Paradise Lost (band)

Paradise Lost are a gothic metal band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, England and are considered by some to be one of the pioneers of the death-doom genre^[5] and of the gothic metal genre.^[6] Paradise Lost has proven to be an influential band, with Jonas Renkse of Katatonia saying that his band started off "as Paradise Lost fanboys".^[7]

Their line-up has remained stable for such a long-standing heavy metal band, consisting of singer Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmondson. Holmes and Mackintosh are the principal composers, with almost all of the band's songs credited to them. During the years, the band has only changed drummers.

History

Early demos and the Peaceville years

After their formation in 1988, Paradise Lost released three cassette demos, Paradise Lost, Frozen Illusion, and Plains of Desolation, before being signed to Peaceville Records in 1989. They recorded their debut album, Lost Paradise, at Academy Music Studio in December of that year. The album was released in February 1990.^[8]

In November 1990, Paradise Lost returned to Academy Music Studio to record their second album, Gothic, which was released in March 1991. The band began to move away from the death/doom sound of their previous releases by adding keyboards and female vocal accompaniments.^[9]

The Music for Nations years

Paradise Lost left Peaceville and was signed to the Music for Nations label and released Shades Of God in July 1992.^[8] The band's musical approach continued to evolve with this album as evidenced by the addition of quieter passages in the song's compositions, the softening of vocalist Nick Holmes's death grunt, and Gregor Mackintosh's incorporation of acoustic guitar to his sound.^[10] The album contained the song "As I Die," later released as a single/EP.

In summer 1993, the band recorded their fourth album, Icon which was released on September of the same year. On this album Nick Holmes abandons his death grunt and instead uses a "James Hetfield-style bark".^[11]

Original member Matthew Archer quit and was replaced by drummer Lee Morris in December 1994. The band entered the studio in January 1995 to record their fifth album, Draconian Times, which was released in June 1995.

Paradise Lost at Kavarna Rock Fest 2011.

One Second

On the album One Second (1997), the band began to experiment with Depeche Mode-esque synthpop and electronica.^[12] The album was one of the band's most successful releases, cracking the German, Swedish, and Finnish top ten charts.^[13][14][15]

The EMI years

The band moved to EMI Electrola in Germany for its next album, Host, released in 1999, on which they continued to experiment with new sounds, appearing to shed their metal roots.^[16]

On the next album, Believe in Nothing (2001), Paradise Lost continued the synth direction, but adding rock elements to the music, forcibly by EMI at the time. Due to the loss of creativity control, Mackintosh said that the album "doesn't really exist for him".^[17]

The GUN Records years

In May 2002, the band signed to GUN Records, and on the album that followed, Symbol of Life, the metallic roots of the band began to resurface.^[18] The album included guest musicians Devin Townsend, Jamie Muhoberac and Lee Dorrian.^[19]

In March 2004, Lee Morris left the band and was replaced by Jeff Singer.

Paradise Lost released their tenth, eponymous album in 2005 on GUN records.

The Century Media years

The eleventh album, In Requiem, was released in Spring 2007 on Century Media;^[20] it was generally well-accepted and highly rated by both critics and fans, pleased to see the band returning to their heavier, gothic metal sound similar to that of earlier albums like Draconian Times.^[21] The full-length was preceded by a single, "The Enemy" and on the single, Singer was finally listed as a permanent band member. In a recent video interview, Mackintosh and Holmes revealed that Singer had already auditioned for the band when Archer left, but they chose Morris instead because "[Singer] had a pink drumkit".^[22]

In November 2007, Century Media released the DVD Over The Madness, which documents the impact Paradise Lost has had on gothic metal and provides insight into the mindset and workings of Paradise Lost. Disc 2 includes further interviews, rehearsal footage, plus backstage and memorabilia sections.^[23]

On 13 August 2008, drummer Jeff Singer announced his departure from the band on the Paradise Lost official website. He wanted to be with his family, had an upcoming job, and the then-upcoming South American tour would interfere with that. As a result, Paradise Lost had to cancel the South American tour dates that they had planned.^[24] Soon after, on 28 August 2008, the Paradise Lost official website announced that the cancelled South American tour has been reconfirmed^[25] and that Mark Heron from Oceansize would take over on drums.

