Paradise Lost - Tragic Illusion 25: The Rarities (Album Review)
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Written by Alec Chillingworth
Metallica celebrated their 30th anniversary with a slew of legendary shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco. The Darkness are blasting through their epic 'Permission To Land' album on its 10th birthday. There's probably even a few people holding out for a Crazy Frog comeback.
The point is, anniversaries are there to be celebrated. They're a chance to look back at the longevity and success of a band, to recognise achievements. And Paradise Lost have a hell of a lot to be celebrating. From their landmark releases, 'Gothic' and 'Draconian Times', right up to last year's grandiose 'Tragic Idol', the band have never been ones to shy away from the dramatic. In order to mark 25 years together, they have announced a tour, including their biggest London show to date, and to accompany it, 'Tragic Illusion 25: The Rarities' rears its ugly head.
A compilation album largely comprised of tracks scattered on special edition albums, there's some new stuff on here too. Album opener Loneliness Remains is a brand new one, suggesting the direction Paradise Lost will be taking upon the recording of their next studio release. And it's a rather tasty direction, at that.
Boasting a more doom-laden sound than 'Tragic Idol', Loneliness Remains sounds like the band have been having pyjama parties with Black Sabbath and Clutch. Vocalist Nick Holmes utilises a baritone croon during the verses, giving the track an elevated level of stonerbluesiness. In short: the track rocks, and we should all be very excited by the prospect of a new Paradise Lost album.
Re-recorded renditions of older numbers Gothic and Our Saviour are also absolute bangers. They’re bound to remind everyone exactly why Paradise Lost are so bloody important and bring the tunes nicely up to date in the process. Gothic in particular is quite something; the mixture of heavy, atmospheric riffs and screamed vocals amid female operatics show where bands like Septicflesh nicked parts of their style from.
These three stellar tracks aside, the compilation is somewhat hit-and-miss. A cover of Spear Of Destiny's Never Take Me Alive lends itself particularly well to Paradise Lost's canon, while a version of Everything But The Girl’s Missing is a bit of a stinker. It's not as shit as Cradle Of Filth doing Heaven 17 songs, but it's really not needed here.
Cardinal Zero rocks harder than Brian Blessed encased in a cliff-face, while orchestral re-workings of gems such as Last Regret are as brilliant as they are polarising. If you love a good oboe in your musical palette then you'll have no problem with it. However, if you're a sleeveless shirt-wearing knucklehead who doesn't listen to anything that doesn't have a beard on it, you'll probably have to look somewhere else for your thrills.
'Tragic Illusion 25: The Rarities' isn't an easy one to get stuck into. For new fans of the band, this probably isn't the one to start with. 'Tragic Idol' will do that job effortlessly. Die-hard Paradise Lost listeners and completists will get a kick from this mainly due to the new song and re-recordings, but overall it's a slightly underwhelming affair. But, with that said, the new song does kick a tremendous amount of arse.
Wed October 30th 2013 - WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Hall
Thu October 31st 2013 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
Fri November 1st 2013 - MANCHESTER Ritz
Sun November 3rd 2013 - LONDON Roundhouse
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