Paradise Lost (band)

Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost at Elbriot 2016
General information
origin	Halifax , England
Genre (s)	Death Doom , Gothic Metal , Dark Rock
founding	1988
Website	www.paradiselost.co.uk
Founding members
singing	Nick Holmes
Guitar , studio keyboard	Gregor Mackintosh (also studio keyboard: since 1998/1999, partly live keyboard: 1999)
guitar	Aaron Aedy
bass	Steve Edmondson
Drums	Matthew Archer (until 1994)
Current occupation
singing	Nick Holmes
Guitar, studio keyboard	Gregor Mackintosh (also studio keyboard: since 1998/1999, partly live keyboard: 1999)
guitar	Aaron Aedy
bass	Steve Edmondson
Drums	Waltteri Väyrynen (since 2016)
former members
Drums, studio backing vocals	Lee Morris (1994-2004)
Drums	Jeff Singer (studio / live drums: 2005-2007, drums: 2007-2008, touring drums: 2009, 2011, 2012)
Drums	Adrian Erlandsson (2009-2016)
Live support and session musicians
singing	Kay Field (studio vocals: 1989)
singing	Sarah Marrion (studio vocals: 1992)
singing	Denise Bernard (studio vocals: 1993)
singing	Shereena Smith (studio vocals: 1998/1999)
singing	Lee Dorian (studio vocals: 2002)
singing	Devin Townsend (studio vocals: 2002)
singing	Leah Randi (studio vocals: 2005)
singing	Heather Thompson (studio vocals: 2005)
Guitar, keyboard, backing vocals	Milly Evans (tour guitar: 1999, 2009-2010, tour keyboard / background vocals: 2011)
Keyboard	Robert John Godfrey (studio keyboard: 1992)
Keyboard	Andrew Holdsworth (studio keyboard: 1993, 1995)
Keyboard	Jamie Muhoberac (studio keyboard: 2002)
Keyboard	Rhys Fulber (studio keyboard: 2002, 2005)
Keyboard	Chris Elliot (studio keyboard: 2005)
Drums	Mark Heron (touring drums: 2008)
Drums	Peter Damin (studio drums: 2009)

Variant of the Paradise Lost lettering

Paradise Lost [ ˌpæɹədaɪsˈlɒst ] is an English band from Halifax , West Yorkshire . Originally from Death Metal , it had a decisive influence on the development of Death Doom and Gothic Metal in the early 1990s . The band was named after the epic poem Paradise Lost by the English poet John Milton .

The group currently consists of singer Nick Holmes , guitarists Gregor Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy , drummer Waltteri Väyrynen and bassist Steven Edmondson .

Band history

Influenced by groups like Celtic Frost and Candlemass , Nick Holmes, Gregor Mackintosh and Matthew Archer decided to found Paradise Lost in late 1987. The following year, Aaron Aedy and Steve Edmondson completed the band. Edmondson took over the bass, so that Holmes, who initially played this role on the side, could concentrate on the vocals and the lyrics. Three demos were released by 1989: the tape Paradise Lost, recorded in December 1988, and Frozen Illusion and Plains of Desolation . Paradise celebrated Lost Death Metal with Doom influences and quickly made a name for themselves in the English Death Metal scene alongside groups like Bolt Thrower . They then signed a record deal with the English label Peaceville Records and released their debut album Lost Paradise there in 1990 , on which they played dark doom / death metal similar to the demos. The following year the album Gothic was released , a reference work that was to give its name to an entire genre, namely Gothic Metal . Although the death metal influences in the vocals were still predominant on this album, female vocals by guest singer Sarah Marrion were now used on three songs, orchestral passages and keyboard sounds were used for the first time. At the time, Paradise Lost were part of what would later become the so-called "Big Three" of Doom Metal along with My Dying Bride and Anathema , all of whom were signed to Peaceville.

