Paradise Lost
Gothic
Peaceville, 1991

Britain’s Paradise Lost combine the soothsayer-of-doom of Ozzy-era Black Sabbath, the gothic rock gloom of Sisters Of Mercy, and the anger and vocals of death metal to form a dreary music driven by youthful frustrations with conditions of existence. More Celtic Frost than Sabbath on debut release Lost Paradise, the band’s follow-up effort, Gothic, retains only the gruff vocal delivery of Nick Holmes from earlier work, as the music moves in slow to mid-pace rates under an atmospheric cloak of despair-ridden darkness. Radically simplistic rhythms lay a low rumble over which soar Gregor Mackintosh’s weeping guitar leads and melodies, producing a beautiful darkness in the portrayal of hopeless emotion. This is morose and turgid music of conscientious vision attaining truth of revelation in bestial character declared through exotic deliverance.

"Awaiting for the call
for all life to expire
passive to this day
to infinity we’ll fail"

The songs of Gothic generally follow a simplistic structure, with pedestrian drumming, rumbling bass, and dense riffs forming the groundwork of each track. The slow movement of pace accommodates the band’s appetite for gothic orchestra, realized in brief symphonies, haunting female singing, and transitions of dramatic event. The murky production adds to the bleakness of the music, enveloping the performance in enigmatic obscurity, familiar to the early recordings of Black Sabbath, whose prophetic darkness Paradise Lost have clearly found tremendously inspirational. Like Sabbath, Paradise Lost make music of sorrowful revelation that acknowledges life’s pain and misery as positively significant in human experience, yet express this sentiment in foreboding tones of prophecy, emphasizing utter finality and inescapable suffering in increased measure as our ultimate destiny.

The dismal urgency of 80s gothic rock is evidenced in "Rapture" and "Eternal", yet the agonized growls of Holmes express a tormented personality foreign to bands like Sisters Of Mercy or Joy Division. These anguished, morose vocals bring this music a cursed insanity stirred by the awakening to harsh reality. The madness of Holmes in "Silent", especially following the nearly tranquil guitar melodies of instrumental "Angel Tears", contrasts absurdly with the unassuming foundation of this music. This contrast, however, when blessed with the astounding melancholy of Mackintosh’s guitar leads, reflects the beauty of pain that supplies purpose to struggle. The title track, and particularly "The Painless", are fantastic examples of this expression, as emotionally persuasive transitions build powerful climaxes of morbid delight. In "The Painless", Paradise Lost realize a spiritual darkness as embracing as it is grievous, creating a diabolical atmosphere through contrasting fevered growls of Holmes with Satanic female singing, enhanced by paralyzing sorrow in Mackintosh’s languishing guitar.

"The light is dim before us
Shadows appear and fall
A barrage of savage ways
Only the darkness can filter through"

Highly influential in its expression of sorrowful emotion through a harsh and mournful sound, Gothic is foundational to the death/doom movement that flourished through the early 1990s. Its darkly arousing guitar melodies, genuine melancholy, and colossally heavy rhythmic force inspired further explorations from Katatonia, Anathema, and My Dying Bride, all who went on to produce their own works of importance. The bombastic yet crestfallen tone of this album introduced a deeper, darker emotional/mental/spiritual state within metal music, taking what had been achieved by Sabbath, Celtic Frost, and Candlemass in the realm of morbid desolation and despondent emotion to paint bleaker horizons.

1/9/07

1. Gothic
2. Dead Emotion
3. Shattered
4. Rapture
5. Eternal
6. Falling Forever
7. Angel Tears
8. Silent
9. The Painless
10. Desolate

Paradise Lost
Shades Of God
Metal Blade/Music For Nations, 1992

Paradise Lost gravitate further away from death metal origins on third album Shades Of God, as their sound has developed into something more in line with doom of the traditional mode, with the pained growls of Nick Holmes remaining as the only element aligning their approach with the death/doom subgenre. Early Black Sabbath remains the clearest musical inspiration, while the 80s goth-rock influence surfacing on Gothic has been neglected in favor of blues-based guitars and plodding rhythms reminiscent of traditional doom of the 1970s and 1980s, such as St. Vitus, Pentagram, and Trouble. Less dark and obscure than earlier work though still woebegone and grief-stricken, Shades Of God vaunts a cleaner production, which shines a greater clarity on instrumentation, though the bass drums are curiously powerless, as a hesitant knock on a wooden door with thick gloves. The dirge-riffs and remarkable lead work, along with the despair-towards-madness vocals of Holmes are the focus-points of this music, and these defining aspects succeed in constituting this as a satisfying album.

