''Icon'' is the fourth studio album by British
heavy metal band
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...
, released in 1993. It marked a departure from the
death-doom
Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...
sound of their early work, and was the last album to feature Matthew Archer on drums.
In February 2018, ''Icon'' was inducted into the
Decibel Magazine
''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currentl ...
Hall of Fame, becoming the second Paradise Lost album to be featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame (alongside ''
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
''), with the magazine naming it influential to the development of the
gothic metal
Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...
subgenre.
Style
In 2008, speaking to ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' about the album's music,
Nick Holmes
Nicholas John Arthur Holmes (born 7 January 1971) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of British gothic metal/ doom metal band Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath.
History and style
Holmes formed Paradis ...
remembered:
Track listing
All songs written by
Nick Holmes
Nicholas John Arthur Holmes (born 7 January 1971) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of British gothic metal/ doom metal band Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath.
History and style
Holmes formed Paradis ...
and Gregor Mackintosh.
Personnel
*
Nick Holmes
Nicholas John Arthur Holmes (born 7 January 1971) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of British gothic metal/ doom metal band Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath.
History and style
Holmes formed Paradis ...
– vocals
* Matthew Archer – drums
* Stephen Edmondson – bass
* Aaron Aedy – guitars
* Gregor Mackintosh – guitars
Guest musicians
* Denise Bernard – female vocals
* Andrew Holdsworth – keyboards
Production
* Matt Anker – photography
* Geoff Pesche – mastering
* Pete Coleman – mixing
*
Simon Efemey
Simon Efemey is an English record producer, most noted for his work with metal and hard rock groups, including Napalm Death, Paradise Lost, Obituary, Amorphis, Deceased and The Wildhearts. He has also provided live sound mixing with bands inclu ...
– producer mixing
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Icon (Paradise Lost Album)
Paradise Lost (band) albums
1993 albums
Music for Nations albums