By Andrew Bansal
Longstanding British doom/goth group Paradise Lost have been consistently releasing compelling music that has stood out for its own unique style and identity, and has in turn influenced subsequent generations of musicians over their nearly three-decade long existence. Paradise Lost’s 2012 effort ‘Tragic Idol’ won several accolades amongst fans and critics alike, and the band is now ready with the follow-up, their fourteenth full-length studio album ‘The Plague Within’ due out June 2nd via Century Media Records.
Paradise Lost have varied their approach and dabbled in a variety of styles throughout their career. In recent years they have strived towards achieving a better balance between their melodic and heavy elements, and did it with a great amount of success on ‘Tragic Idol’, putting together a set of songs that boast of powerful clean-sung vocals, pristine guitar-play and a potent rhythm section. ‘The Plague Within’ sees Paradise Lost outdo themselves in this aspect, with a more aggressive vocal delivery and decidedly darker, more melodic instrumentation.
The distinguishably bleak vibe that’s very much a long-established signature quality of Paradise Lost is strongly evident right from the outset, on the opening track ‘No Hope In Sight’ which presents some unmistakably catchy guitar melodies to go with heavy down-tuned riffs and a combination of clean and harsh but largely decipherable vocals. The slow burner is excellently followed by a much faster composition called ‘Terminal’, but the rest of the album is down-tempo and gets into a comfort zone which fans of Paradise Lost and all forms of death/doom/goth can easily get hooked onto.
The term ‘goth’ has all kinds of negative connotations associated with it in this day and age, but through their efforts on ‘The Plague Within’, Paradise Lost have once again proved themselves as one of the very few groups that presently shine a positive light on the sub-genre and give listeners a delectable taste of what it really should sound like. Nick Holmes and Greg Mackintosh’s recent involvement in Bloodbath and Vallenfyre respectively also seems to have made a positive impact on Paradise Lost without contaminating what the band stands for. Aside from the brilliant songwriting, performance and production, the stunning cover artwork makes it a must-have on the physical format.
‘The Plague Within’ is an undeniably fine effort from one of the classiest heavy metal groups in existence.
Rating: 9/10
Record Label: Century Media
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
Track Listing:
01. No Hope in Sight
02. Terminal
03. An Eternity of Lies
04. Punishment Through Time
05. Beneath Broken Earth
06. Sacrifice the Flame
07. Victim of the Past
08. Flesh from Bone
09. Cry Out
10. Return to the Sun