"Lonely are my tears of pain
and I’m punished by their cause
I’ll rest on my burning throne
A release I move towards is eternal sleep"

The compositions have been expanded to allow for extended instrumental passages, shunning the claustrophobia of past work. Logical improvement in mechanics of making music is evidenced, and the confidence that grows from such advancement induces this broader songwriting, discovering different tones of expression within individual song, with "Crying For Eternity" and "Embraced" acting as prime examples. Observable on previous recordings, yet coming into stronger effect here, is the band’s flair for the anthemic, as "As I Die" and "Pity The Sadness" display. Smart songwriters, Paradise Lost understand the method of working their melodic sensibilities into appropriate passages for the greatest effect, which breathes an air of serenity through their morose sound. Contemplative acoustic guitars bring moments of quietude in otherwise pitiless and bitter doom songs "Daylight Torn" and "No Forgiveness".

Guitar leads of Gregor Mackintosh are the treasure of this disc. Flooding these songs with playing of pure feeling and recognition of compositional dynamic, his work here is soulful and melancholy, bringing beautiful atmosphere to this music. Again, the rhythmic foundation is nothing spectacular, with elementary drumming and serviceable bass adequate enough to support the brilliance of Mackintosh’s leads. The riffs are typical of the doom style, carrying thick darkness acting more as shadow here. Nick Holmes achieves a stronger intelligible lucidity through this album, anguished as ever yet striving for clarity. His experiment with gothic-style singing on "Your Hand In Mine" works well, identifying a range of expression beyond his tormented growls.

Shades Of God is Paradise Lost’s most doom-oriented work. The longer instrumental passages and blues-oriented guitars have much more in common with classic doom than with the Celtic Frost/Sisters Of Mercy influences of earlier work. Expressing somber emotion through this style of music is a quality in which Paradise Lost have confirmed their splendor. While this album doesn’t surpass Gothic in historical importance or atmospheric magnificence, the excellent tandem of Mackintosh and Holmes, and the band’s talent for emotive song-craft, make Shades Of God a rewarding listen for doom fans, or any who appreciate guitar-driven melancholic music.

1/10/07

1. Mortals Watch the Day
2. Crying for Eternity
3. Embraced
4. Daylight Torn
5. Pity the Sadness
6. No Forgiveness
7. Your Hand in Mine
8. the Word Made Flesh
9. As I Die

Paradise Lost
Icon
Music For Nations, 1993

Paradise Lost continue to clean up their sound on fourth album Icon, an album which finds the band’s melodic inclinations evolving into more traditional metal songs while maintaining their trademark melancholy and dark atmosphere, though to lesser degrees of emotional penetration. The production is their most polished yet, supporting the more ear-friendly approach of this material by draining any obscurity of sound remaining from the band’s death/doom works. Traces of doom remain, and their gothic inspirations make brief appearances, but the overall sound on this album is not too far from a darker, more atmospheric take on "black album" Metallica, with NWOBHM influences.

Paradise Lost are clearly interested in developing their music towards the more melodic and approachable. The singing of Nick Holmes reminds of a grittier James Hetfield, a rough singing style carrying none of the tormented despair of old. A deep gothic singing approach is utilized periodically, usually to apply darker shades of expression to slower sections. As always, the structures are simplistic, as Holmes and guitarist Gregor Mackintosh claim the spotlight. Variety of tempo between songs establishes flow of consistency through the album. Most of the material is dark traditional metal with stadium rock aspirations, such as "Embers Fire", "Remembrance", and "Dying Freedom"; anthem-fueled metal delivered in the spirit of rock music with an awareness for mood. "Widow" and "Weeping Words" are up-tempo rockers, finding Paradise Lost playing with an urgency previously unexplored, supplying a dynamic of energy foreign to past efforts.

