Paradise Lost

Formed in the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire in the north of England in 1988 when they were barely out of school, Paradise Lost have proved to be one of the most durable and influential heavy metal bands, exploring many different hard rock styles while almost defining the gothic and doom metal sub-genres. Singer Nick Holmes initially formed Paradise Lost as a hardline death metal band, notable for Holmes' raw, grunting vocal style and, while they have had a succession of different drummers, the rest of the band has been almost uniquely stable for three decades with Greg Mackintosh, Aaron Aedy and Steve Edmonson, with Holmes and Edmonson as principal songwriters throughout their entire career. Signed to Peaceville Records, they released their self-titled debut album in 1989, followed by Goth in 1991. Moving to the Music for Nations label, their style mellowed and, by their sixth album One Second they were developing a new sound exploring synth-pop and electronica, resulting in one of their most successful albums establishing a devoted following across Europe. They continued to evolve in the following years, but returned to their heavy metal roots after the millennium with their 2002 album Symbol of Life, continuing in the goth metal direction with In Requiem in 2007. A popular festival attraction, their full-on style continued to make them a strong live act and, while Holmes diversified to take on the role of singer with Finnish death metal band Bloodbath in 2014, this didn't impact on his role with Paradise Lost. By 2017 they had yet another new drummer, Finnish Waltteri Väyrynen, who made his debut on the album Medusa, described by Greg Mackintosh as "eight riff-laden monster tracks of sheer Northern misery." The band reemerged in March 2020 with another LP, the UK top 40 success Obsidian, before rounding off the year with a 25th anniversary collectors’ edition of their influential early album Draconian Times.

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