I’ll start off with what bugs the most about /Tragic Idol/ which is that the album refers far too often to the last or their earlier albums which is odd, considering Paradise Lost always seemed to be a band that moved forward. Here it sounds like they’re somewhat stuck and try to appeal to fans of their heavier material while playing it safe. That does not mean that /Tragic Idol/ is a copy of any of their earlier outputs, but I just miss that freshness that I had hoped for. I can only think of what could have been had the band dared a bit more but alas that’s not the case this time.

‘’Solitary One’’ sounds like a leftover from the previous album: a slow, dark piece in the vein of ‘’As Horizons End’’ or perhaps ‘’First Light’’, though this one has no intro to prepare for the dark, isolation it brings with moody guitars wailing all over the place, dramatic keys and Nick’s almost schizophrenic vocal delivery: switching between vulgar (but controlled) shouting and weary, innocent clean vocals (although they’re not clean in a pretty sense.) This is by far the most inaccessible song the band had written in years. There’s nothing catchy or fun about it and the first time few times I’ve scratched my head after the song ended which was pretty sudden. A weird pick for an opener, but definitely a solid song nonetheless.

The rest of the album isn’t quite as adventurous, but still enjoyable. ‘’Honesty in Death’’ structure-wise is somewhat reminiscent of the /Icon/ days with extremely simplistic rousing leads and boomy riffs backed up by Nick’s commanding presence. ‘’In This we Dwell’’ and ‘’To The Darkness’’ are surprisingly upbeat tracks and more original tunes. The former containing somewhat Iron Maiden-esque leads and stomping gallop riffing while the latter embrace bursting groove.

Finally I feel that Nick Holmes’ vocal lines on /Tragic Idol/ aren’t as effective as they could have been. His gentle clean vocals are still present, but his vocal lines are mostly solid and effective. His semi-harsh vocal attack, on the other hand, dominates certain songs and would have worked 20 years ago but nowadays comes of rather doubtful at times. Still, he, along with the other band members are doing what they do best and I feel there’s not much to complain about. If anything I could do without the processed guitar tone Aaron and Greg still play on. Such mesmerising leads and crunchy riffs would sound much better on a more organic guitar tone.

One thing /Tragic Idol/ does well, is keeping consistent – more so than their previous album. ‘’Theories From another World’’ features some slightly more ‘’evil’’ riffs on the album but doesn’t quite make it and I had no idea what the purpose of ‘’Worth Fighting For’’ was, but most of the time I enjoyed listening to every second on this album and while I expected Paradise Lost to take some few more steps forward, it at least seems obvious that the do what they love again. Congratulations guys, you’ve managed not to fuck up – just try a little harder next time will you?

Until now.

Back in 2008 when Brazilian Marquee Records released the box set ''Armoros: The Anthology'', the name Armoros was unknown for most of the Canadian scene (Other than ''Jed Simon's old band before SYL''). It was supposed to be released by EverRat Records but it never happened, eventually the album made it's way through tape trading. Of course it goes with saying that this album is criminally underrated: this is type of thrash that would nicely fit in with albums like ''Spectrum of Death'', ''Epidemic of Violence'', ''Pleasure to Kill'' and ''Darkness Descends''. It's that brutal.

Formed in 1985, Armoros started to rise slowly in the BC metal scene. After playing a ton of shows, and releasing 3 demos (and oddly enough a live album called Live in Victoria, which used to be on Youtube), the guys competed at a Battle of the Bands show in Vancouver, only to end on the 2nd place (1st went to Vancouver's Karrion). Eventually they were awarded recording time at Profile Studios, and here the masterpiece named Pieces was recorded (Leslie's Metal, 2009). It was never released and due to the positioning of Victoria on the map, travel became problematic for the band to travel since the ferry ride to elsewhere would take up most of their gig profits.(The Book of Armageddon #4, 1989).

