Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Sebastijan Videc
Venue: Mostovna, Nova Gorica
Concert date: 29.10.2015
You’re wondering why such a nonsensical title, when the headliner is neither Finnish nor Norwegian and doesn’t even play black metal? Because that’s how vocalist Nick Holmes introduced Paradise Lost, in one of his trademark banter bits soaked in English humor. Still doesn’t make sense, does it? The point I’m trying to make is that last Thursday, on the stage of a nicely packed Mostovna, Holmes was in a mood like he hasn’t been in ages. Not only as a frontman, a role he, hand on heart, has done worse than a mic stand in the past, but also in terrific vocal form, and the show turned out as good as it did precisely because of him. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
On The Plague Within tour, Paradise Lost are joined by the British-German outfit Lucifer, formed after the breakup of the duo The Oath, who released their debut Lucifer I half a year ago. Despite the breakup of her previous band, things worked out well for Johanna Sadonis, since heavyweight Gaz Jennings (guitarist of the legendary Cathedral from start to finish) joined her in Lucifer, and given that I hadn’t paid the band any special attention before, I was really curious what the brew from their occult rock cauldron would serve up. The start was promising. The riffs are more than on point, Gaz is simply a master of morbid riffage, this time grafted with stoner and psychedelic influences, and the rhythm section is massive, backed by simple but powerful drums and a really groovy, dynamic bass. So far the impression was very good, but it was quickly spoiled by Johanna’s weak vocals, which do try to inject some sinister and occult vibes into the music, but mostly fail. A shame, because the band otherwise sounds promising, yet doesn’t achieve the desired effect precisely because of the missed vocals. That takes a lot more than swishing a cape around, and the stylistically similar Avatarium, with a far better vocalist, would have made a much, much better support act. If this were a contest between two former members of the cult band Cathedral, the score would be Lucifer (Gaz Jennings): With the Dead (Lee Dorrian), definitely 0:1.
It’s been about half a year since the release of the fourteenth studio album The Plague Within by British veterans Paradise Lost, and it’s been confirmed that the initial enthusiasm for it wasn’t exaggerated (review HERE). The album is clearly passing the test of time, and it’s fair to say it will go down as one of the better ones in the band’s long career. But songs only face the real test on the concert stage, so our ears could hardly wait to hear how the plague would sound live. Paradise Lost didn’t keep us waiting, greeting us right from the start with the hard-hitting anthem of hopelessness, No Hope In Sight. If the state of Holmes’s voice was in question, he crushed any doubts about his form the moment the first verse hit. His raw, rasping yet intelligible and mighty growl proved extremely convincing, something that hasn’t been heard live from Paradise Lost in years and years. Nick handled both the new tracks and the brilliant classic The Painless excellently, with his harsh vocals coming very close to the studio version from Gothic. We know Holmes has been prone to stumbling on songs with clean vocals too, but this time he pulled those off more than satisfactorily as well. Apparently his strength lies in his new beard, kind of like Samson’s hair, hehe. If Holmes’s performance was questionable in the past, the instrumental side never was, and this time was no different. The sound was still creaking a little during No Hope In Sight, but it was quickly fixed and the unforgettable lines of master Mackintosh broke through with no trouble, while the young Finnish drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (filling in for the absent Adrian Erlandsson, and also playing in Mackintosh’s Vallenfyre) was convincing too, pounding the drums mercilessly. The song selection offered no big surprises, since the Yorkshiremen played almost the entire The Plague Within. Which was fine, because the new songs are superb live, led by the fast-slow magnum opus Flesh From Bone/Beneath Broken Earth, played as a pair, which confirmed live that this is some of the strongest material in the band’s entire history, as Gregor’s crushing riffs and Holmes’s thunderous verses with »Hail to nothingness/You wish to dieeeeeeeeee!« only underlined, sending shivers down the spine. In the encore, the epic Return to the Sun also delivered from the new album, and to close, as always, the hit Say Just Words.
Paradise Lost were brave with this tour, as half of the songs played came from the new record. It definitely shows that the band is firmly convinced of the new material, and it seems The Plague Within has breathed new life into the group. We haven’t seen the band in such good live form in a long time, and even the elder statesmen of death/doom metal can show they’re still relevant, and the hope that this renaissance won’t be just temporary is definitely on the horizon.
Setlist
PARADISE LOST:
1. No Hope In Sight
2. Widow
3. The Painless
4. Terminal
5. Erased
6. Praise Lamented Shade
7. Victim of the Past
8. Enchantment
9. Flesh From Bone
10. Beneath Broken Earth
11. As I Die
12. Requiem
— encore —
13. Return to the Sun
14. Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
15. An Eternity of Lies
16. Say Just Words
Photo gallery
