Paradise Lost are an English gothic metal band. Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1988, they are considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre, and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.[5]
Their line-up has remained stable for such a long-standing heavy metal band, consisting of singer Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmondson. Holmes and Mackintosh are the principal composers, with almost all of the band's songs credited to them. During the years, the band has only changed drummers.
History
Early years and Peaceville Records (1988–1991)
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.[6]
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.[7]
Music for Nations (1992–1998)
Paradise Lost performing in 1991
Paradise Lost left Peaceville and were signed to the Music for Nations label and released Shades of God in July 1992.[6] 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.[8] The album contained the song "As I Die", later released as a single/EP.
In the summer of 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".[9] 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".[10] 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.[11] This new direction shaped their next album One Second, released in 1997, and was most epitomised 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.[12][13][14]
EMI (1999–2001)
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.[15] 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".[16]
The eleventh album, In Requiem, was released in the spring of 2007 on Century Media;[21] 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.[22] 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".[23]
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 the band. Disc 2 includes further interviews, rehearsal footage, plus backstage and memorabilia sections.[24]
On 13 August 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.[25] Soon after, on 28 August 2008, the Paradise Lost official website announced that the cancelled South American tour has been reconfirmed[26] and that Mark Heron from Oceansize would take over on drums.
Nick Holmes at Metalmania 2007 festival in Katowice, Poland
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.[27] On 16 March 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.[28]
On 18 June 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 25 September 2009 in Germany, on 28 September 2009 in the rest of Europe and on 6 October 2009 in the US.[29]
Paradise Lost headlined the Jägermeister Stage at Ozzfest 2010 on 18 September 2010.[30]
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.[31][needs update]. Adrian Erlandsson was unable to play a few live shows for this album so the band got Jeff Singer again to fill in.
Paradise Lost 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".
Paradise Lost performing in Saint Petersburg in 2013
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 5 November 2013.[32]
On 27 October 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.[33] On 29 December 2014, it was revealed that The Plague Within would be the title for upcoming album.[34] On 26 January 2015, the release date for 2 June 2015 was announced, along with the producer, Jaime Gomez Arellano and the recording location of Orgone Studios, London.[35] 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".[36]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.[37]
Nuclear Blast (2016–present)
On 1 September 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.[38]
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.[39] In November 2019, Decibel Books issued the band's authorised biography, No Celebration: The Official Story of Paradise Lost. The book was authored by American journalist David E. Gehlke.[40]
In March 2020, Nuclear Blast announced the release of the group's 16th studio album, Obsidian, on 15 May.[41] 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.[42] The next year, the band released a live album titled At the Mill; while the album was recorded live, the band played with no audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[43] On 7 September 2022, drummer Waltteri Väyrynen was announced to have departed from the band, who found a temporary replacement in drummer Guido Montanarini. Montanarini also performs with Paradise Lost guitarist/keyboardist Gregor Mackintosh in the band Strigoi.[44] Väyrynen since joined Opeth as their permanent drummer.[45]
In October 2022, Mackintosh and Holmes announced the formation of Host, a synth-pop side-project that is "taking the concept of what we attempted to do on the Paradise Lost album Host but approaching it in a modern context".[46] A music video for the single "Tomorrow's Sky" was uploaded to the label's YouTube page on 21 October 2022. Their debut album, entitled IX, was released on 24 February 2023 via Nuclear Blast.
On 24 March 2023, Paradise Lost announced on their Facebook page that touring drummer Guido Montanarini had become an official member of the band.[47]
In a November 2023 interview with Portugal's Metal Global, frontman Nick Holmes said that Paradise Lost have been working on new material for the follow-up to Obsidian: "Hopefully at the beginning of next year, we can have a few months downtime so we can actually get working more on the album. But we've got a few songs done. I think we've got a few songs done; we need to review them. So, yeah, we'll hopefully write an album next year, anyway. Whether it's gonna be recorded [next year], I don't know, but hopefully at least written".[48]
Guitarist Aaron Aedy said, "In Bradford we used to go to a number of clubs where one minute they'd be playing serious gothic music, and the next minute they'd have on Kreator or something".[62] Nick Holmes cited Iron Maiden's singer Bruce Dickinson in his main influences along with Metallica for their Master of Puppets album.[49] Holmes said that the band's early influences were Black Sabbath and Dead Can Dance: "the old Black Sabbath, that's, to me, the inspiration for when we started the band".[53] Guitarist Mackintosh said that he took inspiration from "Tony Iommi a lot" and also "Johnny Marr [...] Jimi Hendrix and classic music", mixing all these styles with metal music and rock music.[53] Mackintosh also stated that gothic rock was an influence, citing bands like "Southern Death Cult and early Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, early Cure".[63] The band was also influenced by sludge metal band the Melvins, which influenced the band's extremely slow tempos. Vocalist Nick Holmes said, "we liked the idea of combining the sort of slower Sabbath riffage, but making it even slower to get the whole doom metal thing going. But honestly, we were so obsessed with the death metal stuff in those days that we didn't really venture that far outside our own musical field".[62]
The band experienced a considerable shift in style between 1997 and 2002, on their albums One Second through Symbol of Life; One Second saw the heavy use of electronics and keyboards and Holmes using clean vocals,[64] with Host moving even more towards synthpop / dark wave. Believe in Nothing moved the band to a more alternative rock direction, with Symbol of Life re-establishing a heavier gothic metal tone. Both Mackintosh[65] and Holmes[66] expressed ambivalence about this period of the band, citing personal problems within the band at the time.[65]
Katatonia is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to add more band members for live performances, though outside of the band's founders, the lineup was a constantly changing, revolving door of musicians throughout the 1990s, notably including Mikael Åkerfeldt of the band Opeth for a period. After two death/doom albums, Dance of December Souls (1993) and Brave Murder Day (1996), problems with Renkse's vocal cords coupled with new musical influences led the band away from the screamed vocals of death metal to a more traditional, melodic form of heavy metal music.
