different from the doom/death sound they'd built their reputation on to that time. Holmes' death growls had gone halfway towards a cleaner delivery &, in doing so, sounded a little awkward while the death metal component was all but gone with the album being better described as conventional doom metal with some gothic elements here & there. It left me wondering where these Poms would go with their next album but my interest in the band was obviously still alive as I would pick up a digipack CD version of 1993's "Icon" fourth full-length as soon as it hit the shelves & would eagerly consume it for several months afterwards.
"Icon" sees Paradise Lost having fully completed their transition into what's generally regarded as being one of the primary figures in the gothic metal movement. The attractive gothicisms of the cover artwork had a positive effect on me & was possibly one of the reasons that I committed to buying the album after not ever fully committing myself to the band's earlier work. The Simon Efemey production job represents another aesthetic positive for "Icon" with the record sounding really crunchy & bright which was a considerable improvement on his output with "Shades of God". It gave "Icon" a much greater level of accessibility than Paradise Lost's previous efforts which has probably gone a long way to explaining why I like this record more than anything they'd done previously. The band had kept the same lineup throughout their existence to the time which I'd suggest was also a contributing factor in their successfully having continued down the path of reinvention they were taking with each successive release too.
The biggest thing that I noticed about "Icon" upon first laying it into my CD player as a kid was that Holmes' vocals were different again from the ones I'd struggled with a little bit on "Shades of God". This time he'd dropped the growling altogether & concentrated on delivering some admittedly still fairly aggressive clean vocals that sounded very much like he was trying to be Metallica's James Hetfield in terms of both tone & phrasing. That's not necessarily such a bad thing though as he does suit the music around him very well. The problems start to become evident in his general singing abilities though as his performance is noticeably pitchy throughout the album, a flaw that I've definitely found much more difficult to overlook in 2024 than I did back in 1993. It was only after I'd finally accepted Holmes' vocal limitations that I began to see "Icon" in a similar way to that which saw it becoming a mainstay of my playlist during the mid-1990s. Musically though, "Icon" represents a noticeable step up in class for Paradise Lost with the song-writing being clearly their most consistently strong to date. Lead guitarist Greg Mackintosh has finally developed an understanding of his technical limitations & works within them with his leads no longer suffering due to his lack of theoretical understanding.
The sound that "Icon" championed is a little difficult to describe holistically as it doesn't really sit all that comfortably within the standard "gothic metal" model. For starters, the gothic component isn't all that strong although I've struggled to find a better descriptor for the album which seems to hover around a number of different subgenres. There are clear thrash metal & heavy metal elements at play here & I'd suggest that Metallica's "Black Album" was quite influential on the more accessible direction the band had decided to take, particularly given the timing of the release which came just two years after Metallica had changed the world with their monumental commercial success. There's a much doomier aesthetic to how they present that influence here though, without resorting to actual doom metal all that often. You should expect to hear a lot of chuggy, mid-tempo riffs that benefit greatly from the crunchy production job & are well served by the improved song-writing quality too.
"Icon" was easily Paradise Lost's most consistent record to the time & likely still is. On this revisit I've found myself gaining enjoyment from all but one of the thirteen tracks on offer with the wishy washy "Weeping Words" being the only genuine failure on offer. There are a few huge highlights for me here with the doomiest inclusion "Joys of the Emptiness" being my personal favourite. I was also blown away by the brilliant gothic closer "Deus Misereatur" which is a wonderful way to finish the album. "Colossal Rains" is another gem that takes me right back to my teenage years & it's been interesting that it hasn't necessarily been the tracks that I adored the most as a kid that I've placed up on a pedestal in my more mature age, although there are a number of other very solid examples of the more refined new Paradise Lost sound here too.
Going into "Icon" I was fully expecting to dish out one of my more elite ratings given the impact it made on me in my youth. After all, I still regard it as the best Paradise Lost release I've heard to this day. Unfortunately though, it hasn't quite delivered a top tier result, even if I have maintained my opinion of it as the band's finest hour. I guess I just don't rate Paradise Lost as highly as most other people seem to & some of that will no doubt be due to their lack of sophistication when compared to the other members of the Peaceville Three, both of whom I regard as being ultra-premium examples of their type. Still, there's no denying that "Icon" is one of the best gothic metal records I've ever heard & I'm somewhat relieved that it hasn't ended up dipping below its even more accessible younger sibling "Draconian Times" after all these years.
