Paradise Lost is one of those bands who in my view never made a bad album. Yes, they made albums in their 20-year+ career that weren't straight classics, but bad albums as such, they never delivered. The trio of 'Host', 'Believe in Nothing' and 'Symbol of Life' marked something which some would probably call a low-point in the career of the British ur-fathers of goth metal, however, one shouldn't forget just how high the bar was set by genre defining pieces like 'One Second', 'Draconian Times', 'Icon', etc.

2005's 'Paradise Lost' marked a change. The albums since then have been very strong efforts, climaxing with 2009's 'Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us', one of the best albums Paradise Lost have ever unleashed upon the world.

I'm happy to announce that Yorkshire's proud sons are staying on the high curve with the new album, 'Tragic Idol'. Again, Paradise Lost are exploring their own past, and those of us who loved 'Icon' and 'Draconian Times' can now weep for joy! The sound and the feeling of those two albums are ever present on 'Tragic Idol', only the production is obviously much better than what was on offer back then.

A cynic could venture that this is pure calculation and that Paradise Lost shouldn't just copy themselves. I don't know; from the outset, the Brits were innovative and formed a sub-genre. They never really stood still, and this is still the case. Even if the majority of these songs could have been written for 'Icon' or 'Draconian...', there is also room for a crushing riff monster like Theories from Another World which isn't necessarily a typical PL tune.

As I see it, Paradise Lost is just perfecting what they themselves started so many years ago. If goth and doom is what you're looking for, then you certainly get it here in the way that only Paradise Lost can deliver it, with the trademark, dirge-laden lead riffing of Greg Mackintosh and the equally trademark rhythm provided by Aaron Aedy, and with a Nick Holmes whose vocal performance is as heart-felt and filled with emotion as it ever were.

What ever way you go about it, the quality of the material on this album is so bloody high that you can only surrender yourself to the music and simply enjoy it. I can feel in my old bones that this is going to be one of the best albums of 2012.