Nicholas John Arthur Holmes is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic metal/doom metal band Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath.
Gothic is the second studio album by British heavy metal band Paradise Lost, released on 19 March 1991 through Peaceville Records. The album is retrospectively considered style-defining and name-giving for the genre of gothic metal.
Gregor Mackintosh is a British guitar player. He is the lead guitarist in the metal band Paradise Lost, which he founded in 1988 together with singer Nick Holmes, rhythm guitarist Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmondson. He is the main composer of one of the pioneer bands and founding fathers of the gothic metal genre, considered to be influential to many other artists.
Anthony Edward Aaron Aedy is an English guitarist who is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the gothic metal/doom metal band Paradise Lost. He founded the band in 1988 alongside Stephen Edmondson, Gregor Mackintosh and Nick Holmes. Outside from playing the rhythm guitar, sometimes he plays acoustic guitar on some albums such as Shades of God and Draconian Times.
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Lost Paradise is the debut album by British heavy metal band Paradise Lost. Released in February 1990 by Peaceville Records, it features the band's early death-doom style. The album was re-issued in 2003 and included three bonus tracks.
Shades of God is the third studio album by British metal band Paradise Lost, released on 14 July 1992 through Music for Nations. It retains the heavy instrumentation and growled vocals characteristic of the band's previous death-doom efforts, and also shows the beginning of the band's transition to a more melodic, gothic metal sound heard on the follow-up album Icon.
Symbol of Life is the ninth studio album by British metal band Paradise Lost. It marks a departure by the band from their synth-based approach and returning to a much heavier sound, although not abandoning the keyboards altogether. This album was the final release featuring drummer Lee Morris.
Icon is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal band Paradise Lost, released on 28 September 1993 through Music for Nations. It is the band's final album to feature Matthew Archer on drums.
One Second is the sixth studio album released by British metal band Paradise Lost. The album marks the group's transition from a gothic metal act to a more electronic direction. It is the bestselling record of their career and enabled the band to sign with the German branch of major label EMI. One Second is Paradise Lost's first album recorded in digital format.
Host is the seventh studio album by British gothic metal band Paradise Lost, released on 24 May 1999 through EMI Group Limited.
In Requiem is the eleventh studio album by British band Paradise Lost, released on 21 May 2007 through Century Media Records. It was produced by Rhys Fulber. Greek artist Seth Siro Anton from the metal band Septicflesh created the album's artwork.
Drown in Darkness – The Early Demos is a compilation album by British death metal band Paradise Lost, consisting of demos released in 1988 and 1989. Tracks one through three are taken from the band's 1988 demo "Paradise Lost"; tracks four through six are taken from the band's 1989 demo "Frozen Illusion"; tracks seven through twelve are taken from the band's other 1989 demo "Plains of Desolation". There was a seven minute, twelve second trailer of this demo, where most of the band members behind the demos were interviewed concerning the demos and the time surrounding the recording and releasing of the demos.
Trees of Eternity was a Swedish metal band from Örebro that began in 2009 as a musical collaboration between Finnish guitarist Juha Raivio and South African-born Swedish singer Aleah Stanbridge.
Vallenfyre was a British death metal band founded in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, as a side project by Paradise Lost's chief songwriter and lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh in 2010 as tribute to his father's death in December 2009.
Medusa is the fifteenth studio album by British gothic metal band Paradise Lost, released on 1 September 2017 through Nuclear Blast Records.
Obsidian is the sixteenth studio album by British gothic metal band Paradise Lost, released on 15 May 2020 through Nuclear Blast Records.
Paint the Sky with Blood is the only EP by Finnish melodic death metal band Bodom After Midnight, the short-lived follow-up project to Children of Bodom, released on 23 April 2021 through Napalm Records.
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