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Paradise Lost: Faith divides us - death unites us
12/03/10 || Euthanatos
I like the title already. Yes. Point for the English chaps. I had already somewhat enjoyed “In Requiem”, their previous effort, although it was far from being a “Draconian Times”. Still, it was a return to form, right? Good things were promised. LO AND BEHOLD, motherfuckers, “Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us” fucking delivers. This album is really good and might just be as rocking as “Draconian Times”.
Guitar-wise, this is leaps and bounds better than anything Paradise Lost have ever done. Seriously, the melodies, the riffs, everything, everything, splendid work from Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy. Another great aspect instrumentally is that Paradise Lost now feature Adrian Erlandsson, who is a fucking killer drummer and better than anyone who ever stepped into the position for the band. So all-around, the musicianship in this album is great.
The vocals, my favorite part, are also jiggly-in-the-pants. Yes, I just made that adjective up. I’ve always had a soft spot for Nick Holmes’ vocals, and in my mind he certainly is one of the pioneers of the style. He sounds righteous here, his deliverance sounding forlorn, but aggressive. Yeah, fuck you, bitch, you left me, so fucking what, I’m gonna coke up and drive my car into your house, beat the shit out of you, your new boyfriend and your cat with my baseball bat, piss on all of your corpses, and take off. That’s how you grieve a fucking tragedy. This is the soundtrack to it.
Naturally, most of those elements have been present in Paradise Lost before. They were there just last week in “In Requiem”, for instance. What makes this new one all the shit, then? The songs, obviously. I don’t know with what demon from the depths Holmes and his buddies made a pact, but the fact is, their songwriting chops have skyrocketed. This is leaps and bounds better than their previous shit. I’m talking not since the days of “Icon” and “Draconian Times” has the the band been this inspired.
“As Horizons End” already opens things up majestically, some great guitar tunes and epic singing set the mood for the entire beast. “I Remain”, “First Light”, the almost melodic death “Frailty”, “The Rise of Denial”, the haunting “Last Regret”, all goodly good stuff just waiting for you to gobble it up with a spoonful of icecream. This might be doom metal light, but fuck, is it great! Love it, love it.
I did not see this coming, sure, “In Requiem” showed some promise, but I was ready to let Paradise Lost roll over and die. They’ve come back from the deep and bit me in the ass. And good for them. Good for fucking them.
The cover: It looks old and shit, like an ancient book image, therefore it is awesome.
- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Century Media Records
- Website: www.paradiselost.co.uk
- Band
- Nick Holmes: vocals
- Greg Mackintosh: lead guitars
- Aaron Aedy: rhythm guitars
- Steve Edmondson: bass guitar
- Adrian Erlandsson: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. As Horizons End
- 02. I Remain
- 03. First Light
- 04. Frailty
- 05. Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
- 06. The Rise of Denial
- 07. Living With Scars
- 08. Last Regret
- 09. Universal Dream
- 10. In Truth