For fans of Tiamat, Sentenced & Moonspell.
4/5
Anathema - Eternity (1996)
I have decided to fill the gaps in my ratings for the releases in the top 100 charts of my four clans, leading me today to take on Anathema's 1996 album Eternity. Now, seemingly at odds with the rest of the metal world, I have never really got on board the Anathema train, being a little bemused at the exalted status they seem to hold in the metal community. This, of course, may be down to the fact that I was out of the metal loop during their earlier days, so I have only ever viewed their metal phase from a retrospective viewpoint, thus being unaware of the contemporary impact of their music and being personally uninvested in their work, a phenomena whose effect is a big influence on what does and does not resonate with us.
The first thing that baffles me about Eternity is it's doom metal tag. I can't hear a whole lot of what I understand as doom metal here, but I do think it leans towards gothic metal. The bass sound in particular comes straight from The Sisters of Mercy, the jangling nature of a lot of the guitar work owes much to The Mission or the early sound of The Cult's Billy Duffy and "Cries on the Wind" even sees vocalist Vincent Cavanagh aping Aaron Stainthorpe's gothic delivery. So I would tag this as gothic rather than doom metal, although that in itself doesn't tell the whole story of Eternity as it also has a very progressive feel and enters into dalliances with alternative metal.
Most of the reviews I have read of the album refer to it as a transitionary album for the band and I get that, because it feels like an album by a band who have found the constraints of the metal sphere too restrictive to allow them to express the emotions and ideas that they wish to convey and who are testing the restraints that bind them. Initially I was underwhelmed by Eternity and felt it lacked bite, but having lived with it for three or four days now and having got underneath it's bodywork, allowing my preconceptions to fall away, it has revealed itself to be quite the tour de force, albeit with a major caveat that I will get to shortly. The songwriting is excellent and is filled with melodious hooks and pensive, reflectively atmospheric moments. The instrumentation is high calibre with a couple of impressive solos that sound restrained and yet still soar majestically over the on point rhythm work in a style not entirely dissimilar to that of Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour. In fact The Wall-era Pink Floyd crept unbidden into my mind on more than one occasion as brief snippets seemed to be eerily similar to parts of Floyd's 1979 concept album meisterwork, Eternity Pt.2 bearing a particular point of reference.
And so to that caveat I mentioned which is a major stumbling block to me dishing out a top tier rating. The issue that ultimately left me feeling slightly disappointed is the vocal performance of Vincent Cavanagh, which I don't think is sufficiently proficient to express the emotional heft that the material required, robbing it of a lot of it's poignancy as a result. Vincent seems to be struggling at times and is helped out more than once by backing vocals that cover up for some of his shortcomings, but is still a little jarring in places which led to me being snapped out of the spell that the music had been weaving. With a top-drawer vocalist then I would have had no problem dishing out a 4.5 or 5 star rating, because songwriting and instrumental performance-wise this is an album that worms it's way into even my jaded and cynical psyche, providing a melancholic, yet uplifting, sensation that has been artfully crafted, but sadly left bereft by one important aspect falling short. Maybe a further passage of time will see me warming to the vocals, but for now to me this is a classic that got away.
4/5
Ponte del Diavolo - Fire Blades from the Tomb (2024)
Following a trio of EP's, none of which I have heard yet to be honest, Fire Blades from the Tomb marks the debut full-length from Turin gothic metallers, Ponte del Diavolo (which translates as The Devil's Bridge). I must admit I have been blindsided somewhat by this, as I have been continually slipping it to the bottom of my "to-listen" pile, for no reason other than I knew nothing about the band But that was a major miscalculation on my behalf because this is a really interesting listen and reminds me a little of Belgium's Messa in that the band seem to be trying to break out from genre conformity and produce something less predictable, yet still completely listenable. They aren't quite as genre-bending or progressive as Messa, however, with the majority of the tracks here on Fire Blades From the Tomb being assembled from recognisable gothic and black metal components. The gothic elements are the most prevalent, particularly the vocals provided by Erba del Diavolo (real name Elena Camusso) who's vocal style is very reminiscent of The Banshees' Siouxsie Sioux (who is a particular favourite of mine) and the, for want of a better word, "twangy" quality to the guitar sound. It is the black metal elements that make themselves initially known, however, with opener "Demone" launching out of the blocks with a pummellng blastbeat, tremolo riff and a decidedly punky feel. The track then alternates between these punky black metal and lumbering doom-laden slower sections with Erba's soaring vocals tying it all together.
