Plague tale: requiem trial and error

Release Date: Tracklist.

A plague tale: innocence boring

Album Rating: 4. Album Rating: 5. Paradise Lost The Plague Within 4. Review Summary: A refreshing listen for those who think the band may have gotten too comfortable lately. Since they returned to a heavy goth metal style nearly a decade ago, Paradise Lost has yielded some quality material though they've run the risk of sounding too complacent at times.

Factor in guitarist Gregor Mackintosh's work in Vallenfyre and vocalist Nick Holmes recent involvement with Bloodbath and you get the feeling that the band may have wanted to return to a more extreme approach as much as some of their fans have. Now with the release of their fourteenth full-length album, Paradise Lost aims to recapture some of their most primal sounds with some interesting results.

The stylistic shifts that are demonstrated on The Plague Within are best exemplified by Holmes' mixture of death growls and clean vocals. On one hand, his harsher voice never hits the grimy depths of Gothic or Shades of God and show their age at times. On the other hand, the growls are surprisingly solid for having not been seriously attempted in nearly two decades and their raspy edge has a uniqueness that allows it to work with all the different styles on display.

Plague tale innocence overrated

Going along with that, the album also succeeds for being one of the band's most diverse sounding efforts to date. Somehow none of the tracks sound out of place; especially impressive considering how rarely they've fluctuated their tempos in recent years. Unfortunately, the more adventurous songwriting may have occurred at the expense of their natural catchiness.

While most doom bands let the riffs dominate their songs, Paradise Lost's standout trait has always been their ear catching vocal lines.