Paradise Lost’s Icon Remains Just as Triumphant 30 Years Later
Thirty years ago to the day, Paradise Lost’s fourth album Icon was released to the world. Composed by lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh with lyrics penned by vocalist Nick Holmes, the album is a cathedral of sweet melancholia. Along with exceptional performances by Aaron Aedy on rhythm and acoustic guitars, Stephen Edmondson on bass, and Matt Archer on drums, as well as guest appearances by ballet pianist Andrew Holdsworth and vocalist Denise Bernard, Icon has grown to be revered as a timeless and spellbinding journey that just needs to be constantly re-experienced.
The sound that the team behind Icon was able to achieve is absolutely epic. Icon was recorded in June and July 1993, at Jacobs Studios, where artists like David Bowie once worked. To add to the gravitas, the album was mastered by Townhouse Studios, whose clients have included Queen and Sir Elton John.
On Icon, Paradise Lost slaughters with gorgeous melodies, unbelievable rhythms, addictive riffs, lethal solos, and so forth. Holmes found a less harsh, yet still heavy as steel approach to vocals. His attack here has been compared to that of James Hetfield, only yours truly much prefers Paradise Lost to Metallica.
Icon also surprised listeners insofar as it represented Paradise Lost’s departure from their death-doom style, though it is still very doomy. To this day, Paradise Lost continues to experiment constantly. Nevertheless, it should be noted that they have since brought back a more death-doom feel, which they combine with gothic metal. Yes, you could argue that Paradise Lost created goth metal on 1991’s Gothic and you could also make the case that Icon may not be the band’s most gothic album, but it was the most gothic work they had unleashed yet at the time.
On this milestone of an offering, as elsewhere, Paradise Lost achieves the right balance between strength and beauty. Paradise Lost’s art is cerebral and sophisticated with deep, poetic texts that gnaw at you. As such, Icon is capable of resonating with a broad range of listeners.
Icon is certainly agonizing, but it also an extremely “fun” record. Energizing numbers like “Dying Freedom,” which is followed by the insanely catchy “Widow,” are sure to pump you up. Paradise Lost certainly demonstrates that they have more than enough charisma to fill several stadiums.
Especially given the current musical climate, which has spawned legions of cookie-cutter bands, we should all greatly admire the multi-faceted complexity and striking contrasts of Icon. The symphonic intro on “Embers Fire” may be brief, for example, yet it adds worlds of color. Nowadays, symphonic components are often overdone. There are so many modern releases that are either too polished or lack refinement. In all respects, Icon hits the mark — no element is out of place.
Before recording Icon, Paradise Lost had a breakthrough moment with “As I Die.” This song was not on the original press of Shades of God (1992). Rather, it was recorded during the sessions and was soon included on the album. It was also released as a single. On the documentary Over the Madness (2007), Greg Mackintosh reflected: “I think with ‘As I Die,’ we attained what every band strives for, and that’s your own sound. You know, you can play anything. You can play a cover version, and they can tell it’s you. I think that’s where that took us. So, the album Icon really is the archetypal Paradise Lost album.”
Unfortunately, not everything was as rosy as it should have been at this glorious point in Paradise Lost’s career. After recording Icon, Paradise Lost embarked upon a particularly rough tour of the United States with Morbid Angel and Kreator in July and August. On Over the Madness, we are presented with an amusing recollection from Aaron Aedy: “… one night, we played in Texas and Phil Anselmo was the only person on the dance floor, him and his mate, for ‘As I Die.’ They went: ‘Oh, I love As I Die! I love ‘As I Die.’” That night, Phil “went absolutely bananas on his own.” Fortunately, the European tour with Sepultura that followed, which began in September and ended in December, went much more smoothly.
Paradise Lost’s next full-length record would be Draconian Times (1995). Mackintosh told Cryptic Rock that he thinks of this effort as Icon Part 2, though Icon was more primitive. Further down the road, Paradise Lost’s polarizing masterpiece of a seventh album, Host (1999), would come to represent another groundbreaking moment in their career as an unexpected electronic rock, synth-pop, darkwave eargasm. Yes, time and time again, Paradise Lost has fearlessly explored new musical territories. Whatever Paradise Lost does, the group never ceases to represent total creative freedom.
When listening to Icon, keep in mind that this monolith, and Paradise Lost’s other albums, is a blueprint from which others have drawn a wealth of inspiration. Indeed, Paradise Lost has revolutionized the music world in various ways and inspired countless artists. However, their popularity should still be much greater given their role in music history. In response to a comment about Paradise Lost’s enormous influence on the podcast Into the Necrosphere, Mackintosh explained that Paradise Lost is “a band’s band” in the sense that a lot of the appreciation they receive comes from other groups. Mackintosh also stated:
“… because we’ve been going quite a long time now, we get told by certain bands: ‘We wouldn’t have started if it wasn’t for you.’ […] and then, someone was influenced by them, so it’s like now a third generation or something of bands that don’t even know who we are that indirectly were influenced by us.”
On February 24, Greg Mackintosh and Nick Holmes demonstrated that their love of goth music is still helping them forge new styles when they unveiled IX — their fantastic and inventive debut as Host, a name that is, of course, a nod to the aforementioned Paradise Lost album. In addition to goth, Mackintosh described IX to us as a mixture of “synth, cold wave, even stadium rock from the ’80s.” Yes, this project, like Paradise Lost material, owes much to Mackintosh and Holmes’ time in West Yorkshire clubs as teenagers. IX sounds completely different than Icon, but that makes it even more interesting to compare these two goth-infused triumphs.
Looking back, I would call IX the most refreshing album of the year next to Ville Valo’s Neon Noir. Katatonia’s Sky Void of Stars was another remarkable release. This is relevant because both Ville and Katatonia have mined inspiration from Paradise Lost.
At present, Greg Mackintosh also remains active in the “unsettling” extreme metal band Strigoi, and Nick fronts the Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. These projects only further prove that the masterminds behind Icon haven’t lost any of their artistic brilliance. Based on everything that the Paradise Lost legends have shared, we know that their follow-up to Obsidian (2020) will be phenomenal. Paradise Lost is currently in the process of working on the material and will record it after the Icon shows.
As for Paradise Lost and the 30th anniversary of Icon, the band will unleash a re-recorded version of the album, dubbed Icon 30, via Nuclear Blast. Paradise Lost will also play two special UK shows — one in London and then another in Bradford — with support from My Dying Bride.
