Artist: Paradise Lost
Album: Obsidian
Label: Nuclear Blast
Style: Death Doom
Release Date: May 15, 2020
What are you going to say about Paradise Lost that hasn’t already been said before? They are legends, around for over thirty years, constantly putting out amazing music, pushing boundaries in Death Metal, in Goth, in Doom, but most importantly, always moving forward, seeking only to satisfy their own artistic thirst. So here we are, album number 16 and we have a band that is keeping consistent with every ethos they’ve ever espoused. In short, this is another amazing Paradise Lost record.
Opener “Darker Thoughts” plays with the acoustics, meddles with the symphonic, and delves deep into the Doom. It’s an elegiac way to start the proceedings, everything pretty but dark, man, real dark. But that’s what Paradise Lost do, they do the dark. “Fall From Grace” sheds all the fancy from the previous track and just gets dirty, riffy, slow and nasty. Again, something that PL have done before, but they do it so damned well. “Ghosts” begins with a thumping drum and a rattling bass, the Goth in full effect here, the band reaching back to those roots and embracing the blackness in totality. Rumbling and danceable, they keep things moving, never getting stuck in one place. This is a precious song. Next up is “The Devil Embraced” and we go back to some keys, some of that frilly lace, and deeper into that gothic adornment. This one smells of crumbling castle walls and ravaging ivy, creeping up and eating away the mortar of life. “Forsaken” is just about the halfway point in the record, stuttering and melancholic, slow and crushing, that bass really reverberating in parts, mixing with a massive riff and lurching forward momentum, all dressed in gloom and disconsolation. “Serenity” brings the melodic Death back to the front, gritted teeth and bloodied nosed, reminding the listener that there is pain in the sadness. “In a vile yonder grave, with a scowl, we’ll remain in blood.” Yep, that about says it all, doesn’t it? “Ending Days” is jangled chords and nerves, shaking, beautiful, sad and quiet, surging forward almost halfway through its running time, reaching for the epic. It’s a nice moment of respite. “Hope Dies Young” is more of the romantic Goth, the puffy shirt and candelabra kind, something PL has done before and done well. “Ravenghast,” may be my favorite track on the album, its belly to ground, worm-rotted Death mixed with Goth. This is true Doom, unrelenting, slow, heavy, the putrid stench of bereavement infecting every note. When it makes that shift, and you’ll know it when you hear it, the song reaches another level, finding the Epic and fully embracing its true greatness. Next to last song, “Hear the Night,” keeps the Death Doom rolling, a giant, heavy boulder, full of crushing weight and unforgiving mass. “Defiler” closes out the album, a bit brighter, threading together all that came before it, that gothic luminescence shining through the Death and Doom, capping off another incredible musical journey.
Simply put, Paradise Lost has put out another great album. If you’re even remotely a fan of this band or this sound, you know you have to have it. While they don’t break new ground, they certainly play to their strengths, the band taking nearly everything they’ve done in the past and putting it all together here, on display, a reminder of the giants they truly are. Nothing more needs to be said. Go get this.
The Wizard Has Spoken!
Four and a Half Wands out of Five