Review by Ben for Paradise Lost - Gothic (1991)

I've always been a sucker for death / doom metal. Bands such as My Dying Bride, Evoken, Katatonia, Swallow the Sun and Saturnus just kill me every time I listen to them (in a very good way). And whom should I thank for all this audible bliss? The answer is right here! Paradise Lost were the first to successfully mix slower, doomy music with guttural vocals and include gothic overtones with keyboards and female vocals. They would kick off an English trend which My Dying Bride and Anathema would pick up and run with shortly after. This formula would be used time and time again over the years, sometimes successfully, other times not, but this is where it all started.

Nick Holmes vocals are just awesome on this release. I really don't care for a lot of his clean vocals that would take over shortly after Gothic (although he has improved over the years), but his work on this album is emotional yet brutal, and when mixed with the exquisite melodies and female vocals make for an amazing mix. The guitar in general is beautifully dark, with great riffs and melodies throughout that are immediately recognisable.

But as important as Gothic is, it's not a perfect album. The sound is muddy, and a few tracks are not as high quality as others. Gothic, Shattered, Eternal, The Painless and Angel Tears are all brilliant, but Dead Emotion, Falling Forever and Silent are not quite as good. But this slight lack of consistency is really nit-picking what is an awesome and hugely important album. Gothic deserves a much higher rating than the 3.58 that it has at the time of this review. I believe this score has been pulled down by fans of latter-day Paradise Lost fans that can't handle the more death metal aspect of the band. If you like any of the bands I mentioned above, this is essential!