Warthur Just as Medusa was a return to the death-doom style of Paradise Lost's early years, Obsidian is a refreshed update of the gothic style of metal they rolled out on their run from Shades of God to Draconian Times. Focusing more on guttural, harsh vocals rather than the clean vocals which came in towards the end of this period (though there are some of those), this is not an album to reinvent the wheel, but it might be an album which reminds you just how good that particular wheel is.

For instance, Hope Dies Young is, at once, a song which could have sat proudly alongside any of their early 1990s output, and at the same time perhaps a song which they needed to go on their long sonic journey away from their roots before they could pull it off quite this well.

In other words, as with Medusa this is the result of the band having moved away from this musical style over the years, and thus gaining the ability to have some perspective on it which they might not have picked up had they not undertaken that journey. It shouldn't be a surprise when a band as consistently good as Paradise Lost make an album this excellent this late in their career, but somehow Obsidian even exceeds their usual standards.

Warthur On their self-titled album, Paradise Lost don't so much set a new manifesto for their sound as they continue their evolution back towards the genre they had originally pioneered - having left the metal sphere altogether on Host before Believe In Nothing and Symbol of Life began their evolution back.

Whilst back in the 1990s the band were true trailblazers of gothic metal, here they feel more like they are comfortably plugging along in the middle of the road of the genre. This doesn't bother me as much as it might, however, because whilst this is slightly generic gothic metal, it is at least extremely well-crafted generic gothic metal, and as a result I can accept it as an album which manages to be rather fun even if it isn't necessarily all that substantial next to the likes of Draconian Times.

Warthur Paradise Lost began as pioneers of a distinctive death-doom sound before they went on a long, gradual journey, shifting through gothic metal to increasingly less extreme metal-oriented styles until on Host they exited the metal world altogether, producing an album of synth-oriented gothic rock.

Believe In Nothing begins their long trek back to their roots. Ultimately, I think Paradise Lost's journey away from and then back towards the gothic-doom metal blend which is their main forte was a good thing: by undertaking that trip, they were able to return to extreme metal having stretched their wings a bit and learned a few lessons they wouldn't have if they'd stayed in their comfort zone, and were stronger for it.

That said, the journey itself is a little rough to listen to. Host was good but not great, and anyone who's into synth-heavy goth music has probably heard better. The return of heavy guitars and metal stylings on Believe In Nothing is in that respect a welcome reprieve, though it has to be said that their sound ends up feeling a little generic here - there's a few too many moments where they sound like commercial pretenders to the throne, rather than the mighty unit which gave us albums like Draconian Times.

Still, the album does do some interesting things, exploring how the synths of Host and current alternative rock trends could work their way into a sound suggestive of Paradise Lost's glory days without quite arriving there. If Believe In Nothing doesn't sound like top tier Paradise Lost, it at least sounds like a pretty decent support band warming up the crowd before Paradise Lost themselves take to the stage - and in its grander moments, you can get a good whiff of the real deal.

If you are into gothic metal to any particular extent, that probably sounds good to you, and it sounds alright to me - except it can be very hard to get over the fact that it's Paradise Lost themselves doing this, and you know they're capable of more.

UMUR "At the Mill" is a live album release by UK doom/gothic metal act Paradise Lost. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in July 2021. "At the Mill" features the full Paradise Lost live show from November 2020, recorded at The Mill Nightclub near the band’s hometown in Yorkshire, England.

The album features 16 tracks and a total playing time of 73:18 minutes. Paradise Lost have crafted a varied and smooth working setlist for this concert, featuring tracks from many of their (at this point) 16 full-length studio albums. Paradise Lost have evolved from death/doom metal, to gothic tinged doom metal, to gothic metal, to electronic rock/heavy metal, back to gothic doom metal, and have even made a return to gothic tinged death/doom metal on the last couple of albums, so they have quite an eclectic style. "At the Mill" fully displays that, and it´s a great joy to be led through the history of the band and their many different musical styles.

Older songs like "As I Die", "Gothic", and "Embers Fire" are seamlessly paired with mid-period tracks like "So Much Is Lost", "The Enemy", and "One Second", and contemporary tracks like "No Hope in Sight", "Fall from Grace", and the irresistable doom/death of "Beneath Broken Earth". Not a single track feels wrong on the setlist or is placed without thought.

