WEEK 115 – PARADISE LOST

Welcome my HeadBangers from Halifax, West Yorkshire, the Death/Doom/Gothic, you pick, Band:

Paradise Lost

“Fall From Grace”

This one hits home my HeadBangers.  This world has fallen from grace, look around, millions dying, but not from war from a virus.  Listen to this song, WE’RE ALL ALONE, exactly what’s happening now.  People dying daily ALL ALONE.  The Earth is taking her due right now.  Wake up and look around to what we mortals have and are doing to this planet.  Do we deserve to be here?  You tell me!

“One Second”

That’s right HeadBangers, so much can happen in just one second, thoughts or words that you can not take back.  Think, say, and do carefully cause in just “One Second”, it will be to late to go back….

Before I get into their bio I have to say, this band has been around for 33 years and this is the first time I have heard them. WTF you say, what can I say.  There are thousands and thousands of bands on this planet, that’s why I write this blog.  I just happened upon them today, that’s right, just today.   I love their music and whoever does their videos, they are 100.  Now on to the bio…..

Lost Paradise is an English Death/Doom/Gothic band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. They are considered by some to be the pioneers of the death-doom genre, and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. Bands that have cited Paradise Lost as an influence, or have covered them, include My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Amorphis, Cradle of Filth, Katatonia, Moonspell, Lacuna Coil, HIM, Nightwish, and many others.  As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.   Also HeadBangers in all these years the band has only changed drummers, which is really amazing to me.

After their formation in 1988, Paradise Lost released three cassette demos, Paradise Lost, Frozen Illusion, and Plains of Desolation, before being signed to Peaceville Records in 1989. They recorded their debut album, Lost Paradise, at Academy Music Studio in December of that year. The album was released in February 1990.

In November 1990, Paradise Lost returned to Academy Music Studio to record their second album, Gothic, which was released in March 1991. The band began to move away from the death/doom sound of their previous releases by adding keyboards and female vocal accompaniments.

Paradise Lost left Peaceville and were signed to the Music for Nations label and released Shades of God in July 1992.  The band’s musical approach continued to evolve with this album as evidenced by the addition of quieter passages in the song’s compositions, the softening of vocalist Nick Holmes’s death grunt, and Gregor Mackintosh’s incorporation of acoustic guitar to his sound. The album contained the song “As I Die”, later released as a single/EP.

“As I Die”

In summer 1993, the band recorded their fourth album, Icon, released in September of the same year. The band continued to develop their sound away from their doom roots and more towards the dynamics and sound of “As I Die” from their previous album. On Icon, Nick Holmes abandoned his death grunt and started using a “James Hetfield-style bark.”  It was after this album, in December 1994, that original member Matthew Archer quit and was replaced by drummer Lee Morris.

The band entered the studio in January 1995 to record their fifth and most successful album, Draconian Times, which was released in June 1995. Mackintosh says about Draconian Times, “that it’s the album by which everything else we do gets judged. Rightly so, as it’s the backbone of our career and sound.” The album charted in the Top 20 album chart in a number of countries including the UK and Germany.

Following the success of Draconian Times, and after four years of continuous touring, the band began to get bored with their signature sound and started to experiment with Depeche Mode-esque  synth-pop and electronica.  This new direction shaped their next album One Second, released in 1997, and was most epitomized by the lead single, Say Just Words. The album was one of the band’s most successful releases, particularly in Northern Europe, cracking the German, Swedish, and Finnish top ten charts.

“Just Say Words”

The band moved to EMI Electrola in Germany for its next album, Host, released in 1999, on which they continued to experiment with new sounds, appearing to shed their metal roots. While this album continued to alienate their traditional fanbase in places like the UK, it was their highest charting album in Germany, entering at number 4 on the Album Chart.

On the next album, 2001’s “Believe in Nothing”, Paradise Lost continued this synth direction but adding rock elements to the music, forcibly by EMI at the time. Due to the loss of creative control, Mackintosh said that the album “doesn’t really exist for him.”

In May 2002, the band signed to Gun Records, and on the album that followed, Symbol of Life, the metallic roots of the band began to resurface; the band decided to work with producer Rhys Fulber to reestablish their metal sound.

In March 2004, Lee Morris left the band due to “personal and musical differences” and was replaced by Jeff Singer.

Paradise Lost released their tenth, eponymous album in 2005, also on GUN Records.

The eleventh album, In Requiem, was released in the spring of 2007 on Century Media; it was generally well-accepted and highly rated by both critics and fans, pleased to see the band returning to their heavier, gothic metal sound similar to that of earlier albums like Draconian Times. The full-length was preceded by a single, “The Enemy” and on the single, Singer was finally listed as a permanent band member. In a recent video interview, Mackintosh and Holmes revealed that Singer had already auditioned for the band when Archer left, but they chose Morris instead because Singer “had a pink drumkit.

“The Enemy”

In November 2007, Century Media released the DVD Over The Madness, which documents the impact Paradise Lost has had on gothic metal and provides insight into the mindset and workings of Paradise Lost. Disc 2 includes further interviews, rehearsal footage, plus backstage and memorabilia sections.

