Paradise Lost released their new album, Obsidian, on May 15th. Under the circumstances of the last months, the new masterpiece of the band became something like a sign of hope for music fans all over the worlds, the previously released singles a soundtrack for these difficult, uncertain times.

To mark the occasion, the band released a video for "Darker Thoughts", a mesmerizing and gloomy piece of music. The unique style of the video is also due to the restrictions of Covid-19. Whereas Nick's performance parts were shot pre-lock-down, video producer Ash Pears from AshTV had to finish the video with random filmed bits.

Nick Holmes states: "Musically, this is a song of 2 halves and was originally written as an intro towards the end of the Obsidian writing process. As a result, it's one of the more spontaneous songs on the album. Lyrically, it's a song about choosing the wrong path - failing to look before you leap, and dealing with the consequence of dubious decisions."

Following is an excerpt from the upcoming BraveWords story on Paradise Lost and Obsidian featuring guitarist Gregor Mackintosh

On "Darker Thoughts" being Paradise Lost's most eclectic songs ever according to Nick Holmes:

"I don't know if it's the most eclectic album we've ever done, but it's definitely more varied than the last one," says Mackintosh. "'Darker Thoughts' as the first song on the album.... there is no other place that it could be for us. The song throws people into a false sense of insecurity or security depending on your viewpoint; it's a tester, really. If you can handle that song you can handle the album."

"Obsidian is a result of we did what we did on Medusa (from 2017); we didn't want to do it again. We kind of always knew that things would go this way, even before we did Medusa. We knew we weren't going to be a doom band for the rest of our career. We have a song on The Plague Within (2015) called 'Beneath Broken Earth', and writing that song just made me want to do a full album of shit like that. I knew we weren't going to continue Medusa because it wouldn't have been fulfilling. I probably would have gotten bored of that before the rest of the guys in the band. It's weird because, years ago, it was me that was always the experimental one, and Nick was always trying to rein me in. Now he really pushes me to do whatever I want to do and I'm not sure where that's come from. Maybe I've broken him down over the years (laughs). As long as we're on the same page, as we were with this one, everything is good."

Watch for the full story, coming soon.

Obsidian... dark, reflective and black: it’s a pretty decent description of the music that Paradise Lost have been making over the last 32 years, even though this most resilient of British metal bands have stoically refused to be pinned down to one easily defined formula. Powered by a lust for creativity and a stout devotion to haunting heaviness, Paradise Lost have defied the odds by coming back stronger than ever over the past decade.

Nick Holmes comments about the new album: "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?"

The sixteenth Paradise Lost studio album, Obsidian, eschews its immediate predecessors’ gruesome, myopic approach in favour of a richer and more dynamic deluge of black shades. From the deceptive elegance and dual atmospheres of opener "Darker Thoughts" through to the crushing, baroque doom of war-torn closer "Ravenghast", Obsidian reveals a band in masterful control of a broad array of vital ideas. Most noticeably, the record boasts several songs that draw heavily from the much-loved, Kohl-encrusted days of ‘80s gothic rock: in particular, newly-minted Paradise Lost anthems‚ "Ghosts" is a guaranteed dancefloor-filler at any discerning goth nightclub.

Obsidian tracklisting:

"Darker Thoughts"
"Fall From Grace"
"Ghosts"
"The Devil Embraced"
"Forsaken"
"Serenity"
"Ending Days"
"Hope Dies Young"
"Ravenghast"

Watch for the new BraveWords feature on Paradise Lost and Obsidian, coming soon.

"Ghost" lyric video:

"Fall From Grace" video: