Warthur Encouraged, perhaps, by the general applause received by In Requiem for its reintroduction of doom metal elements into Paradise Lost's sound, Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us finds Paradise Lost several steps further down their return journey. From the opening track, As Horizons End, Nick Holmes gives a more classic doom metal vocal performance rather than the more generic alt-metal/goth stylings that he'd been working as late as In Requiem, and the riffs are even heavier and doomier.

Fans of their gothic metal years aren't entirely left out in the cold - there's quieter, more atmospheric sections aplenty which will keep them well-satisfied. Overall, this is the sort of doomy gothic metal album which, counterintuitively, Paradise Lost might not have been able to make without moving away from metal and coming back again, thus gaining an external perspective which allows them to deploy their goth-doom chops with greater mastery and subtlety than before.

UMUR "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" is the 12th full-length studio album by UK doom/ goth metal act Paradise Lost. The album was released in September 2009 by Century Media Records.

The music style on the album is actually rather interesting as it features a return of some of the doom metal elements from the band´s earlier work. When the band are most heavy I´m reminded of "Icon (1993)" and especially "Draconian Times (1995)" also in large part because of the return of more dominant lead guitar themes. The synths that have been a dominant part of the band´s sound since "One Second (1997)" have taken the backseat on "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" which generally features a more guitar dominated style. They are still there though and people who predominantly enjoy the older material by Paradise Lost shouldn´t clap their hands too soon, because there are still many softer goth metal elements on the album too. When the heavy and doomy elements and the softer goth metal elements are combined in the right doses I actually think it´s a pretty powerful mix, but it doesn´t always work wonders. I sense a slight unease about playing such heavy material again, but mostly it works well.

The fact that Nick Holmes uses a more raw and powerful vocal style on the heavier sections on the album is something I´ve missed for years and I had almost forgot what a powerful voice he actually has when he lets loose. Let´s hope this is a direction the band will continue to follow. He also uses his more soft goth metal type vocal style on the album and the contrast between the two styles works well.

The production is a bit more raw and guitar heavy than we´ve been used to for many years, and I can only say hell yeah. A welcome return to heavier territories.

I never thought Paradise Lost was gonna treat us with something like "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" again. It´s not like I don´t enjoy the band´s more goth-tinged material, but sometimes that part of the band´s material sound too polished and simply lack edge. So the heavier approach on "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" is very welcome if you ask me. A 3.5 star rating is deserved. I´ll be very interested to hear which direction the band will follow on their next release.