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So this is supposed to be the last respectable album from Paradise Lost and is also widely considered their 'last masterpiece'. Those titles are somewhat deceiving though. "Draconian Times" cannot stand proud for more than a couple of minutes in comparison to "Gothic" or "Icon" but it still delivers its moments.

It suffers horribly from the same problem that "Symbol Of Life" did – Very, very inconsistent. It will deliver awesome numbers such as the opener or the punchy "I See Your Face" but it also features stuff that can be described as nothing short of pop music. First of all, Nick Holmes (vocals) is trying desperately to sound like James Hetfield (Metallica) for some reason, and actually does a decent job pulling that off. But this album just wreaks commercialism. They completely abandoned their doomy influences and started focusing more on the catchy and pop metal realms. But like I said before, "Draconian Times" is not totally worthless as it does have some very, very captivating songs as well as the nonsense. This album is only for diehards and those who enjoy later Paradise Lost material.

I will agree that "Draconian Times" is the last 'respectable' album by these guys, but by no means do I consider this to be a last 'masterpiece'. By my count, Paradise Lost only had two; and "Icon" closed the deal on that one. That is all.