Is PARADISE LOST? No! The Plague Within Discussed In New Crossfire
June 3, 2015, 8 years ago
Long-running UK-based doomsters Paradise Lost have released their 14th studio album, The Plague Within, via Century Media Records.
Paradise Lost are once again refining the chemical equation to their sonic alchemy with the kind of creative invincibility few can afford. Theirs is a pain born of the human condition itself as our fragile minds struggle to cope in a world overrun by demons.
Produced by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Ulver, Cathedral) at London's Orgone Studios, the frostbitten riffs thunder beneath the bittersweet euphoria of Nick’s vocals, drifting between rich melodic soars and icy snarls. It’s an organic body of work that confronts the trials and tribulations of struggling alone in darkness, but also one that treads incredibly exciting and genuinely ‘new’ sonic ground in the process.
The cover artwork was created by the polish artist, illustrator and architect Zbigniew M. Bielak, best known in the musical realm for his record cover illustrations, which among others include meticulously handcrafted artworks of Watain, Ghost or Entombed A.D. albums.
In the latest bout of BraveWords' Crossfire, The Plague Within, is dissected by Mark Gromen and Jason Deaville below.
Mark Gromen - 8.5/10
People, myself included, have been whining about what could have been for the melancholy UK doomsters since the radical sonic departure following the success of Draconian Times. Well it took more than a decade, but gradually the Lost boys realized (if not the error of their ways) at least they were best at creating gritty, heavy metal dirges. Over the last three studio platters, PL have rekindled internal interest in their past, helped in large part by guitarist/chief songwriter Gregor Mackintosh forming the concurrent grind/death entity Vallenfyre (a flashback to the music of his youth). Especially here, the earliest Paradise Lost albums are the reference point, Nick Holmes agonizingly bellowing like the youngster heard on Gothic. The sound is big, rough around the edges and decidedly dirty. The glorious plod of a piano begun 'An Eternity Of Lies' being the outlier, which briefly sees him alternate between smooth and typically caustic tones. There's a little of the punkiness of classic 'Pity The Sadness' rearing its head in 'Punishment Through Time'. Follow-up, 'Beneath Broken Earth' practically oozes from the speakers, glacial movements embedded in molasses! The low moan of cello introduces the abruptly ending 'Sacrifice The Flame'. Quickly joined by violin, the mournful duo creating a harrowing backdrop not heard since originally like-minded contemporaries My Dying Bride. Powerful, emotive stuff! The synthesizers on 'Victim Of The Past' have one foot in modern PL, but Holmes bellicose voice (apart from the occasional haunting echo) bring it all kicking& screaming back to the grave. 'Cry Out' is somewhere between Motorhead and a lively Type O Negative number, as always, expanding the boundaries of Paradise Lost. Album closer 'Return to The Sun' kicks off with a choir singing exaggerated "Amen" on word refrain, before the band plugs in. A rousing return to form: something for which we can all give thanks.
Jason Deaville - 9.0/10