At the beginning of 2009, Paradise Lost recorded an album with producer Jens Bogren in Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden. At the time there was no full-time replacement for Jeff Singer and drums were played by Swedish drummer Peter Damin.^[26] On 16 March 2009, when recording for the album was already finished, the band recruited Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, ex-Cradle of Filth) as a full-time drummer for the band.^[27]

On 18 June 2009, Paradise Lost officially announced Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us as the title of their album to be released on Century Media Records on 25 September 2009 in Germany, on 28 September 2009 in the rest of Europe and on 6 October 2009 in the US.^[28]

Paradise Lost headlined the Jägermeister Stage at Ozzfest 2010 on 18 September 2010.^[29]

In late 2011, Paradise Lost began recording its 13th studio album Tragic Idol in The Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire. The album was released on 23 April 2012.^[30]. Adrian Erlandsson was unable to play a few live shows for this album so the band got Jeff Singer again to fill in.

Paradise Lost performed some of their songs at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards with Cristina Scabbia on Paradise Lost's song Say Just Words and with Gus G. of a Black Sabbath cover, Into the Void.

On 15 August 2013, the cover and artwork were released for their compilation album of b-sides titled Tragic Illusion 25. In September–October 2014, some of the songs from the album were released, such as a new song entitled Loneliness Remains, and older songs that were remade such as Our Savior 2013 from Lost Paradise and the self-titled song Gothic 2013 from Gothic. The album was released on 5 November 2013.^[31]

On 27 October 2013, it was announced that the writing for the 14th studio album will begin after their 25th anniversary tour and the recording to the album will start in June 2014.^[32] On 29 December 2014, it was revealed that The Plague Within would be the title for upcoming album.^[33] On 26 January 2015, the release date for 2 June 2015 was announced, along with the producer, Jaimie Gomez Arellano and the recording location of Orgone Studios, London.^[34] Speaking to Rock Sins, Nick Holmes stated that the new album would have elements of all previous Paradise Lost material including a return to the death/doom of their early output, stating that "there’s some songs that could’ve been written in 1989, a couple of really old school doom/death songs which are gonna surprise a couple of people when they hear it.".^[35]

Members

Current Official Members

Nick Holmes at Metalmania 2007 festival in Katowice, Poland.

• Nick Holmes - vocals (1988– present)
• Gregor Mackintosh - lead guitar, keyboards (1988–present)
• Aaron Aedy - rhythm guitar (1988–present)
• Steve Edmondson - bass guitar (1988–present)

Current Session Member

• Waltteri Väyrynen - drums (2015–present)

Former Members

• Matthew Archer – drums (1988–1994)
• Lee Morris - drums (1994–2004)
• Jeff Singer - drums (2004–2008, occasional shows 2011-2012)
• Adrian Erlandsson - drums (2009-2015)

Session Musicians

• Mark Heron - drums (2008)
• Peter Damin - drums (2009)

Live Musicians

• Milton Evans - guitar (1999, 2009–2010), keyboards, backing vocals (2011)

Timeline

Discography

• Lost Paradise (1990)
• Gothic (1991)
• Shades of God (1992)
• Icon (1993)
• Draconian Times (1995)
• One Second (1997)
• Host (1999)
• Believe in Nothing (2001)
• Symbol of Life (2002)
• Paradise Lost (2005)
• In Requiem (2007)
• Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us (2009)
• Tragic Idol (2012)
• The Plague Within (2015)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paradise Lost (band).

• Official site
• Official Paradise Lost Facebook
• "Komodo Rock Talks With Aaron Aedy Of Paradise Lost". Archived from the original on 26 August 2010. 
• "INTERVIEW 1992. THRASHIKUS Zine #5." (in French). Archived from the original on 20 June 2012.