The sound quality is raw, powerful, and manages to provide the tracks with a possibility to shine. There are a couple of production choices I don´t agree with, but they are mainly in regards to the how the drums are produced. The hi-hat features an odd sound and the bass drums don´t sound that well either. Thankfully the great playing of drummer Waltteri Väyrynen keeps me from thinking about it too much, but it is a slight production issue. There is another thing about the production I don´t understand, but it may have something to do with COVID-19 restrictions at the venue...there are no audience noises. No screaming, no talking, and not even a clap after a song ends, and that has some impact on my evaluation of "At the Mill" as a live release.

I´ve mentioned Väyrynen above but the rest of the band are also very well playing. High level tight performances all around. Steve Edmondson (bass) and Aaron Aedy (rhythm guitars) (along with a shifting cast of drummers) were always the glue of the band, and the foundation upon which lead guitarist Greg Mackintosh and vocalist Nick Holmes could work their magic. And magic is definitely at work on "At the Mill", which features great melancholic lead guitar themes, and a Nick Holmes in fine vocal form, performing a varity of vocal styles, from subdued cleans, to more raw shouting vocals, to deeper gothic tinged cleans, to death metal growling.

Despite the few issues mentioned above I still think "At the Mill" is a great live document of a 2020 Paradise Lost live show. There is the right amount of rawness in the performances but still a high level professionalism which means you´ll find next to no playing mistakes or other nasty distractions here. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Drown in Darkness – The Early Demos" is a compilation album by UK doom/death metal act Paradise Lost. The compilation was released through Century Media Records in May 2009. Tracks 1-3 are taken from the 1988 "Paradise Lost" demo, tracks 4-6 originally appeared on the 1989 "Frozen Illusion" demo, and the remaining tracks are culled from a live bootleg demo from 1989 titled "Plains of Desolation". There exists en even earlier 1988 one-track demo titled "Morbid Existence", but it featured an early rehearsal version of the track, which was only distributed to friends and to some underground magazines. The "Morbid Existence" track also appeared on the "Paradise Lost (1988)" demo and therefore also on "Drown in Darkness – The Early Demos".

So the material on "Drown in Darkness – The Early Demos" are half studio demo tracks and half live bootleg tracks. It´s almost needless to say, but death metal demo tapes from 1988 and 1989 usually feature a pretty lo-fi sound quality, and the same can be said for the sound quality on "Drown in Darkness – The Early Demos". At least for the material from the 1988 "Paradise Lost" demo, which sound like it´s a 4-track recording done in the band´s rehearsal place. The material from the 1989 "Frozen Illusion" demo features a more clear sound, and the live tracks actually feature a pretty decent sound quality too. None are professional recordings though, so it´s with those expectations you need to meet this compilation.

Considering that these are recordings from the late 80s, it´s quite amazing how developed Paradise Lost sound was at this point. Nick Holmes has a commanding brutal growling delivery, the downtuned riffs are crushingly heavy, and the atmosphere is thick with morbid darkness. It´s not often you´ll find death metal recordings from those days, which feature almost no thrash metal elements and actually sounds 100% like death metal. Paradise Lost definitely were pioneers of the death metal genre in it´s purest form.

The premise of releasing a demo compilation is almost always that it´s a hardcore fan item. And "Drown in Darkness – The Early Demos" is of course not a release for the casual listener either (they should pick up the debut album instead). But that´s not to say it couldn´t be of interest to those who want to learn about the early beginnings of death metal, and especially the early beginnings of the doom/death direction of the genre. Upon conclusion there is both enough quality and history here to warrant a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating.

Warthur Released to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the classic gothic doom metal album, Paradise Lost's Draconian Times MMXI simply has them play through the entire album in order, then add on some encores from their wider discography at the end. It's a decent capture of the Paradise Lost live experience, though ultimately they stick close enough to the studio rendition to make this a little redundant in the end. If you're very keen on this specific period of the band's career - after their early pioneering death-doom work, before they steered away from metal entirely to explore other gothic realms prior to their 2000s return to metal - then it's probably worth it, but even then you might find you just prefer to spin the studio album again.

martindavey87 Considering this was actually released on VHS in 1990, Paradise Lost must surely overestimate the passion and loyalty of their fan club. Filmed in Bradford in 1989 to coincide with the band’s debut album, this is a 30-minute video of the band playing on stage. They barely move around, you barely see glimpses of the crowd, and in fact, you barely see vocalist Nick Holmes’ face due to his shaggy hair constantly covering it.

I’m not really a fan of their earlier, death metal growly material anyway, but even if I was, this video isn’t enjoyable or interesting to watch at all. Re-released in 2004 on DVD, this isn’t worth the 50p I spent on it if not for the fact that I do, in fact, actually like this band, and have a compulsive obsession to own everything a band puts out.