“The Plague Within” sounds familiar to me. It was something that I expected. This trend was obvious on “Tragic Idol” three years ago and also from what “Tragic Illusion 25” expressed a year later, on how the British see now the songs of their back catalog.
The doom aesthetics never left Paradise Lost even though some electronic sounds had taken over their music in the late 90’s and the first years of the previous decade. “The Plague Within” seems somewhat nostalgic as we listen enough of “Shades Of God” and quite a few of “Gothic”. Many describe it as the band’s return to the sound they had when they started their frantic career. I don’t fully agree with that. This album seems to redefine the band as to its origins and influences. I believe that Paradise Lost would love to have started their career with this album. Idiomatically, it’s close enough to the two aforementioned albums, with the difference that the musicians are more mature and experienced here. The guitars stand out better than ever having a unique and double role in the sound of the album. The intro solos are amazing as part of the general aggressive doom sentiment stemming for once more in Mackintosh’s synthetic verve. The excellent bonding and volume of the sound, but also the ten tracks that consist “The Plague Within”, clearly show that Paradise Lost have created exactly what they wanted and what, for almost thirty years, flows in their blood.
In any case, we have another great album in the discography of the five guys in black who, since many years, can boast for their ability that they can write and play anything.
