What better way than to work through the disappointment and frustration of losing the Worldcup final, the late breaking news that Harvey Pekar has died as well as more personally, having S. back in hospital yet again, than with some slit your wrists Doom Metal? Luckily we’re on the “P” in the metal alphabet, which stands for Paradise Lost and there’s nothing more Doom Metal than them. Like so many of my other favourites I discovered them in the late eighties and early nineties. They were the first band I know that was so heavy and slow, that didn’t attempt to pack as much sound in as small a time as possible, but extended their music, slowed it down, while dropping the usually high pitched vocals an octave or so lower. The end result is a type of metal that saps your strength, slows down your heart beat and turns you inside. No quick adrenaline rush here, but you do get a rebound in energy from their songs, much like a collapsing star can get a gravitational rebound when it crosses a certain limit…
Below are some of my favourite Paradise Lost songs.
True Belief:
Embers Fire:
As I Die:
P also stands for Pestilence, another great Dutch Death Metal band, but they didn’t really fit my mood today. Some other time.
Martin Wisse
July 12, 2010 at 1:38 pmIt was funny however to see one of the nurses on S.’s ward, of Spanish descent, walk around with the Spanish flag as a cape. “You lot were wearing orange flags and being smug all through the tournament, you betcha I’m going to rub it in for the next four years”
Can’t blame her.