Paradise Lost's 'Ascension' - Album Review

On the metal side of things at least, I think that it is fair to say that Halifax's Paradise Lost are the UK's best gothic act. Whilst there are bigger non-metal gothic acts, when it comes to all things heavy I am of the view that Paradise Lost take the crown. Whilst some may disagree and put My Dying Bride above them, a band whom I am far less familiar with, for me Paradise Lost have been hugely consistent - and of all the gothic/doom acts, both from the UK and from abroad, they are the one I tend to come back to the most. I recently listened to all of the band's studio albums in chronological order, some of which I had not heard for quite a while, and there was very little there I disliked. A primitive debut and a couple of slightly misguided late 1990s/early 2000s albums aside, the band's lengthy discography is remarkably strong and consistent - with the recent run that they have been on since at least 2012's Tragic Idol, but maybe even before that, containing some really excellent late-career work. This has been helped, too, by the band re-embracing some of the doom elements of their early days. Tragic Idol did not really do this, but the songwriting throughout that album is strong enough that it holds its own, but from 2015's The Plague Within (which I reviewed here) onwards growls and nasty, slow-burning riffs have been back on the menu. As such, The Plague Within and 2017's Medusa (which I reviewed here) were easily the heaviest the band had sounded since the early 1990s. Since re-establishing that early doom sound again, though, the band have since sought to showcase all of their disparate sounds - fusing their various eras together. This variety is what made 2020's Obsidian (which I reviewed here), the band's most recent studio album prior to last month, such a success. Perhaps satisfied that they had managed to re-capture their doomy beginnings, Obsidian built on that template to also include some synthier tracks, with 1997's One Second referenced at times - whilst other tracks looked to the more gothic, traditional metal sounds of the band's mid-2000s output. Obsidian remains a late-career highlight for Paradise Lost as a result in my opinion - and it was an album I listened to a lot during the pandemic era. Five years is a long time between albums for Paradise Lost, but with the Obsidian touring cycle delayed for obvious reasons, the Host side-project, and a re-recording of 1993's Icon thrown in for goo measure it took the band a little while to get to writing something new - but last month saw the release of the band's seventeenth studio album Ascension. Like Obsidian, Ascension builds on the re-established doom sound of the 2015 and 2017 releases - but also throws in some other sounds. There are less of the synthy overtones this time, though, with Ascension feeling like a more bona fide metal album through and through. The recent re-recording of Icon means that some of that album's approach has bled into these new songs - but there is also plenty of 1995's Draconian Times here alongside, again, those mid-2000s releases. Frontman Nick Holmes and guitarist Greg Mackintosh are, as always, responsible for the songs here - with other mainstays guitarist Aaron Aedy and bassist Stephen Edmondson appearing on the album. Ascension is the only album on which drummer Guido Montanarini (Rhyme; Implore; Strigoi), who replaced Waltteri Väyrynen in 2022, played, though, although he did also play on the Icon re-recording, as the Italian left the band prior to the album's release to be replaced by a returning Jeff Singer.

