Paradise Lost – The Plague Within Review

Paradise Lost’s career trajectory is an interesting one, sometimes derided but yet always worthy of respect. They’ve followed their muse through the darkness, wherever it led them, and in doing so, through some serious ups and some debatable downs, they’ve now come almost full circle.

In their first decade, alongside My Dying Bride and Anathema, Paradise Lost helped to pioneer the “Peaceville Three” death/doom sound, and then they moved on to lay the groundwork for the gothic metal subgenre. Reaching their commercial peak with Draconian Times in 1995, they promptly abandoned metal all but entirely, in favor of electronic-tinted Depeche Mode-ish gothic rock. In the last decade, they’ve returned to metal more and more with each subsequent effort, and gotten increasingly heavier and stronger throughout. Their last album, 2013’s magnificent Tragic Idol, was easily their best since Draconian, which stands alongside 1991’s Gothic as their twin towers.

The Plague Within is better than all of those.

The most noticeable difference between Plague and what else has come since the golden days is the re-introduction of Nick Holmes’ long-dormant death growl. Both Nick and guitarist / songwriter Greg Mackintosh have stated that neither Holmes’ involvement in Bloodbath nor Mackintosh’s work with Vallenfyre had any bearing on their decision to bring back the growling, and either way, Holmes’ performance on both the ‘Bath’s Grand Morbid Funeral and now Plague is first-class, proving that he can still muster the snarling bite that many had thought forever gone. As on the band’s most popular and moodier material, he tempers that growl with a bellowing bark and a goth-y baritone croon, with the latter providing most of the album’s biggest melodic hooks.

The Plague Within reaches its greatness predominantly through two factors: Firstly, it succeeds simply by virtue of being a great collection of great songs, an aspect in which Paradise Lost has long excelled. Mackintosh’s trademark melancholy guitar leads are in top form, with some of his best work in the opening track “No Hope In Sight” and in the subtle arpeggios and melodies of the string-augmented “Victim Of The Past.” (An orchestral live version of “Victim” is added to the CD release as a bonus track – it’s worthy, if ultimately not quite necessary.)

And secondly, Plague achieves an even greater greatness by tying together all of Paradise Lost’s shifting musical arcs into one cohesive whole, each element creeping into one another and forming a perfect Paradise Lost built of the best of what’s come before. The death/doom past is strongest, driving “Terminal” and the crushing and brilliant “Beneath Broken Earth,” which is the slowest song the band has written thusfar, and one of Plague’s strongest. There’s gothic metal most prominently in “No Hope,” another highlight and future classic, as well as the equally great “Punishment Through Time.” Electronic elements creep in by the final track, “Return To The Sun,” herein used far more sparingly than on those 90s rock records, but nevertheless, presented quite effectively when merged into the band’s better aesthetics. Changing as ever, Paradise Lost is moving forward and backwards at once, revisiting their past at the same time as they’re improving upon it.

There is no band that does melancholic metal better than Paradise Lost – their ability to inject energy into sadness and vice versa is simply unrivalled. Lesser gothic or death/doom bands succumb to the Morrissey-ish maudlin, or they fail to temper their downtrodden misery with appropriate melody or propulsion and the whole becomes an exercise in plodding mediocrity. A few others have come close, sure, but no one has yet beaten the masters at their own game. By combining Paradise Lost’s strengths into one conglomerate of darkness, The Plague Within resets the bar that this band set for itself decades ago. Better than Draconian, better than Gothic, Plague is the best album that Paradise Lost has released in a twenty-five year career thusfar. It’s their finest hour, undoubtedly one of 2015’s best, and as both, it’s hands-down a contender for album of the year.

Revel in the sadness, and enjoy every second.

Posted by Andrew Edmunds

Last Rites Co-Owner; Senior Editor; born in the cemetery, under the sign of the MOOOOOOON...

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