On August 13, 2008, drummer Jeff Singer announced his departure from the band on the Paradise Lost official website. He wanted to be with his family, had an upcoming job, and the then-upcoming South American tour would interfere with that. As a result, Paradise Lost had to cancel the South American tour dates that they had planned. Soon after, on August 28, 2008, the Paradise Lost official website announced that the canceled South American tour has been reconfirmed and that Mark Heron from Oceansize would take over on drums.

At the beginning of 2009, Paradise Lost recorded an album with producer Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden. At the time there was no full-time replacement for Jeff Singer and drums were played by Swedish drummer Peter Damin. On March 16, 2009, when recording for the album was already finished, the band recruited Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, ex-Cradle of Filth) as a full-time drummer for the band.

On June 18, 2009, Paradise Lost officially announced Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us as the title of their album to be released on Century Media Records on September 25, 2009 in Germany, on  September 28, 2009 in the rest of Europe and on October 6, 2009 in the US.

Paradise Lost headlined the Jägermeister Stage at Ozzfest 2010 on September 18, 2010.

In late 2011, Paradise Lost began recording its 13th studio album Tragic Idol in The Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire. The album was released on 23 April 2012.   Adrian Erlandsson was unable to play a few live shows for this album so the band got Jeff Singer again to fill in.

They performed some of their songs at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards with Cristina Scabbia on Paradise Lost’s song  Say Just Words and with Gus G. of a Black Sabbath cover, Into the Void.

On 15 August 2013, the cover and artwork were released for their compilation album of b-sides titled Tragic Illusion 25. From September to October 2014, some of the songs from the album were released, such as a new song entitled Loneliness Remains, and older songs that were remade such as Our Savior 2013 from Lost Paradise and the self-titled song Gothic 2013 from Gothic. The album was released on November 5, 2013.

On October 27, 2013, it was announced that the writing for the 14th studio album will begin after their 25th-anniversary tour and the recording to the album will start in June 2014.  On December 29, 2014, it was revealed that The Plague Within would be the title for upcoming album. On January 26, 2015, the release date for June 2, 2015 was announced, along with the producer , Jaimie Gomez Arellano and the recording location of Orgone Studios, London.   Speaking to Rock Sins, Nick Holmes stated that the new album would have elements of all previous Paradise Lost material including a return to the death/doom of their early output, stating that “there’s some songs that could’ve been written in 1989, a couple of really old school doom/death songs which are gonna surprise a couple of people when they hear it.” The Plague Within is considered by many traditional fans to be their best and most complete album in many years, as well as being a true return to their signature sound.

On September 1, 2017, Paradise Lost released their 15th studio album, Medusa.  The band continued their return to a much heavier, more doomier sound. Singer Nick Holmes said “…definitely our heaviest album; the heaviest we’ve done.” Medusa was well received by fans and critics alike.

2018 marked the band’s 30th anniversary and was celebrated through select dates around UK and mainland Europe, including their first gig in the hometown of Halifax, as well as a South and North American tour with Solstafir and The Atlas Moth.  In November 2019, Decibel Books issued the band’s authorized biography, No Celebration: The Official Story of Paradise Lost. The book was authored by American journalist David E. Gehlke.

In March 2020, Nuclear Blast announced the release of the group’s 16th studio album, Obsidian, on May 15. Nick Holmes described it as “one of the most eclectic albums we have done in some time, we have miserable songs, sad songs, slow songs and faster songs. Did I mention miserable?”. First single, Fall from Grace premiered on 20 March, along with a music video.

I have just one question:  Why do they have such a problem with drummers?  6 drummers, but I don’t have the answer to that question.  So let’s meet the band:

Left to right:

Nick Holmes – Vocals (1988-present)

Gregor Mackintosh – Lead Guitar & Keyboards (1988-present)

Aarpm Aedu – Rhythm Guitar (1988-present)

Stephen Edmondson – Bass (1988-present)

Walterri Väyrynen – Drums (2015-present)

My Thoughts:

Well my HeadBangers, to those of you who have never heard them, tell me what you think.  I am so glad I found them.  As I write my thoughts and listen to their music it makes me think of what is happening in the USA right now and the world.   It’s bad enough that we have this shit Covid killing people off right and left.  Not to mention the political bullshit, but I think America has turned that corner.  What happened over the last 4 years will not happen again anytime soon.  I know people on the other side of this planet think we Americans are crazy, and maybe we are, we are still a young country compared to the rest of the world.  We make mistakes, but as you can see that has all changed and we look toward the future with hope now.  This song Fall From Grace, that line We’re All Alone, it is so true.  We are born into this world alone and we will leave this world alone, no matter how many people are around you, in the words of Jim Morrison “No One Gets Out Alive”, and we leave this existence all alone.    I am always so amazed how these bands come up with the songs that fit every aspect of our daily lives and the situations that are happening around us at any given moment.   “Something inside me the eyes don’t show”, this is such a great song, great meanings in every line.   We all have something inside us that we don’t want others to know, so we keep it buried inside, I don’t think it’s best to do that, what you hold inside, when you do let it out, you could explode so don’t hold it back, let it out and move on.  Remember my HeadBangers, the world may be in chaos now but you always have me and all the rest of our Metal Family.  We are not alone, only inside, and we are always here if you need to unload, don’t let it eat you alive.  Thank you to the band for eye opening and thought provoking songs.  I just love these guys.

Well that’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..