Needless to say, Paradise Lost is one of my all time favorite bands. It is the band that defined gothic metal, and evolved greatly with (almost) every album. It is the first band the ex-metal band Metallica covered (as far as I know) with As I Die.

They really grew into me since Shades Of God. Icon is one of my all time favorites, a dark unsurpassed masterpiece, and the following Draconian Times was also a big, big gem in their discography.

One Second showed that Paradise Lost wanted to do changes in their style. They grew up, and they wanted to do something different for once. It was a dark, atmospheric album where they experimented with electronic sounds.
It worked and it was also a great album, though it managed to divide their older fans.

Host was next, and I have to admit I was really shocked the moment I listened to it. It had nothing to do with the previous Paradise Lost. The moment I listened to it (and not only me), I thought I was listening to a new Depeche Mode release. When I found out they had the same producer as DM, I wasn't surprised. I do like DM, but I hated to see them doing something that was not original, something that didn't remind them at all. The general idea is that I was really, really disappointed, since Gregor wasn't anywhere, (though I knew it sounded much better with guitars live) and so were most fans of the old PL. It did manage to attract many new fans though.

I never thought that they could do a release to cheer me up since. Till I found a sample of Mouth...
Needless to say I was jumping all around. The guitars, the vocals, the wise use of electronic instruments, everything screamed Paradise Lost!

If you think that Paradise Lost should go back to Icon days, then skip this review. If you think that One Second was also a great album, keep reading...

Believe In Nothing may sound like One Second the first time you listen to it, but it is much more different.
They sound more mature, the sounds are heavier, the guitar element is much more present (great job Gregor), Nick does his best in the vocals, and the lyrics are dark in the PL way!

I Am Nothing opens the album, a slow paced melancholic song, Mouth is my personal favorite, fast, growing into you more everytime you listen to it. Fader has a great bass work and intro, Look At Me Now, Sell It To The world (Some parts remind of Icon) and No Reason are also fast paced dark songs. Illumination is perhaps the most atmospheric track of the album. Sad, slow, dark, what everyone likes in PL. Something Real, Divided, Control follow the same moody style, but each one being different. Divided stands out for the violins in the middle. The album closes with the amazing World Pretending, another melancholic, pesimistic, dark song.

The guys refer to it as a darker, more metal Host. They said they wanted to do an album like that since they thought that Host sounded better when played live with guitars. I think the sound is closer to One Second with some good Host elements.

This is the first time I feel like reffering to each track seperately, and I use the terms dark and melancholic too much. Well, it is a really moody album, it is what Paradise Lost are after all. Nick's vocals are captivating, and Gregor with Aaron have done a majestic work in the guitar section.

They don't try to give hope, instead they are some of the most pesimistic people I know. Every track shows that, it's one of the best albums to hear when you feel down. Yeah, I know, some people like to listen to Helloween when they feel bad, others, like me, prefer melancholic albums, to fight sadness with sadness.

Paradise Lost have managed to do something I didn't expect anymore, a great comeback, and that makes me really happy. What's even better is that I have this album for quite a while and I haven't got bored of it, even a little bit and I wanted to make sure I would listen to it quite a while before I reviewed it. It is one of the few albums that grow into you every time you listen to it.

If you prefer them the way they were during Lost Paradise to Shades Of God, then you may probably won't be interested in this release. If you liked One Second then you will find that it is a great album for both, old and new fans. Ok, maybe really new, Host era fans who don't even know the term 'gothic metal band' might be disappointed because Gregor is back, but hey, do we really care about them? ))