Nick Holmes live 2016

With the third album Shades of God in 1992 he switched to Music for Nations . The old, ornate logo - trademark of many death metal bands - had disappeared and the sound had also changed compared to the two previous albums, especially with Nick Holmes' vocals a departure from death metal became evident, so this album can be enjoyed Most likely to be described as Doom Metal with slight Death Metal influences. The song As I Die , included as a bonus track on the CD version, is one of the band's most successful. On the 1993 released album Icon hardly any death metal influences could be heard. As a result, they went on tours a. a. with Sepultura . In 1995 the band released the album Draconian Times and reached their greatest popularity within the metal scene, among other things they played in front of 120,000 spectators as headliner at the Dynamo Open Air .

From the mid-1990s, the band changed their style significantly with each new release, with the greater involvement of electronic elements in particular giving the direction. The 1997 album One Second surprised us with its sometimes more deliberate, but also more dynamic songwriting. Reviewers feared that older fans could be offended, but also called the record a "well-rounded and exciting rock album of the highest order".

The high point of this development was the album Host from 1999, whose electronic sounds and calm mood strongly reminded of Depeche Mode and apart from an immanent melancholy had nothing in common with Gothic Metal . Singer Nick Holmes responded to the question of the assignment to a musical style with his own genre definition Dark Rock .

“Without thinking too much, we always wanted to make the music that we hear ourselves. [...] Gregor never had anything to do with metal . Since I've known him, he's been listening to punk and gothic . I hear everything myself, from Thrash to Pop to Classical . If a song is good and you love it, you should stand by it. "

- Nick Holmes

As a result, the band turned back to harder tones with their 2001 album Believe in Nothing and the 2002 album Symbol of Life , but without returning to their roots in metal.

At the end of February 2005 the band released their tenth album, simply titled Paradise Lost . The limited edition also included string dub mixes from Over the Madness and Don't Belong .

The eleventh studio album entitled In Requiem was released on May 18, 2007. Even before the official sales date, Metal Hammer magazine named In Requiem album of the month. It shows influences from Shades of God or Icon , but, as Nick Holmes also said, does not neglect Paradise Lost's musical work over the past ten years. As with the two previous albums, there was a standard version as well as a limited version that contained two bonus tracks. In November 2007, a DVD documentary entitled Over the Madness was released.

On May 23, 2008 a live DVD and CD was released with the title The Anatomy of Melancholy . The concert for this took place on April 12, 2007 in London. In August 2008, drummer Jeff Singer announced that he was leaving Paradise Lost for personal reasons. The position of drummer was filled in March 2009 by Adrian Erlandsson, who was already active with At the Gates , Nemhain , The Haunted , Samsas Traum and Cradle of Filth .

On September 25th, 2009 the twelfth studio album Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us was released in Germany and Europe . On the subsequent European tour, Gregor Mackintosh was replaced by Milly Evans, the keyboardist of Terrorvision , because of an illness in his family .

The DVD Draconian Times MMXI was released on November 4, 2011. In addition to various bonus material, a recording of a concert from April 1, 2011 in London is included. On the occasion of the 15th anniversary, the studio album Draconian Times from 1995 was played completely live.

Tragic Idol is theband's13th studio album . It was released on April 20, 2012 in Germany, on April 23 in the rest of Europe and on April 24, 2012 in the USA.

For the band's 25th anniversary, Paradise Lost released the compilation Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) on October 18, 2013 . This album contains the new song Loneliness Remains and newly recorded versions of Gothic and Our Savior .

On June 1st, 2015 the album The Plague Within was released, which is again strongly influenced by Death Doom and marks a clear return to the roots of the band.

Another live album entitled Symphony for the Lost was released worldwide on November 20, 2015. This was recorded in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and supported by the orchestra of the Plovdiv State Opera and the Rodna Pesen Choir.

In June 2016 Adrian Erlandsson announced that he had left the band. The reason he gave was that he didn't have the time alongside his other projects. The Finn Wallteri Väyrynen was confirmed as his successor shortly afterwards.

On September 1, 2017, the album  Medusa was released  on the new label Nuclear Blast, which even more than its predecessor contains references to Death Doom of the early 90s.