There is still plenty of doom here, though, as the opening track Serpent on the Cross can attest. It opens slowly, though, with strings, chiming synths, and wordless female vocals - but once the guitars kick in a true doom atmosphere descends. First a sombre lead is thrown in, but the song starts proper once the first slow riff launches and Holmes unleashes a cracked growl. A version of the opening guitar melody returns, and this provides an early hook against the doom riffing. There is plenty of melody throughout this album, both vocally and from Mackintosh's lead playing, and this guitar lead resurfaces quite often throughout - and later forms something of a chorus alongside some deep growled vocals. The verses here up the pace, though, with Montanarini adding some surprisingly busy drumming. This drumming propels the verses nicely, with Holmes' growls gaining some urgency, whilst a mix of chugging riffing and guitar melodies is used to add colour. The slower chorus returns to some of those core doom elements from the song's early moments, though, whilst later on a more mid-paced section allows Mackintosh to take a lengthy guitar solo - which is a bit more fast-paced than his traditional approach. There are some technical shredded motifs here, which suit the dynamic arrangement of the song as a whole, before slowness once again descends for a final chorus reprise. With no clean vocals here, the song is a true doom metal anthem - and it kicks the album off nicely. Tyrants Serenade (shame about the missing apostrophe) also opens quite slowly, with some chiming guitar melodies - over which a big drum fill and a plectrum scrape give way to another hooky opening guitar lead. Mackintosh has been writing these guitar hooks for years, and there are plenty more of them here, but this one feels especially hooky - and it is fitting that Holmes sings clean during a chugging verse which is underpinned nicely by Edmondson's bass playing. Later verses have guitar melodies too, but this initial one is mostly driven by the bass - whilst the chorus is much tougher with classic Paradise Lost held chords, during which Holmes switches back and forth between clean and harsh vocals for effect. The core of the song is very much from the band's 2000s era albums, so more metallic in nature with a lack of a more atmospheric approach, but the occasional growls hark back to the early days - and it is a hooky piece thanks to the guitar playing and a call-and-response chorus. Salvation, again, opens slowly but this time the main guitar melody kicks in from the off - over which the song is laid. Percussive drumming sets the scene early on - and once a more uniform beat is laid down there is a stronger keyboard presence here to set more of an atmospheric tone. Holmes returns to his harsh delivery here, and the verses really crawl along at a slow pace - with leaden drumming leaving holes in the arrangement to accent the overall heaviness, only for the chorus to feel tighter thanks to a bigger lead guitar presence and a faster drum groove. Later chorus iterations expand on this formula, too, adding clean vocals to another quite percussive section to balance out the crawling doom heard elsewhere. A later bridge section following a guitar solo also recalls Draconian Times somewhat thanks to Holmes utilising his grittier clean delivery during this brief section. This song moves all over the place, then, but it does hold it together - and delivers strongly on various eras in one.

Silence Like the Grave opens with some sweeping atmospherics, but it is not long before another guitar lead fades in - albeit this one feels much faster, and the song slowly swirls around it, with synths and percussive drumming creating a dense sound before a pretty straight ahead mid-paced riff takes over. This song overall is a real throwback to the Draconian Times sound in a big way - as when the verse kicks off the guitars pair down to a faster chug, over which Holmes sings in that gruff, yet still clean, manner he utilised during that era. Given how slow much of the album has been up to this point, Silence Like the Grave feels positively energetic by comparison - with a good mix of chugging and the aforementioned mid-paced riff, whilst the faster guitar lead is repurposed during an anthemic chorus which sees Holmes switching to harsh vocals. The pace and the vocal diversity allows the song to be one of the hookiest here - and Mackintosh rightly throws in a pretty busy and fast-paced guitar solo, too, under which Montanarini lays down some double bass drumming. Lay a Wreath Upon the World generally strips back a lot of the band's big sound - and it opens gently with acoustic guitars against quite a cold, atmospheric backing. The song is an effective ballad, then, with the mournful acoustic guitar chords and occasional melody quite stark compared to the band's usual approach - whilst Holmes sings clean, almost whispered, against this simple backing. Strings slowly fade in and out, creating a surprisingly dense atmosphere, whilst delicate acoustic guitar leads add a classical-adjacent feel. The song does build up from this base - but it never really explodes. More wordless female vocals are utilised during a transitional moment, and it feels as if the song is going to really ramp up - but it does not do so really, as another acoustic-based verse continues, albeit this time with drums and electric guitar leads. Some heavier sections are utilised later on, but these are largely a backing for the wordless vocals again - whilst rumbling basslines are pushed to the fore during other sections. Diluvium returns to something more typical, though, with another guitar lead opening things up. Whilst Holmes largely uses that gruffer delivery again here, it sounds a bit like the sound of Tragic Idol mixed with Icon's vibe - thanks to a mix of slower riffing and some faster chugging sections. At first the song is quite slow - but it takes on a new lease of life when it speeds up, and Mackintosh throws in some guitar leads to act as punctuation after each of Holmes' vocal lines. These occasional faster sections always help the band's albums to feel more alive - whilst the core slow-burning nature still envelops much of the song. This is really a song for the guitarists, though, as the mix of riffing styles and the many lead guitar moments keep this track interesting. Savage Days returns somewhat to a ballad-esque sound early on, with a mix of acoustic guitars, clean guitars, and piano backing Holmes' smoother vocal delivery - but held distorted chords soon break this calmer vibe, and it is not long before the song morphs into some emotional doom. There are chiming classic gothic vibes here, with rumbling basslines and ringing clean guitar melodies adding depth, but generally this is very much classic-sounding Paradise Lost - and this slightly sparser and more emotional backing allows Holmes to really showcase his powerful clean vocal delivery.

