By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full
Length
Date Released: 01/09/2017
Label: Nuclear
Blast
Depthless despair, thick production
with pounding drums accentuating the force of the material and those classic
melodic leads are all encompassing, making this their heaviest album in years and amongst their best. “Medusa” can
and will turn you to stone- as you will be shocked and stilled by just how good
it is.
“Medusa” CD//DD//LP track listing:
01. Fearless Sky (8:30)
02. Gods Of Ancient (5:50)
03. From The Gallows (3:42)
04. The Longest Winter (4:31)
05. Medusa (6:20)
06. No Passage For The Dead (4:16)
07. Blood & Chaos (3:51)
08. Until The Grave (5:41
Bonus tracks:
09. Frozen Illusion (5:45)
10. Shrines (3:59)
11. Symbolic Virtue (4:38)
The Review:
It
is with satisfaction that I can report that Paradise Lost
have returned to their doom/death roots on this, their fifteenth (!) album. As
noted in previous reviews of their past work, the band have actually been a lot
heavier than you would expect on the last few releases. “Tragic Idol” was equivalent to “Draconian
Times” in weight, while “The Plague
within” was one of 2015's best albums and was seriously heavy to boot. Once
again: Paradise
Lost are one of metal's best kept secrets and certainly one of the
finest metal bands to ever have been produced by the UK.
“Medusa”, then, sees a new drummer
Waltteri Vayrynen join the solid
foursome. Eight tracks, all massively heavy in terms of sound and atmosphere.
From the organ intro of “Fearless Sky”,
through the concise “From The Gallows” by way of the rolling grooves
of “Gods of Ancient”, this is the
heaviest record that Paradise Lost have done since... well, “Shades of God” at least. Depthless
despair, thick production with pounding drums accentuating the force of the
material and those classic melodic leads all over the shop.
“The Longest Winter” is a stand out for me-
catchy, weighty and pitch black: Paradise Lost at their best. The band members
may be showing their age in promo photos, but who cares? They are making some
of their best ever music and, of course, we all get old- if we're lucky. The
title track mixes piano, doom riffs and some fine lead playing (and that is
just the opening!) and Nick Holmes
makes use of his clean voice to good effect. The death growl of twenty five
years ago is back, but not on all verses of all songs. This is a great
stylistic choice- it allows the band to play to their strengths without being
constrained by one particular mode throughout.
The
death doom vibes of “No Passage For The
Dead” come thick and slow, whilst “Blood
and Chaos” could be on any of Paradise Lost's
strongest albums- any era- and represents them at their most direct. Closing
with the strong “Until The Grave”
finishes the record in downbeat style and is as heavy as anything else on offer
here.
The
verdict? Their heaviest in years and amongst their best. It is not as immediate
as “The Plague Within”, but I
suspect that hidden depths lurk in this lake of tar. Their headline slot at Damnation Festival, Leeds ,
UK in November- as close to
a home town show as you could get for these Yorkshire
doomers- will be triumphant and a handy reminder of what the band can do. “Medusa” can and will turn you to stone-
as you will be shocked and stilled by just how good it is.
“Medusa” is available now
Band
info: facebook
