PARADISE LOST - IN REQUIEM [2007] (album review)

Here we go. The band from Yorkshire is back with a new album. This new album will surprise many people and of course many fans of the band. This situation is always, more or less, predictable every time that Paradise Lost release a new album, because everyone is curious to listen to the new songs of the band and depending to each listener likings, to love or hate them. The fact of making so many argument and dissent around their music and their name, is an element that makes Paradise Lost a huge band (except the quality of their music, of course).

This time Paradise Lost decided to make a big return to their roots. They composed new killer songs with heavy/doom riffs, which could excellent, be into “Icon”, “Shades of God” and “Draconian Times” albums. Attention, the order that I referred the albums isn’t randomly. It reflects excellent the mood of the album. Even the double-pedal playing on drums is present on many songs. The new album starts from there, where their last one, “Paradise Lost” album, stopped and continues in a heavier, darker and sadder motive. Elements from the rest albums, are also present here and there. The high quality of the songs must be taken as granted, and the sound of the album is unbelievable, as Rhys Fulber, on the production, and Mike Frazer (Ac/Dc, Aerosmith, Metallica) on the mixing, made amazing work. If I had to mention some songs, as my favorites, these will be: “Ash & Debris”, “Praise Lamented Shade”, “Requiem”, “Prelude To Descent” and “Fallen Children”, without this means that the rest songs aren’t good.

Concluding, the shadowkings are ascending again there where they deserve to be, at their throne. They managed to eliminate all these 12 years, since the releasing of “Draconian Times” and to present us an album which to some years will be mentioned as classic. I kneel humbly before their majesty. The kings are alive, long live the kings.

PARADISE LOST discography:

(1990) Lost Paradise
(1991) Gothic
(1992) Shades Of God
(1993) Icon
(1995) Draconian Times
(1997) One Second
(1999) Host
(2001) Believe In Nothing
(2002) Symbol Of Life
(2005) Paradise Lost
(2007) In Requiem

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MUSIC GIANTS: TONY IOMMI

His full name is Anthony Frank Iommi and he was borned on February 19, 1948, in Birmingham of England. He began to play guitar as a teenager after being inspired by the likes of "Hank Marvin" and "The Shadows". At the age of 18 he was working on a sheet metal factory and at his last day to work, on an accident, he cut off the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand. The tragic of the story is that, he had decided to quit his job for having more time to play music. After this, and being left-handed, he tried with his right hand to play in the fret board of his guitar, but he couldn’t play well. A friend of his, encouraged him to follow the example of a gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt, who had lost two fingers at a fire, and he played his guitar like nothing to have be going wrong. So, Tony decided to wear plastic covers, that were made from melted dish soap bottle, over those two fingers (which he covered with leather, so he could grip the strings properly) in order to play properly. He tuned his guitar 3 semitones lower and he played slow and stable, for not to strain his prosthetics. And the miracle was done. A heavy, solid and dirty noise came out of his guitar.

After playing in several bands, among them Jethro Tull, he forms his own band, “Earth Blues Band”. They renamed to “Earth” and they had a minor success to England. One day as they watched a Boris Karloff film, they decided to use two words taken from there, to rename again the band. These two words was “BLACK SABBATH”. Black Sabbath debuted with the “Black Sabbath” album on February 13, 1970, when Tony was 22 years old. The release of the album was a thunder stroke to music scene. Never before a band sounded the way Black Sabbath did. Iommi combined at his songs, blues-like guitar solos and dark, minor-key riffing with a revolutionary high-gain, heavily distorted tone with his use of a modified treble-boosting effect-pedal and a Gibson SG, as well as plugging his guitar into his amp's bass socket.

From then Tony has released almost 30 albums, both with Black Sabbath and as a solo musician, and he keeps composing beautiful music. He had participated in many other albums as a guest and also to albums with charitable character, such as “Rock Aid Armenia”. He keeps touring the earth with Black Sabbath and his solo band. Tony is also a fan of Aston Villa F.C. in English Premier League. Ending, Tony Iommi is a living legend of music, as he had made his name as a synonym of heavy rock music.

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GREAT WORKS: AMORPHIS - TUONELA

Amorphis comes from Helsinki of Finland and formed in 1990. They have released 7 full albums and 3 EPs, and they are ready to release their 8^th album on August. In the beginning they performed death metal, with many traditional and melodic riffs on their songs, with keyboards to follow the guitars. Slowly, they inserted psychedelic influences from the ‘70s and bands such as Pink Floyd and Hawkwind.

Their 4^th full length album is 1999’s “Tuonela” and it is their best album up to date. On this album, Amorphis have diminished to the minimum the death metal elements, and the ‘70s influences are evident more than any other album. Despite this fact, that leaded the band to pass from a kind of audience to another, due to the change to music, Amorphis create an incredible album. In musical level the band combines guitar parts, which have a traditional Finnish touch, with space/psychedelic keyboard parts. The whole music matches perfectly with the very special voice of the band’s singer, Pasi Koskinen and the final result takes off the ground. All the songs have coherence and a travel mood which makes the listening of the album very pleasant, almost to every listener, independently his music background. The lyrics of the album are about personal moments of the writter and all the talking is done by traditional Finnish tales.

Not to forget to mention that, “Tuonela” is the name of underworld in “Kalevala”, and the name of the plant on album’s cover, is Pihlaja and grows only in Finland.

AMORPHIS discography:

(1992) Karelian Isthmus
(1994) Tales From The Thousand Lakes
(1996) Elegy
(1999) Tuonela
(2001) Am Universum
(2003) Far From The Sun
(2006) Eclipse
(2007) Silent Waters

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