Description
Gothic metal is a quite diverse sub-genre of metal - starting from pretty light and melodic, balancing on the border between "rock" and "metal", ending at heavy and very dark, even slightly doom-influenced. Paradise Lost, basically the creators of gothic metal, clearly originate from the latter with roots deep in doom metal, and after a fairly long period of experimentation with lighter and more electronic styles, "In Requiem" was a kind of return to the roots - although it's definitely more than just that.
The album is a combination of dark, heavy and epic style with beautiful, melodic guitar solos and soft keyboards - this description shows the style of "In Requiem" quite well, although each song is an entity of its own here and the album doesn't just blend together. It seems, however, that the album is divided into two halves - the first half, from "Never from the Damned" to "Requiem" clearly emphasises the heavier side of the band, with even some doom elements, while the second half - from "Unreachable" to "Sedative God" shows the "rockier" side of the band, with a slightly lighter style and more "catchy" songs.
The strongest point of the album are definitely the guitars, especially the lead guitar. The riffs themselves are mostly truly excellent - "Never for the Damned" particularly shines here - but the melodic lead guitar and solos are simply impressive, "Requiem" being definitely the best example here, with the best guitar work on the album and its beautiful solos. The drums and bass work very well as the rhythm section here providing a very good base for the music, and occasionally creating some remarkable moments (intro of "Never for the Damned"). The vocals are mostly truly emotional and powerful - even if at a few moments they seem slightly forced - with many great moments, like the chorus of "The Enemy", but the soft vocals in "Your Own Reality" are also flawless.
Overall, "In Requiem" is a great example of gothic metal done right - just like it can be expected from the genre, it's dark and heavy, monumental and epic, and also beautiful and melodic - there are many memorable parts here, and it's obvious that it's been created by a band with a lot of experience, but still plenty of ideas and creativity. It's not flawless, but certainly a very strong one and worth recommending.
