UMUR "Icon 30" is the seventeenth full-length studio album by UK doom/goth metal act Paradise Lost. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in December 2023. "Icon 30" doesn´t feature any new material but is instead a complete re-recording of Paradise Lost´s fourth full-length studio album "Icon" from September 1993. It´s released as a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original album release. Four of the original members who performed on the 1993 album release are still members of Paradise Lost and all perform on "Icon 30". The only member of the original lineup who doesn´t perform on the 2023 version of the album is drummer Matthew Archer who left Paradise Lost in December 1994 after the tour supporting the original album. Quite a few drummers have come and gone since Archer left, but the drums on "Icon 30" were recorded by Italian drummer Guido Zima Montanarini, who also plays with guitarist Greg Mackintosh in Strigoi.

Re-recording "Icon" could have been approached by a number of different ways, but Paradise Lost opted to re-record the album as close to the original as possible. I´m not completely sure why they didn´t take the opportunity to make a few changes here and there or re-arrange a few parts to make "Icon 30" stand out as a different version of the original "Icon" album, but my most qualified guess is that first of all the band are satisfied with the original album as it is and don´t really want to change it, and secondly they probably don´t have the rights to the original recordings, and the only way to make a profit off their own music (and one of their most popular and best-selling releases) is to re-record the album and re-release it. It wouldn´t be the first time something like that has happened. I remember both Flotsam- and Jetsam and Testament having done similar things in the past. I´m sure the band will also say things like they want to introduce the album to younger generations of fans and give other similar reasons, but I´ll go with my original qualified guess.

Meddling with an album release that many consider a "classic" can be a dangerous road to travel, but Paradise Lost have obviously taken great care that the atmosphere, guitar tone, and general sound of "Icon 30" is relatively close to the original album. The drums are a bit different (Archer was not the most accomplished drummer, so it´s not necessarily a bad thing) and lead vocalist Nick Holmes voice has changed a bit over the years, but it´s details and if the goal was to re-create the original album I´ll say that goal is reached pretty well.

I suspect though that for most "old" fans this re-recording is more a novelty release than anything else, as they will always listen to the original album before this one, making "Icon 30" a bit of a redundant release in their collections, but of course there´s always the hardcore fans/completists who want everything Paradise Lost have ever released. Personally I think it´s a lost opportunity to reimagine "Icon". Not that it really needs reimagining as it´s pretty much perfect as it is, but since Paradise Lost wanted a celebration, creating a new and different version of the album would have made more sense and would have given the fans more value for their money. There´s nothing wrong with the content, the performances, or the sound production of "Icon 30" and I´m sure lots of listeners are going to appreciate it but yeah...a lost opportunity it is. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.

Warthur Just as Medusa was a return to the death-doom style of Paradise Lost's early years, Obsidian is a refreshed update of the gothic style of metal they rolled out on their run from Shades of God to Draconian Times. Focusing more on guttural, harsh vocals rather than the clean vocals which came in towards the end of this period (though there are some of those), this is not an album to reinvent the wheel, but it might be an album which reminds you just how good that particular wheel is.

For instance, Hope Dies Young is, at once, a song which could have sat proudly alongside any of their early 1990s output, and at the same time perhaps a song which they needed to go on their long sonic journey away from their roots before they could pull it off quite this well.

In other words, as with Medusa this is the result of the band having moved away from this musical style over the years, and thus gaining the ability to have some perspective on it which they might not have picked up had they not undertaken that journey. It shouldn't be a surprise when a band as consistently good as Paradise Lost make an album this excellent this late in their career, but somehow Obsidian even exceeds their usual standards.

Warthur On their self-titled album, Paradise Lost don't so much set a new manifesto for their sound as they continue their evolution back towards the genre they had originally pioneered - having left the metal sphere altogether on Host before Believe In Nothing and Symbol of Life began their evolution back.

Whilst back in the 1990s the band were true trailblazers of gothic metal, here they feel more like they are comfortably plugging along in the middle of the road of the genre. This doesn't bother me as much as it might, however, because whilst this is slightly generic gothic metal, it is at least extremely well-crafted generic gothic metal, and as a result I can accept it as an album which manages to be rather fun even if it isn't necessarily all that substantial next to the likes of Draconian Times.

Warthur Paradise Lost began as pioneers of a distinctive death-doom sound before they went on a long, gradual journey, shifting through gothic metal to increasingly less extreme metal-oriented styles until on Host they exited the metal world altogether, producing an album of synth-oriented gothic rock.

Believe In Nothing begins their long trek back to their roots. Ultimately, I think Paradise Lost's journey away from and then back towards the gothic-doom metal blend which is their main forte was a good thing: by undertaking that trip, they were able to return to extreme metal having stretched their wings a bit and learned a few lessons they wouldn't have if they'd stayed in their comfort zone, and were stronger for it.