This album kicks off with Forever CMDK which is great instrumental... or not at all, at 3:05 we get to meet Rick Lee for the first time. Most of his vocals come close to Tom Araya, which frankly isn't surprising: Rick plays bass and the band covered Hell Awaits on their live album. The comparison works but we stumble upon a problem: Rick doesn't do shrieks which means his screams end up quick and... anticlimactic. Fortunately, the same cannot be said of the guitars. An all out attack of solos and riffs which closely follow each other, that's pretty much an overall description of this album. The main example can be found at 4:15 of Remember Michelle where the guitars and the bass follow the their own pattern which leads to a great result. Sudden tempo changes get bonus points in my book and this album follows exactly that idea with the 2:15 mark at Apparition of Force which leads to solo exchanges by Jed and Mike only to continue in the brutality. Continuing, Euphoria has an galloping riff which is surely a neckbreaker. The solos by Jed are mostly build-ups for his upcoming bands, one of the few brutal thrash guitarists who uses extensive harmonizing on his solos, and that's one of the reason what make this album excellent.

On the other hands, this album has definitely it's flaws which could be executed better and I can exactly understand the band with the idea of going back in time to correct these points. For instance, Terry Gloom takes a Paul Bostaph approach on drumming with little to no fills and too much focus on speed (which he executes superb by the way). The songs do not have enough individuality and don't get me wrong, they do not sound alike but where there isn't an overall theme or a direct message, it feels like the band collected their old songs, put them on random positions and recorded it (which they did actually).

Fan of obscure Canadian brutal almost-death-but-not-quite thrash? Then this is a must for you. I would also recommend Tenet's Sovereign album from 2009 which features an all-star line-up and Crown of Thorns is actually an Armoros song. (Leslie's Metal, 2009) Who would have thought of that?

Paradise Lost. What does one think of when hearing this band? A once amazing doom/death metal band that turned to shit after their second album? A band full of surprises that nailed every style they played? For me it's neither, but I should say that I'm only into their metallic outputs. It's just something I feel the band does the best and most natural. Anyone familiar with their recent stylistic changes should know that they've been back on the metal road for a while after playing gothic rock for some years and no matter which album of these guys you prefer, you know that each of their albums sound like no other and is unique in its own right.

...Except for this time, perhaps. ‘’Solitary One’’ sounds like a leftover from the previous album: a slow, dark piece in the vein of ‘’As Horizons End’’ or perhaps ‘’First Light’’, though this one has no intro to prepare for the dark isolation it brings with moody guitars wailing all over the place, dramatic keys and Nick’s almost schizophrenic vocal delivery: switching between vulgar (but controlled) shouting and weary, innocent clean vocals (although they’re not clean in a pretty sense.) This is by far the most inaccessible song the band have written in years and the first times I've heard it, I would scratch my head by the end of it. A weird pick for an opener, but definitely a great song nonetheless.

The rest of the album is far more accessible but still enjoyable - although after a few tracks you know what you're going to get which is somewhat a pity. ‘’Honesty in Death’’ is structure-wise somewhat reminiscent of the Icon days with extremely simplistic rousing leads and thudding riffs backed up by Nick’s commanding presence. ‘’In This we Dwell’’ and ‘’To The Darkness’’ are surprisingly upbeat tracks and more original tunes. The former containing somewhat Iron Maiden-esque leads and stomping gallop riffing while the latter embrace bursting groove. Closing track ''The Glorious End'' isn't as heavy as the former tracks, but features one of the best leads on the entire album with windy, powerful yet retained guitar approach not really too far removed from the <i>Draconian Times</i> days.


Finally I feel that Nick Holmes’ vocal lines on <i>Tragic Idol</i> aren’t as effective as they could have been. His gentle clean vocals are still present, but his vocal lines are mostly solid and effective. His semi-harsh vocal attack, on the other hand, dominates certain songs and would have worked 20 years ago but nowadays comes of rather doubtful at times. Still, he, along with the other band members are doing what they do best and I feel there’s not much to complain about. If anything I could do without the processed guitar tone Aaron and Greg still play on. Such mesmerizing leads and crunchy riffs would sound much better on a more organic guitar tone.

One thing <i>Tragic Idol</i> does well, is keeping consistent – more so than their previous album. Even softer tunes Paradise Lost always had trouble with pulling off to my ears, such as ''Fear of Impending Hell'' and the titled track are somewhat fun to listen. The former being somewhat a half ballad with delicate verses and a hard hitting chorus and the latter features an explosive chorus I don't find it surprising that it gets played live so often nowadays. Congratulations guys, you’ve managed not to fuck up – just try a little harder next time will you?

When the Kite Sting Pops is the first full-length album from (once) criminally underrated band Acid Bath. Despite never really reaching popularity during their life span, this album has achieved a cult following over the years. A sort of, 'Baby's first obscure metal album', if you will. With that said, I believe that the album is solid and deserves the praise it has achieved, despite the hype that now surrounds it.

