Paradise Lost : "Ascension"

 

The 17th album from Paradise Lost finds the progenitors of death doom shunning expectations. using the tropes from both genres, while sometimes trying to grab the goth metal throne that Type O Negative left vacant. The first song is straightforward death metal, but more deliberate than the rushed flow of double bass most bands hit you with. "Tyrant's Serenade" is more of the grandiose pagentry of morose doomy rock that lends itself to the Type O comparisons. He sings most of the song, then things become more split in equal portions when it comes to his delivery. "Salvation" is not as memorable as the first two songs. 

There a chunks of more traditional metal sections that keep cropping up, one point "Salvation" brings Judas Priest to mind. 'Silence of the Grave" is driven by this kind of triumphant chug and is one of the most effective songs so far. The solos on this album are very rock n roll. This album finds drummer Jeff Singer returning to the band. He has also played for My Dying Bride, but is going for more of a rock feel on this album. "Lay A Wreath Upon the World" is a folk metal ballad that finds them back jockeying to claim the goth metal throne. 

"Diluvium" is the first song that leans into more of a doom stomp. The vocals are bellowed with more aggression, but not a growl. Some of the more Priest-like riffs break this up. It was around "Savage Days' that things ebbed down and faded into the background, so I had to go back and give another listen. Second listen finds it coasting along. The stomp to "Sirens" reminds me of Iced Earth with its more muscular, almsot power metal style of chugging thrash, though they offer more subtle melody here. "Decievers" rocks out harder than the previous song, though  "Sirens" has a more melodic flow. 

After a couple of listens, the doomy throb driving "the Precipice" grew on me, but the vocals to "This Stark Town" are more compelling. The last song kinda rides the middle ground between goth metal and the death doom style they are known for. I will give this a 9.5 and see how it grows on me, as overall it flows better than most of their more recent work. Fans should praise this balance. Oddly enough the Peaceville sound is out on Nuclear Blast.

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The Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time 30 -21

Digging deeper into the countdown of what is the most influential sub-genre of  metal . It opened the door for bands to play louder, harder and faster thus spawning Death metal, black metal, grind core etc.. yeah doom stayed on it's own path. The bands that came out of it are now considered the biggest bands in metal...I mean Metallica and Slayer, come one end of debate. Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. There are some artists that had much more of an impact so they might get another entry or two. There is thrash ranging from proto-death metal to hard core to power metal bands that evolved with the times. I grew up during the rise of thrash and listened to it through out highschool so some of this is determined by which albums did I listen to the most as they came out and which have endured the test of time. Lets face it none of your Toxic Holocausts or Revocations can touch these bands. They are pretty much tribute bands in comparison

30- Vio-Lence -"Eternal Nightmare"

1988 Two of this band's members went on to form Machine Head. The punkvocal approach set these guys apart along with the very sharp hooky riffing.


 


29- Coroner- " Punishment for Decadence" 1988

 1988 was a good year for thrash the genre had it's legs under it enough to begin experiementing. This Swiss band was highly technical but still cared about writing songs.



28- Nuclear Assault - "Survive" 1988


Three in a row from 1988. Dan and John were both former members of Anthrax. Lilker's bass playing propels this album along with the commanding howl of Connelly.


   



27-Voivod -"Killing Technology" 1987 


 Still rooted in thei more punk sound, they just began to cross over into a more spacey prog form of thrash. Way ahead of their time.



 



26- Fear of God - "Within the Veil" 1991


 In 1991 women in metal were rare. Women fronting band's this heavy unheard of. The late Dawn Crosby was capable of harsh snarls and clean vocals , this album is wonderfully dark.


 


25- Metal Church - "Blessing In Disguise"- 1989



1989 Their previous efforts with David Wayne are great ,but lean more toward power metal. Here the attack is more fine tune and Howe's voice is less flashy, and he focused his grit to serve the songs.


 



24- Sanctuary- "Refuge Denied" 1987

 Produced by Dave Mustaine the guitar has that Megadeth bite but with soaring vocals that still carry menace ratherthan just being operatic for the sake of being operatic.



 



23- Overkill- "Under the Influence"



1988 I am sure many of you want to see "Taking Over" here instead , but guess what this is my list, go make your own, the songs here are better.



 



22- Power Mad- "Absolute Power" 1989 



 One of the best metal bands you have not heard. They did make it into Lynch's " Wild at Heart" movie which is their claum to fame, but they were froward thinking when it came to song writing.



 


21-Sacred Reich - "the American Way"


 These guys were ahead of the curve when it came to how metal was about to change. There is enough groove here to transcend thrash .