That said, the journey itself is a little rough to listen to. Host was good but not great, and anyone who's into synth-heavy goth music has probably heard better. The return of heavy guitars and metal stylings on Believe In Nothing is in that respect a welcome reprieve, though it has to be said that their sound ends up feeling a little generic here - there's a few too many moments where they sound like commercial pretenders to the throne, rather than the mighty unit which gave us albums like Draconian Times.

Still, the album does do some interesting things, exploring how the synths of Host and current alternative rock trends could work their way into a sound suggestive of Paradise Lost's glory days without quite arriving there. If Believe In Nothing doesn't sound like top tier Paradise Lost, it at least sounds like a pretty decent support band warming up the crowd before Paradise Lost themselves take to the stage - and in its grander moments, you can get a good whiff of the real deal.

If you are into gothic metal to any particular extent, that probably sounds good to you, and it sounds alright to me - except it can be very hard to get over the fact that it's Paradise Lost themselves doing this, and you know they're capable of more.

UMUR "At the Mill" is a live album release by UK doom/gothic metal act Paradise Lost. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in July 2021. "At the Mill" features the full Paradise Lost live show from November 2020, recorded at The Mill Nightclub near the band’s hometown in Yorkshire, England.

The album features 16 tracks and a total playing time of 73:18 minutes. Paradise Lost have crafted a varied and smooth working setlist for this concert, featuring tracks from many of their (at this point) 16 full-length studio albums. Paradise Lost have evolved from death/doom metal, to gothic tinged doom metal, to gothic metal, to electronic rock/heavy metal, back to gothic doom metal, and have even made a return to gothic tinged death/doom metal on the last couple of albums, so they have quite an eclectic style. "At the Mill" fully displays that, and it´s a great joy to be led through the history of the band and their many different musical styles.

Older songs like "As I Die", "Gothic", and "Embers Fire" are seamlessly paired with mid-period tracks like "So Much Is Lost", "The Enemy", and "One Second", and contemporary tracks like "No Hope in Sight", "Fall from Grace", and the irresistable doom/death of "Beneath Broken Earth". Not a single track feels wrong on the setlist or is placed without thought.

The sound quality is raw, powerful, and manages to provide the tracks with a possibility to shine. There are a couple of production choices I don´t agree with, but they are mainly in regards to the how the drums are produced. The hi-hat features an odd sound and the bass drums don´t sound that well either. Thankfully the great playing of drummer Waltteri Väyrynen keeps me from thinking about it too much, but it is a slight production issue. There is another thing about the production I don´t understand, but it may have something to do with COVID-19 restrictions at the venue...there are no audience noises. No screaming, no talking, and not even a clap after a song ends, and that has some impact on my evaluation of "At the Mill" as a live release.

I´ve mentioned Väyrynen above but the rest of the band are also very well playing. High level tight performances all around. Steve Edmondson (bass) and Aaron Aedy (rhythm guitars) (along with a shifting cast of drummers) were always the glue of the band, and the foundation upon which lead guitarist Greg Mackintosh and vocalist Nick Holmes could work their magic. And magic is definitely at work on "At the Mill", which features great melancholic lead guitar themes, and a Nick Holmes in fine vocal form, performing a varity of vocal styles, from subdued cleans, to more raw shouting vocals, to deeper gothic tinged cleans, to death metal growling.

Despite the few issues mentioned above I still think "At the Mill" is a great live document of a 2020 Paradise Lost live show. There is the right amount of rawness in the performances but still a high level professionalism which means you´ll find next to no playing mistakes or other nasty distractions here. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

Warthur Released to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the classic gothic doom metal album, Paradise Lost's Draconian Times MMXI simply has them play through the entire album in order, then add on some encores from their wider discography at the end. It's a decent capture of the Paradise Lost live experience, though ultimately they stick close enough to the studio rendition to make this a little redundant in the end. If you're very keen on this specific period of the band's career - after their early pioneering death-doom work, before they steered away from metal entirely to explore other gothic realms prior to their 2000s return to metal - then it's probably worth it, but even then you might find you just prefer to spin the studio album again.

martindavey87 Considering this was actually released on VHS in 1990, Paradise Lost must surely overestimate the passion and loyalty of their fan club. Filmed in Bradford in 1989 to coincide with the band’s debut album, this is a 30-minute video of the band playing on stage. They barely move around, you barely see glimpses of the crowd, and in fact, you barely see vocalist Nick Holmes’ face due to his shaggy hair constantly covering it.

I’m not really a fan of their earlier, death metal growly material anyway, but even if I was, this video isn’t enjoyable or interesting to watch at all. Re-released in 2004 on DVD, this isn’t worth the 50p I spent on it if not for the fact that I do, in fact, actually like this band, and have a compulsive obsession to own everything a band puts out.