Paradise Lost Ascension (Gold)

Five years after the triumphant "Obsidian" (#2 in Germany, #4 Switzerland, #5 Austria), British kings of doom'n'gloom are back! Blending Metallica-esque riffage, Type-O heaviness, and Nick Holmes' vocals between Gahan, Eldritch and death growl, PARADISE LOST and their new album "Ascension" are a shining example that some bands get better with age! "More than three decades into their career, and with over two million albums sold, Paradise Lost remain the undisputed kings of metal’s dark side. Formed in Halifax in 1988, the band quickly became noted as the pioneers of gothic metal through their early groundbreaking albums like 1991’s aptly-titled Gothic, a mixture of heaviness intertwined with shadowy melody and atmosphere. Never a group to remain creatively static, across their career they’ve explored a myriad of avenues of dark music, from sludgy doom-death roots, to conquering the metal mainstream with the enormous, lush sounds of 1995’s Draconian Times, to more experimental, electronic leanings, leaving an influence on a trail of artists as varied as Cradle Of Filth, HIM, Gatecreeper and Chelsea Wolfe. Now, in 2025, the Yorkshire quintet return with their staggering 17th album, Ascension, a record that sees their crown continue to gleam as it underlines just how they attained their position. Produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh at Black Planet studios in East Yorkshire, with drums and vocals captured at NBS and Wasteland studios in Sweden, its 10 tracks traverse the multitude of sounds in the band’s arsenal, from full-bore heavy metal to sky-high melody, all the while keeping a minor-key melancholy that remains irresistible. “People should expect us to get more miserable,” jokes frontman Nick Holmes when asked what fans might anticipate from Paradise Lost in 2025. Explaining the album’s title and the lyrics, however, it’s clear that they remain masters of their art when it comes to delivering on such things. “The album title is taken from the belief in rising to the better place, in fiction from Earth to heaven, and all the requirements that go with that,” he elaborates. “In real life, people are often striving to get to a better place from birth, trying to be a better person, regardless of the fact that the only reward is death. “The lyrics deal with everything that life throws at us,” he continues. “It's never predictable, and within that it can also be terrifying. How people deal with death, the crutches they turn to, and how the mental state is affected by life changing situations is always intriguing.” As is the music itself. Album opener Serpent on The Cross begins with a gloriously doomy riff, before halfway through shifting gears into thundering classic metal, powered by double bass drumming and an almost Metallica-ish riff. On Silence Like The Grave, Nick sings “about the pointlessness of war, point scoring for the sake of humankind” over a perfect flourish of gothic metal. Tyrant’s Serenade, meanwhile, shows the band’s engrained expertise with making simplicity sound enormous, topped by Gregor’s signature haunting guitar leads, while Lay A Wreath Upon The World starts as a quiet elegy before building to a mournful climax, and closer The Precipice leads with piano lines before drawing things to a stately conclusion. It all masterfully shows the breadth of what Paradise Lost have done and can do, in a manner that still no other band can make work quite the same. “After 35 years, everything is conscious,” says Nick. “Its difficult not to be 100% sure of where everything is coming from having such a vast varied back catalogue, but ultimately it simply comes down to if we like the music we are creating or not. If we do, it stays! That hasn't changed since we were teenagers.” Ascension stands proud in Paradise Lost’s canon. The misery never stops but, says Nick, that’s how they like it. “Ironically,” he laughs, “