Review by Krys on June 23, 2001.

Our Finns had enough... after eight full-length albums Stratovarius decided to take a 2-year brake to pursue solo careers and to simply recharge their batteries. "Intermission" as the title states, is a gift to the fans before this long break and it features 4 new songs, 3 covers and 8 bonus tracks previously released on various albums or on 7" singles.

But... is this compilation worth your hard-earned change? Yes and no.

On one side, the whole idea of making this album with new and rare tracks only is well worth it. Instead of giving us one of those “the best of” albums with half of the tracks you’ve never heard of or skipped during the first listening, Stratovarius decided to show us what was supposed to be limited to the few parts of the world. If that’s not enough, money-wise, it can’t get any better than this. Instead of paying top $$$ for export titles with just one extra track you can get everything on one CD at regular price. And unless you are a diehard fan that has to have all editions of every album it’s as good as it gets.

On the other side, we all know that most of the time bonus tracks are just marketing tools and are not treated as ‘normal’ songs even by the bands themselves. Knowing that, I didn’t expect top quality throughout the whole album and, as expected, that’s exactly what didn’t get. Most of these eight bonus tracks are mid or slow tempo compositions with nothing more than average arrangements and mediocre melodic lines. Four new songs are 'Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace', 'Falling Into Fantasy', 'The Curtains Are Falling' and 'Requiem'. The first three songs from this set are typical, Stratovarius sounding tracks which most probably were dumped during the "Infinity" session, and 'Requiem' is nothing more than just a keyboard outro and could be easily skipped. Let’s only hope that those tracks are not an indication of the band’s new material for 2003-release because they don’t bring anything new or innovative to their sound. As for the covers, Judas Priest’s 'Bloodstone' and two Rainbow tracks 'Kill the King' and 'I Surrender' are the top picks on this album and show Stratovarius’ real capabilities and talent.

Bottom Line: Nice collectors item but far away from their best stuff.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review by Adam M on May 11, 2012.

The new Paradise Lost blooms with quality Doom throughout its entire excellent running length. There is a very urgent nature to these songs despite falling within this genre. Although very similar to a band like My Dying Bride in sound, they are the complete opposite in speed.

These are some of the fastest Doom songs I’ve heard and it gives the songs an engrossing aura that is impossible to become dissociated with. The first few tracks 'Solitary One', 'Crucify' and 'Fear Of Impending Hell' set the stage for an absolute gem of Doom Metal material. The somewhat “Gothic” flavour of classics the same named "Gothic" can be found here to some extent as well and it makes for an album that has a solid atmosphere to go along with its rollicking nature as seen from the standout title track, for example. There is nary a weak moment to be found on the "Tragic Idol", but one could argue there could be a few more spectacular ones as well. The overall sound is more energetic than what recent output by the likes of Anathema and Katatonia have shown, but it’s a very different sounding record as well. I would actually put the band’s sound on "Tragic Idol" closer to something like Cathedral or Candlemass, but there is still a singular nature to Paradise Lost’s sound.

This album is one that will make the forefathers of the Doom genre proud, regardless, even though it has nice modern production job to boot. The songs have a crisp sound that makes them breathe with vibrancy throughout. All in all, this is a quality Doom Metal album that has an accessible that it will appeal to all metal fans. "Tragic Idol" is an early contender for heavy metal album for the year.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9.5
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.2 out of 10