Paradise Lost - Shades of God (1992)^{Release ID: 995}

I loved Gothic! It was the first real example of gothic death doom metal, with dark riffs, keyboards, growls and exquisite female vocals all combining to form a captivating and moving album. I was first in line to run out and get Shades of God when it was released and how immensely disappointed I was! Gone was the sound that made Gothic so good. Gone were the gothic touches. Gone were the female vocals. Gone were the death growls. This was basically an entirely new Paradise Lost and one that sounded awkward and far less interesting to my ears. I think I sold Shades of God in disgust and moved on to My Dying Bride and Anathema.

These days I can look at the album more clearly and judge it for what it is. A transition between their death doom roots and the heavy metal approach of years to come. While I can't say I love the album now, I do find some enjoyment from tracks like Mortals Watch the Day and As I Die. Nick Holmes vocals are not very good at this stage, the drumming is merely adequate, and the leads occasionally seem out of key, but there are some great riffs and effective song writing. The band would move ahead with this sound and make much better albums, such as Draconian Times.

It’s interesting that, although I regard myself as a big fan of the doom/death metal subgenre in general, I’ve never really counted myself as a huge fan of one of the most seminal & highly regarded artists in England’s Paradise Lost, at least not of their earlier & more influential death metal-infused releases. I did quite like their 1989 “Frozen Illusion” demo tape & their widely celebrated sophomore album “Gothic” but I have to admit that neither of them have received much in the way of return visits after I first discovered them back in the early 1990’s. I only really got onboard the Paradise Lost train with their 1993 fourth album “Icon” (my favourite Paradise Lost release overall) & 1995's highly successful "Draconian Times" record which saw them completing their transition away from doom/death into a more polished & accessible gothic metal sound that would prove to be hugely influential for decades to come. So what of the band’s 1992 third album “Shades of God” then, a transitional release that saw the Halifax five-piece right at the mid-point between their two signature sounds?

Despite not classing myself as an obsessive fan of 1990’s “Lost Paradise” or 1991’s “Gothic” albums, I did pick up “Shades of God” on cassette shortly after it was released. I guess I still held hopes of Paradise Lost taking the promise shown in the stronger “Gothic” material to new & more consistent levels but my first few listens didn’t really deliver the desired outcome. I guess I just found the band’s foot-in-both-camps approach to be a little bit middling to be honest. Admittedly, the tracklisting was slightly more consistent than “Gothic” which possessed a more filler material however there are also nowhere near the quantity of highlights that "Gothic" benefited from with only the doomy “No Forgiveness” meeting equivalent heights for me personally. Some of this can certainly be attributed to my personal taste as the album contains three tracks that highlight the gothic metal sound that Paradise Lost were moving towards & these are generally regarded as the centrepieces of the album. They’re all pretty decent songs in their own right too but I can’t ever say that they ever see me being fully engaged. The dreary doom metal of “Embraced” is the only inclusion that I consider to be a genuine failure though as it sounds noticeably flat & lethargic in comparison to the tracks around it.

There are a couple of general qualms I have with the early Paradise Lost work to be honest & “Shades of God” is a pretty decent example. Firstly, Nick Holmes’ vocals take a both-ways bet on whether they want to be clean or harsh & end up sounding somewhat awkward as a result. Nick’s death growl was one of the most imposing in the early death metal scene so I recall initially finding myself to be more than a little disappointed with his direction on "Shades of God". The other thing that grinds my gears is lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh’s lack of theoretical understanding as we regularly see him selecting notes that are out of key. In fact, his note selection & phrasing is still really basic at this point & I struggle with that given my musical background. The best moments come when the band get their doom on though with Gregor exceling at providing attractive melodic accompaniments. Actually, I have to say that there’s bugger all genuine doom/death on this record. It's mostly built on more conventional doom metal with gothic metal playing a notable secondary role in the final product. Some of the doomy riffs even possess the groovier feel of the traditional doom metal sound of the 1980’s. The tracks that veer away from doom towards gothic metal generally see more up-tempo & chuggy metal riffs being employed in a way that results in an outcome that’s not dissimilar to Sisters of Mercy.

“Shades of God” is far from a failure but it’s easy to see why it’s not talked about anywhere near as much as the albums either side of it given it’s transitional nature. Fans of My Dying Bride, Anathema & Draconian will likely find enough quality material to keep them interested but I’d be surprised if many regard it as one of Paradise Lost’s best works.