In the beginning there was Vallenfyre, the old-school death metal project of Greg Mackintosh. After that, Nick Holmes tried again his growls with Bloodbath. “The Plague Within” from two years ago showed us that all these were signs showing the changes in the sound of Paradise Lost. Now, the 15th album of the great British band confirmed that.
Even if they don’t agree with their fans that they have returned to their roots, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Their style of writing songs never really changed, even in the controversial albums. PL did always whatever they wanted and they continue to do so. But for the sake of this review, a dive into the abyss of the past is the easiest way to understand each other.
Lower tempos, more dirty and old-school sound (especially in the guitars), the melodies are on vacation and Holmes is using his growls more often that his clean vocals. The 8:30 minutes of the opening track “Fearless Sky” show us what’s about to come. We’re talking about a dark and depressive doom/death metal album that shows clearly why PL are considered fathers of this genre. After all, they managed to release something like that almost 25 years since the last time they did something similar. Turn off the lights, put on your headphones and let the darkness and depression travel you back to 1991.
“Medusa” will be released in various editions for the fans of the band, some of them containing three bonus tracks that easily could fit in the standard edition as there are absolutely no fillers. Without doubt in the top releases of this year. The Shadowkings are still on their throne.