"A mass of breathing souls
For times are desolate
Passing judgement on my sentence
As I perceive my dying day"

Less morose than contemplatively melancholic, "Joys Of The Emptiness" and the brooding and excellent "True Belief"explore familiar doom territory, while gothic atmospheres enrich "Christendom" and instrumental closer "Dues Mesretaur". The songwriting is engaging, and the band have grown confident in their ability to conjure up strong melodies to carry a song. Yet, it is Mackintosh who once again ultimately rewards this music with real treasure. His leads inject these simple songs with pure feeling and atmosphere, and a soulful quality enhancing this album’s appeal towards realms of emotional gratification.

Icon is less bitter and morose than past Paradise Lost albums, even within its darker moments. The band are striving for a bigger sound and wider appeal here, as each element of their sound has been cleaned up for broader presentation. The songs are strong, with "True Belief" and "Remembrance" among the best of the band’s discography. Talented in melody-driven song-craft, Paradise Lost are aware enough to know where their strengths lie, and how those strengths work to shape their appeal in this less confrontational approach.

1/11/07

1. Embers Fire
2. Remembrance
3. Forging Sympathy
4. Joys Of The Emptiness
5. Dying Freedom
6. Widow
7. Colossal Rains
8. Weeping Words
9. Poison
10. True Belief
11. Shallow Seasons
12. Christendom
13. Dues Mesretaur

Paradise Lost
Draconian Times
Music For Nations, 1995

Atmospheric, emotive, melodic metal in the style of the previous Icon album, Draconian Times is the most musically vigorous and confident work of Paradise Lost’s career. Embellished by a powerful production of striking clarity, the album is the band’s most consistent and convincing. The material strides the line between the turgid doom metal of earlier work and accessible, catchy rock, settling on a traditional style of twilight heavy metal. Having become aware of their talent for constructing songs driven by captivating melodies and resonant choruses, the band have reached a level of artistic maturity resulting in genuine, sincere music of real feeling.

"Stoking the fires of absence
Loss and anguish long departed
Adjust to changes, re-arranging...
...Pain burns in many ways"

The potent singing of Nick Holmes continues a process of refinement and emotional force, identifying a balance between broad, raw power and melodic delivery. Throughout this album, Holmes creates a wholly engaging mood of vast darkness of a strangely inviting quality. This effect is beautifully enhanced in connection with Gregor Mackintosh’s marvelous guitar leads, which simply adorn this material with pure dark elegance. Holmes and Mackintosh have always formed the focal strength of Paradise Lost, yet never before have they glistened quite like this. Every song is fueled by this pair to achieve an enveloping aura of melancholic wonder, with "Enchantment" and "Forever Failure" showcasing an eloquence of expression this band have always hinted at, but never fully formed until now.

"Coming back today, the pounding thoughts relay
It’s a time that’s for myself
I’m laying low, strife is gaining slow
A kind of anguish I don’t need..."

An heretofore absent urgency has been granted Paradise Lost’s sound by new drummer Lee Morris. No longer does the rhythmic nature of the band’s approach plod along or compromise the energy of the music, as Morris is an accomplished, confident, and subtly aware drummer. His attention to detail, especially evident in his cymbal work, rewards the material with a further shade of ambience. The band has never come across so alive and inspired, and the work of Morris cannot be underappreciated in this regard. Paradise Lost never could have realized songs like "Hallowed Land" or "Yearn For Change" with former drummer Matthew Archer. These songs are rhythmically vibrant and combined with the excellent melodies of the guitars, propels the music into realms of energetic forcefulness alien to past work.

Draconian Times is an utterly classy and accomplished album. The music is strong and vivid, and the compositional nature overflows with dramatic brilliance. The consistency of quality from track to track is impressive, as the album is loaded with powerful songs driven by passion and rich with atmosphere. No longer languishing in seas of sorrow and despair, Paradise Lost now deliver music of studied emotion inspired by the realm of experience and reflection. Draconian Times is charming, elegant, and moving music of timeless essence.

