When a band remains active for over 20 years it earns a certain amount of respect and credibility that can't be matched by younger acts, no matter how technically proficient or which big trend wave they happen to be riding. "Tragic Idol" is as painstakingly polished and as solidly crafted an album as would be expected from a band that's been doing this since the late '80s. Paradise Lost fans have plenty to look forward to from this album, and it's got cross-genre appeal due to the range of influences readily heard in the music. Despite Paradise Lost being more on the "doom" or "goth" end of the metal scale, the overall sound of "Tragic Idol" is very firmly rooted in traditional metal, and there's even a good deal of thrash influences heard in any given song. The opening segment of the title track in particular has a huge traditional metal feel, almost bringing to mind Metallica before the gothic clean singing comes in. From beginning to end the album is pretty relentlessly heavy, but mostly in a slow and booming way, rather than an explosive or fast way. Vocally, the first two thirds of the album focus on a half-growl, but towards the end of the disc the gothic, Type O Negative style vocals get unleashed.