The current album Obsidian was released on May 15, 2020.

Discography

→ Main article : Paradise Lost (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK
1990	Lost Paradise Peaceville Records	-	-	-	-	First published: February 5, 1990
1991	Gothic Peaceville Records	-	-	-	-	First published: March 19, 1991
1992	Shades of God Music for Nations	-	-	-	-	First published: July 14, 1992
1993	Icon Music for Nations	DE31 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	-	First published: September 28, 1993
1995	Draconian Times Music for Nations	DE15 (14 weeks) DE	AT21 (9 weeks) AT	CH20 (4 weeks) CH	UK16 (3 weeks) UK	First published: June 12, 1995
1997	One Second Music for Nations	DE8 (10 weeks) DE	AT10 (12 weeks) AT	CH40 (4 weeks) CH	UK31 (2 weeks) UK	First published: July 14, 1997
1999	Host EMI	DE4 (8 weeks) DE	AT33 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK61 (1 week) UK	First published: April 28, 1999
2001	Believe in Nothing EMI	DE10 (6 weeks) DE	AT31 (6 weeks) AT	CH41 (4 weeks) CH	-	First published: January 29, 2001
2002	Symbol of Life Gun Records	DE16 (6 weeks) DE	-	CH77 (1 week) CH	-	First published: October 21, 2002
2005	Paradise Lost Gun Records	DE18 (4 weeks) DE	AT34 (2 weeks) AT	CH59 (2 weeks) CH	-	First published: March 17, 2005
2007	In Requiem Century Media	DE12 (4 weeks) DE	AT28 (2 weeks) AT	CH41 (2 weeks) CH	-	First published: May 21, 2007
2009	Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us Century Media	DE22 (3 weeks) DE	AT54 (1 week) AT	CH52 (1 week) CH	-	First published: September 25, 2009
2012	Tragic Idol Century Media	DE6 (5 weeks) DE	AT15 (3 weeks) AT	CH23 (2 weeks) CH	UK73 (1 week) UK	First published: April 18, 2012
2015	The Plague Within Century Media	DE7 (4 weeks) DE	AT14 (1 week) AT	CH21 (2 weeks) CH	UK51 (1 week) UK	First published: June 1, 2015
2017	Medusa Nuclear Blast	DE6 (4 weeks) DE	AT15 (2 weeks) AT	CH14 (2 weeks) CH	UK56 (1 week) UK	First published: September 1, 2017
2020	Obsidian Nuclear Blast	DE2 (... weeks) DE	AT5 (2 weeks) AT	CH4 (4 weeks) CH	UK32 (... weeks) UK	First release: May 15, 2020 # 1 in the German vinyl charts

gallery

• Paradise Lost, line-up at Rockharz Open Air 2018
• 

  Nick Holmes singer

• 

  Lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh

• 

  Rhythm guitarist Aaron Aedy

• 

  Bassist Stephen Edmondson

• 

  Drummer Waltteri Väyrynen

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Matthias Mader: Paradise Lost - The Last Innovators , Iron Pages, Issue 24, p. 5, October / November 1993,
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Rock Power: No trend is the trend , p. 26, 1993
3. ↑ Holger Stratmann: PARADISE LOST . One second . In: Rock Hard , No. 123.
4. ↑ Interview with Nick Holmes, Zillo Musik-Magazin, No. 7/8, 1999, p. 27.
5. ↑ Svenjoy: Interview with Paradise Lost , Zillo Musikmagazin, edition 7/8/95, p. 82, July / August 1995
6. ^ The-Pit.de: Neuer Drummer , accessed on March 17, 2009
7. ↑ Paradise Lost - Obsidian (vinyl). GfK Entertainment , accessed June 30, 2020 . 

Web links

Commons : Paradise Lost  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Paradise Lost at laut.de
• Paradise Lost at Discogs (English)
• Paradise Lost at Allmusic (English)
• Paradise Lost at Musik-Sammler.de