1/13/07

1. Enchantment
2. Hallowed Land
3. The Last Time
4. Forever Failure
5. Once Solemn
6. Shadowkings
7. Elusive Cure
8. Yearn For Change
9. Shades Of God
10. Hands Of Reason
11. I See Your Face
12. Jaded

Paradise Lost
One Second
Music For Nations, 1997

Apparently bored with the post-doom melodic metal of recent efforts, Paradise Lost seek to reinvent themselves on One Second. Instrumental passages have been kept brief, and to a strict minimum, to allow for short, catchy songs based on a central melodic theme and choruses. The vividness and astuteness of Draconian Times, as well as the band’s skillful ability in emotional dynamic, have been sacrificed for technological nuances and pop-oriented synths.

Uninteresting melodies render most of these songs weak at their core. The modern-techno production sterilizes the emotional and atmospheric quality that has enriched this band’s past work. The sound is reminiscent of 1980s gothic-pop/new-wave, most notably Sisters Of Mercy and Depeche Mode, with no trace of the Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, and NWOBHM influences that shaped the approach of previous releases. Gregor Mackintosh’s trademark melancholic guitar leads have been replaced with an array of effects, samples, and keyboards. Guitar riffs are understated and nondescript, rhythms are emphasized in ultra-simplicity, leads are scant and carry little in the way of pure feeling. Nick Holmes has eliminated the forcefulness from his delivery in favor of a smooth singing that is mostly adequate for the material, yet suffers at times from weakly delivered impotent melodic ideas. The music aspires towards dark atmosphere and solemn mood, yet fails to assert itself in either realm to compare with the band’s past success in dark beauty or expression of despair.

"I can take one day to achieve my goal
then it starts again
In this circumstance that I call my own
dreams just don’t deliver"

"Disappear" and "This Cold Life" manage to create melancholic moods and engaging choruses, but primarily in comparison to the rest of the album. Only "Take Me Down" generates an atmosphere that can match previous work, as it is a slow, dark track with obscure female backing vocals and effective usage of electronic ambience towards mood enhancement. Otherwise, One Second is an uninspiring and emotionally vacant album, forsaking the elements that have made this band special on past efforts. A Paradise Lost album that de-emphasizes the outstanding guitar work of Mackintosh while muting the emotive power of Holmes, the strengths of this band and its main appeal, One Second lives and dies on its loose surface solicitation to those music fans who are swayed by "open-minded" alterations regardless of actual substance.

1/14/07

1. One second
2. Say just words
3. Lydia
4. Mercy
5. Soul courageous
6. Another day
7. The sufferer
8. This cold life
9. Blood of another
10. Disappear
11. Sane
12. Take me down

Paradise Lost

Peaceville

Paradise Lost Discography

In Dub EP (Peaceville, 1990)
Lost Paradise (Peaceville, 1990)
Live Death VHS/DVD (Peaceville, 1990/2004)
Gothic (Peaceville, 1991)
Shades Of God (Music For Nations, 1992)
As I Die EP (Music For Nations, 1992)
Icon (Music For Nations, 1993)
Gothic EP (Music For Nations, 1994)
Harmony Breaks VHS (Music For Nations, 1994)
Seals The Sense EP (Music For Nations, 1994)
Draconian Times (Music For Nations, 1995)
Forever Failure EP (Music For Nations, 1995)
The Last Time EP (Music For Nations, 1995)
The Singles Collection compilation (Music For Nations, 1997)
True Belief-97 EP (Music For Nations, 1997)
One Second (Music For Nations, 1997)
Say Just Words EP (Music For Nations, 1997)
One Second EP (Music For Nations, 1997)
Reflection compilation (Music For Nations, 1998)
One Second Live VHS (Music For Nations, 1999)
Host (EMI, 1999)
Permanent Solution EP (EMI, 1999)
So Much Is Lost EP (EMI, 1999)
Believe In Nothing (EMI, 2001)
Fader EP (EMI, 2001)
Mouth EP (EMI, 2001)
Evolve DVD (Music For Nations, 2002)
Symbol Of Life (GUN, 2002)
Erased EP (GUN, 2002)
At The BBC (GUN, 2003)
Paradise Lost (GUN, 2005)
Forever After EP (GUN, 2005)