Sirens is another slow-burner initially, with hypnotic guitar melodies opening things up as drums, synths, and guitar chords swirl around, but the track overall is more of a metallic, mid-paced chugger. This is another which harks back to Draconian Times quite a bit - with Holmes singing throughout in his gruffer clean delivery, whilst synths take more of a backseat and chugging guitars rule. The verses here are pretty fast-paced for Paradise Lost, as they create a strong, headbanging feel thanks to some tight riffing and simple drumming, whilst the riffing during the chorus has a swinging feel. There is a classic rock strut to parts of the chorus - whilst some of the leads would not sound out of place on a Swedish melodic death metal album despite the use of clean vocals throughout. There are some more melancholic moments later on, which see a more atmospheric approach taken and Holmes singing in his smoother delivery - but overall this song has some real grit to it thanks to Holmes sounding furious throughout. Generally I feel that the first half of this album is stronger than the second half - but Sirens is a song which has really jumped out at me as I have given the album more listens, and it is a real late-album highlight in my opinion thanks to its energy and riffing. Deceivers does not open slowly, so it feels quite different from many of the other songs here. Overall, it very much sticks to the classic Paradise Lost template - but there is no snaking guitar lead to set the tone, with the band launching into a pretty chunky riff and guitar pattern. This sets the tone for what is to come nicely, though, as the song is another mid-paced rocker - with busier drumming interludes and a mix of gruffer vocals during some metallic sections and harsh vocals during some doomier sections. The song is not as traditional metal in vibe as the previous one, but there are still moments of that here - with doom and gothic tones filling the gaps. Synths are used to good effect here, creating a strong atmosphere, whilst lead guitar moments are utilised less but still hit the spot when deployed. The album then comes to a close with The Precipice, which returns to a much slower overall sound. Ringing piano melodies open the song up, which are soon doubled by the guitar - and the drums create a mournful, gothic beat. Holmes sings clean here, his emotive vocals echoing through a slow-burning verse - with hanging guitar chords, piano, and subtle strings creating a dense backing. The song largely sticks to this vibe throughout - but it does morph somewhat. The pace never really ups, but there are plenty of heavier sections with harsh vocals - where bigger guitars join in. There are even sections which feature a lot of double bass drumming beneath them - but even with this approach the overall pace never feels like it changes. The mix of the faster drumming and the slower riffing works well, though, and the song has quite an epic feel throughout during these bigger sections - as well as a bit of an unnerving vibe at times. A great, closing guitar solo later capitalises on this overall feeling, too, and the album ends on a high as a result. With Ascension, then, Paradise Lost continue to look to showcase all of their different eras in one package. The band seem less bothered about fitting into a scene at this point, and the mixture of vibes here is welcome. This is another strong album from a band that has put out some of its best work in recent years - and Ascension is really no different overall despite perhaps focusing a bit more on the mid-1990s than the last album did.

The album was released on 19th September 2025 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Silence Like the Grave.