It is not every day you get a new Paradise Lost album to talk about, but thankfully today is one of those days.
You’ll remember from my previous gushing blogpost about Draconian Times that Paradise Lost has been a feature of my life for well, most of it. I’m not exactly an objective witness. There will be some (30+ year) bias ahead.
Ascension, which released today (19th September) might be one of their finest albums to date. Weighing in at almost exactly an hour, save for 54 stray seconds, it pulls in bits of their more death/doom metal chapters from the early 90s, re-discovered in the late 2010s and 2020s with some distinct Icon / Shades of God vibes, mixed in with more modern (think Obsidian, Icon 30) production sensibilities.
This isn’t to say they completely discarded the One Second/Host phase. The maturity of their songwriting evident in that era is still in play here too, but without the Sisters of Mercy inspired rhythms. Thankfully we still have HOST and their 2023 album IX to scratch that particular itch.
Nick and Gregor appear to be at the top of their game with Ascension. Nick delivering some of his customary growls and gutturals, but also some wonderful, often harmonised cleans in the choruses. I have a particular weakness for artists that manage to blend the growling with the singing, which has drawn me to melodic death metal and technical death metal in recent times. It has been wonderful to hear Paradise Lost gradually introduce more and more of this this to their sound over the years, particularly with their previous album Obsidian, with tracks like ‘Darker Thoughts’ and ‘The Devil Embraced’.
Paradise Lost’s trademark has always been Gregor Mackintosh’s lead guitar work, which act more like a second vocal than a standalone part. There are solos, of course, but Gregor’s melodies run throughout and keep the momentum going, allowing Nick to focus on bringing the misery.
The whole package feels incredibly meaty, consistent and quintessentially Paradise Lost.
From the songs they didn’t release as singles, Salvation has what I just talked about in spades, but Lay a Wreath, Sirens, and This Stark Town are future classics. Crucially, there’s no filler; no wasted time; no songs that I feel the need to skip. It’s a rare quality I’ve found in very few albums (Draconian Times, Whitechapel’s ‘Kin’ and Insomnium’s ‘Shadows of the Dying Sun’ aside).
If there is to be a weak point, I’d say ‘Diluvium’ doesn’t reach quite the lofty heights of the others, but that is not to say it is bad. It is just not as excellent as the others. I don’t think being sat between ‘Lay a Wreath’ and ‘Savage Days’ helps, because those two are fantastic.
I’m really happy to have Ascension in my collection. Paradise Lost really knocked this one out of the park.
Where to find it:
On Qobuz: open.qobuz.com/album/o89… On Bandcamp: paradiselostofficial.bandcamp.com/album/asc… Listenbrainz: listenbrainz.org/album/d40… On their website: paradiselost.co.uk
However, you will find me on Mastodon