First off, the album's cover is worth noticing. The art is directly lifted from a painting of pedophilic serial-killer John Wayne Gacy, and to its side is the band's name and the album title sloppily written. Despite looking <i>slightly</i> on the edge of laziness, the art reflects the atmosphere captured by the album surprisingly well. The album has an impressive run-time of an hour and nine minutes. Acid Bath's style is hard to pin, as it draws influences from sludge, doom, death, and even some thrash thrown in. Almost every song is dominated by a droning guitar noise diluted with feedback. When reading about the band, I was surprised to find that there were two guitarists, which is pretty telling. The band makes terrible use of the variety that could have been achieved with the extra instrument. Nether the less, while the riffs are kept simple, I was never bored listening through them. Excellent use is made of the bass, audible over the distortion and not falling into the usual from of just imitating a piss-weak version of the guitar's riff. Both Guitarists Sammy Pierre and Mike Sanchez and bassist Audie Pitre provide backing screams, but Dax Riggs takes the spotlight. Dax's vocals are perfectly fitted for the style of the album, and they're easily the cause of the strongest moments.

Coming back to the atmosphere of the album, the lyrical themes are all psychological in one way or another. Attempting to write dark, aggressive lyrics in metal is something attempted often...and almost always fails. <b>Miserably</b>. Acid Bath's undertaking at this often 'less-than-stellar' style is probably the best that there is. For the most part, it abandons the pathetically overused attempts to appear 'bad-ass'. Gone are the screams of 'I'm going ta' kick ya' ass, punk!", replaced by themes of torture, distress, and of course, insanity. This writing style pays off, and is incredibly refreshing.

The album kicks off with 'The Blue'. The introduction is decent, providing a variety of tempo changes and a switch between distorted and clean vocals, even if the lyrics are un-inspired. 'Tranquilized' is a much more interesting track, featuring a great range from Dax's vocals and riffs that you'd be hard pressed not to want to move your body to. 'Cheap Vodka' and 'Jezebel' show thrash roots, but don't feel like a good fit for the band. The unique style finally starts to show through with 'Finger Paintings of the Insane'. Despite somewhat of a dragging performance of the verses, this song is aggressive, featuring un-settling lyrics and excellent riffs throughout. Finally the album reaches a midpoint with fan-favorite track 'The Scream of the Butterfly'. This song is acoustic, surprisingly, and has lovely contrast to the songs before. It features easily the greatest writing and creates an almost creeping atmosphere, the bass line sinking in the flesh and the drums hammering away. 'Dr. Seuss is Dead' and 'Dope Fiend' are the most sludgy tracks in the album. They are much more entertaining than the first few tracks, although the latter has a slightly ear grating section. 'Toubabo Koomi', "What Color is Death', and 'God Machine' are the fastest and heaviest the album has to offer, while 'The Mortician's Flame' tones it down a little, letting Dax's clean vocals provide excellent contrast to the wall of noise from the guitars. 'The Bones of Baby Dolls' is the second acoustic track. It features the vocals distorted, and combed with Dax's melodic singing they sound almost ethereal. The album finishes with 'Cassie Eats Cockroaches', a pounding mid-pace track that wraps the album up nicely.

So, despite me sucking this album's dick for the past few paragraphs, why the much less than perfect rating? Earlier, I mentioned that this is the best attempt at making dark, 'edgy' songwriting that there was. Unfortunately, this isn't saying too much. This album's themes push too hard sometimes, and come off as almost laughable. The most guilty part of this is the overuse of 'fuck'. Now, this could be overseen, considering it does help empower some of the verses in which it is used, especially in context. However, it just feels childish when it appears over six times in a single song, especially when it ruins the atmosphere of some of the best songs in the albums by suddenly screaming "Motherfucker, yeah!' in what feels like a throwaway 'bad-dude' manner. Second, many of the tracks unfortunately mesh together, evidenced by how quickly I began to group them together later in the album.

However, despite my negative reactions, 'When the Kite String Pops' is one of a kind. Anyone who is interested in experimental metal, or hell, is a fan of metal in general, should give this album a listen. Even if the flaws disrupt your enjoyment, the uniqueness of this offering cannot be denied.