PARADISE LOST — Obsidian (review)

PARADISE LOST — Obsidian album cover Album · 2020 · Gothic Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
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.
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adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
One thing I really love about these guys is that although they do have albums that are similar they have never had more than two consecutive albums that's true of. They're always changing yet always remaining distinctly Paradise Lost.

For me, Obsidian is one of their most unique records in the sense that it's probably what Icon and Draconian Times would have sounded like if Nick hadn't originally stopped growling.
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Hell yeah, this is a brilliant album.

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