Review of the Album "Shades of God" by Paradise Lost
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The Significance of the Album "Shades of God"
Shades of God is the 1992 studio album released by British metal band Paradise Lost. It is considered the album by these guys that shows the transition into the more Gothic metal style seen on their next album Icon. The vocals still resemble the harshness of the two albums before it. The style is also like Black Sabbath would have been in the early 1980s but a bit heavier obviously given the fact that Shades of God was released at a transitional time for the metal genre. There are those fans that really miss the older Paradise Lost albums and I empathize with them for that sentiment. This album shows the maturity and development of Paradise Lost as there is a definite Black Sabbath influence in this album. The songs are about issues related to human emotions that we experience in life. For a second if you can, imagine a more modern Gothic metal release with death metal vocals that is more modern and you get like a more modern version of an earlier Black Sabbath album.
About the Songs in Paradise Lost's "Shades of God" Album
The song called “No Forgiveness” starts off with a more progressive metal approach as the acoustic guitar is the main component early on in this song. Lyrically, the song is about a person that knows that he is wasting the time that he has left as the feelings of remorse take over. If you still want to hear the death metal vocal growls you will still hear them in this album so that aspect isn’t totally gone by this point. The song “As I Die” ends this album which may end up being a sort of musical treasure for those that have that keen sense of details. For a person such as myself that got started with 1997’s One Second, Shades of God is a darn good release as well created just five years before. “Mortals Watch the Day” is the song that begins this album, and this song is about what us mortal humans sometimes go through as the fear consumes us during some very dark kind of days. What lies up ahead as the light has turned to darkness? Of all the early Paradise Lost albums, Shades of God may be the band’s best one. By early Paradise Lost, we are referring to the days in which the death metal style of music dominated. “Crying for Eternity” has the bass line which plays a good secondary role as the Paranoid era Black Sabbath is present on this song. Then the song switches to a very good small progressive metal style. Paradise Lost has been a very good addition to the British metal scene, and I say this not just as a fan of the Gothic and death metal genre.
Final Thoughts About This Paradise Lost Album
However, I’d be giving Shades of God too much credit by even suggesting that it is as good of an album as one of those early Black Sabbath albums because it is not even if the riffing style is similar to one of those. This 3rd studio album by the UK’s most well-known Gothic metal band is a good transitional album for the times and for them.
This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.
© 2021 Ara Vahanian
