Paradise Lost: Shades of God (1992)

Paradise Lost holds a special place in my history of becoming a metal fan, and this time of year is appropriate to be talking about it.  They were one of the earliest non-mainstream metal bands I ever heard.  I remember seeing a review of their album Draconian Times in a music magazine and had heard "Once Solemn" on an underground metal radio show.  I was interested enough that their album was on a list that I gave my family when they asked for Christmas ideas.  Someone got it for me, and I fell in love with it immediately.  Unfortunately, in those pre-internet days, their albums were really hard to find.  It has taken several years, but I have gradually been checking out most of their older releases, as well as their newer stuff.

Shades of God was Paradise Lost's third album and it features the kind of rumbling mixture of doom metal and death metal that most of their earlier material was known for, as well as touches of the gothic sound that they had a hand in creating.  This album though is a little heavier on the doom metal than the other albums by the band around the same time.  But it is doom metal in the vein of groups like Candlemass and Trouble, rolling riffs and infectious hooks.  There are a few faster tracks to really get the blood pumping like "Pity the Sadness", one of my favorite Paradise Lost tracks.

One change the band made on this album was to lengthen the songs somewhat and use more progressive song structures.  The change showed a band that was maturing and becoming more confident in their abilities, but sometimes the tracks tended to meander a bit longer than necessary.  The band deserved credit though for attempting to expand their horizons, and they never went way too far out there.

This album is a great combination of the melodic and aggressive sides of the band coming together.  It should be held up as a classic by the band, but seems to be one of the more overlooked albums.  Paradise Lost remains a favorite band of mine, and discovering some of these lost albums has certainly helped keep them there.

Exciter: Long Live the Loud (1985)

Let's all go back to a simpler time.  When the only real concerns were making a few bucks to put gas in your cherried out Dodge Charger or Grand Am to take out your spandex-clad feathered-haired girlfriend.  This cassette was likely playing in the car at the time.  This is the perfect soundtrack for exceeding the speed limit while flying down the highway.

Canadian metal of the 1980's has really garnered a lot of nostalgia in recent years.  Part of that was likely due to the Anvil documentary of several years ago.  But there were better bands in the scene.  Exciter, named after a Judas Priest song, was one of the leading bands in the scene, releasing three classic albums from 1983 through 1985.  This was the third, and probably my favorite of the three.

As could be expected when a band names itself after a Judas Priest song, Priest and Iron Maiden seem to be the primary influences on Exciter's sound.  "Born to Die" would have easily fit on Priest's Defenders of the Faith while the beginning of "Wake Up Screaming" sounds a lot like Maiden's "Hallowed be Thy Name".  Most of the rest of the songs are made up of catchy-as-hell pure speed metal.  There are several terrific songs here, including the title track and "I am the Beast".

I missed out on this album the first time around (I was four after all), but there are several great metal albums being reissued all the time.  All three of the first Exciter albums have recently been reissued and I have been picking them up.  I have not ventured beyond the first three yet, but someday I may have to.  As I said, this is my favorite album by Exciter thus far.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 90

ARTIST:  Paradise Lost
ORIGIN:  Halifax, England
TITLE:  One Second
LABEL:  Music for Nations
YEAR:  1997
GENRE:  Gothic Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Say Just Words"
NOTES:  I had really gotten into Paradise Lost's brand of gothic metal with the preceding release.  So I was very excited when a new album was due to be released.  Unfortunately, Paradise Lost took things a little bit too far in the gothic rock direction on this album.  It was catchy and sounded pretty decent but most of the metal was gone.  It would get even worse after this and it would be years before I picked up another new Paradise Lost album.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 63

ARTIST:  Paradise Lost
ORIGIN:  Halifax, England
TITLE:  Draconian Times
LABEL:  Music for Nations
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Gothic Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Hallowed Land"
NOTES:  I love this album.  I got it for Christmas one year and fell in love with it right away.  And I still listen to it frequently.  It is absolutely haunting.  The songs are all incredible and infectious, the vocals sound amazing, and the music sounds terrific.  I first heard the band when the local rock radio station started playing "Enchantment" and "Once Solemn".  I liked the tracks and began looking for it myself.