Fire Blades From the Tomb sees the band displaying a nice variation in their songwriting, though, as second track, "Covenant", has a decidedly more post-punk gothic feeling to it with Erba turning in a great performance from demented-sounding shouts to ethereal croons, the track even ends with an always weird-sounding theremin providing a 1950's sci-fi retro feel. Next up "Red as the Sex of She Who Lives in Death" is a brooding doomy gothic piece with Erba providing a powerful and strong vocal that is many miles away from the ethereal and washed-out vocal style often assosciated with female singers in gothic metal, the track's sinister atmosphere reinforced by the clarinet of guest musician Vittorio Sabelli (Dawn of a Dark Age) who actually features on three of the album's seven tracks. If further proof of the band's determination to expand their songwriting is needed, "La Razza" begins with an intro that sounds decidedly like classic space rock before exploding into blastbeat and tremolo riffing territory for a slab of blackened gothica.
I don't intend to do a track-by-track analysis, but merely cover the first four tracks in order to illustrate the variations in the material on offer here. Each of the tracks is sufficiently interesting, well-written and performed to stand on their own, but the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts, with the occult atmosphere building up over the course of the album, whether through brooding ruminations, ritualistic exhortations, haunting lamentations or outright vitriolic outbursts of violence. Fire Blades From the Tomb is well-written, expertly performed and quite ambitious in scope. It's ability to weave together a variety of styles into a coherent whole and maintain a consistent atmosphere is admirable and mark Ponte del Diavolo as a band to keep a close eye on in the future. As if that wasn't enough reson to check this out, in Erba del Diavolo they have a bona fide gothic metal star and a vocalist with a talent and versatility that elevates the music around her to another level. If you love dark, brooding, occult metal then I couldn't recommend this higher.
4/5
Moonspell - Wolfheart (1995)
Contrary to appearances, I don't think I am especially dogmatic when it comes to metal appreciation and one illustration of this is the softening of my stance regarding gothic metal over the last couple of years. At one time I wouldn't have given an album such as Wolfheart the time of day, but exposure to top gothic metal perpetrators such as Paradise Lost and Draconian has definitely shifted my view on the genre and what it is capable of. I recently listened to Moonspell's 2008 album, Night Eternal and I enjoyed it quite a bit, awarding it a princely four stars, so I went into the band's debut, 1995's Moonspell, with high hopes.
Was this optimism justified then? Well, yes... and no. Musically there was plenty here that took my fancy, the guitar work especially standing out. The tone of the six-strings is great and the bass supplies a nice deep bottom end. The riffs are dolorous, heavy and quite memorable but the solos are the best thing about the album, in fact it's a pity the leads aren't given a bit more of a free rein as I would have liked to hear more from Tanngrisnir and Mantus in the vein of the soloing in the latter part of the opener.
Unfortunately Wolfheart suffers from the same bugbear that I have always had with a lot of gothic metal, that of excessive cheesiness. This takes the form of a heavy-handed application of synths, smothering a number of the tracks with a suffocating layer of 1980's-like keyboards that just doesn't sit well with me at all. The synths aren't the only issue though because the vocals annoyed me almost as much. The gruff, deathly male vocals are fine, but the forced, deep, clean male vocals that seem intended to mimic Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula still sound as ludicrous as I have always found that style of singing to be. There is, of course, several tracks with supposedly ethereal female vocals but, and I have no wish to be unkind, the effect is ruined because, to be frank, Birgit Zacher is here sounding like she is fighting to stay in tune, with "Love Crimes" especially sounding like she is struggling. Then, as if that wasn't enough there is also the track Trebaruna which is a full-on folk metal cheesefest and does absolutely nothing positive for me whatsoever.
Overall, then, I would have to say that although Wolfheart has some aspects I really enjoyed, especially when it is at it's heaviest or when the leads are firing off solos, the album's inherent theatricality is just too jarring for me to excuse completely, no matter how much I may enjoy it's positives and so ultimately it's score has to be accordingly middle-of-the-road.
3/5