It's inspiring to see Paradise Lost having a bit of an unexpected resurgence in popularity and credibility, considering we all left them for dead in a mass exodus around the time of those albums we've all forgotten the names of (might I remind you I defended Believe in Nothing at the time, and I kinda stand behind that).
But the band has gone back to their roots, and while it's normally just dull as doornails when metal bands say that, here the doom/death is mighty and convincing: opener "No Hope In Sight" brings the band's epic Draconian Times sound back in full force, making us all wonder once again what Metallica's arena metal circa Metallica would sound like filtered through a huge doom metal sound. It's a chilling, goosebump-raising way to kick off the album, and it leads perfectly to tunes like "An Eternity of Lies," which harkens back to the band's Gothic majesty, or the heavy, near-Crowbarian sludge/doom of "Punishment Through Time," which lays down a killer, classy guitar solo.
The brisk "Flesh from Bone" is surprisingly fast, bringing to mind Vallenfyre, guitarist Gregor Mackintosh's excellent death/doom band. It's amazing that a band can pull this off 14 albums in, and coming back from a reputation-damaging experimental era, too. The Plague Within is proof that Paradise Lost are one of the best in the biz, and certainly tops at what they do.
(Century Media)But the band has gone back to their roots, and while it's normally just dull as doornails when metal bands say that, here the doom/death is mighty and convincing: opener "No Hope In Sight" brings the band's epic Draconian Times sound back in full force, making us all wonder once again what Metallica's arena metal circa Metallica would sound like filtered through a huge doom metal sound. It's a chilling, goosebump-raising way to kick off the album, and it leads perfectly to tunes like "An Eternity of Lies," which harkens back to the band's Gothic majesty, or the heavy, near-Crowbarian sludge/doom of "Punishment Through Time," which lays down a killer, classy guitar solo.
The brisk "Flesh from Bone" is surprisingly fast, bringing to mind Vallenfyre, guitarist Gregor Mackintosh's excellent death/doom band. It's amazing that a band can pull this off 14 albums in, and coming back from a reputation-damaging experimental era, too. The Plague Within is proof that Paradise Lost are one of the best in the biz, and certainly tops at what they do.