Paradise Lost celebrate the release of their 17th LP, Ascension, with an intimate show at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds.

NUMBER 17

Having released their seventeenth album just a few days earlier, West Yorkshire’s death/doom/gothic metal pioneers Paradise Lost venture down the road to the intimate confines of Leeds Brudenell Club for an album launch show ahead of their upcoming ‘Ascension of Europe’ tour.

As expected, the queue snakes around the venue car park well before the doors open with faded, stretched, vintage shirts being the order of the night. There is an air of excitement, and given the album launch billing of the show, most, including yours truly, expect the band to play the album in full and then tag on a few of the hits at the end.

SERPENT ON THE CROSS

Once inside, the crowd split between the bar, the front of the stage and the merch stall while patiently waiting for the show to start. After an hour or so, the band take the stage with little fanfare and launch into new track Serpent On The Cross. It sounds magnificent, harking back to the sound of the bands earlier years with harsh vocals, pulsating rhythms and gothic melodies at the fore.

Older track, No Hope In Sight, follows. It is well received by the capacity crowd who quickly find their collective voice. Once Solemn takes us back much further to 1995. It is clear that this is going to be something of a special evening as the singing got louder. There was a shout out from the crowd to Jeff (Singer) who has returned to the drums, while between tracks Nick (Holmes – Vocals) took every opportunity to banter with the crowd, clearly enjoying being in such close proximity to the front rows. 

Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us kept momentum going before a monstrous Pity The Sadness elevates things to another level taking me back to my teenage years and sounding as heavy as ever. The crowd lap up every track as the band jump around their discography with the more recent gothic metal classic Ghosts before the second track from the new album Tyrants Serenade, gets its live debut. Although the song is brand new, the crowd embraced it, singing along enthusiastically and it fitted in well amongst the older classics. 

ETERNAL

What followed was just about as good as it gets for me. Eternal (which Nick introduces as being from 1846) is followed by True Belief, As I Die and Say Just Words. The latter has everyone singing at the top of their lungs. The set is brought to a close with a final track from the new album; Silence Like the Grave. The crowd stay rooted to the spot, waiting for an encore which sadly doesn’t arrive. It did feel like an odd way to end the show, but no-one was complaining. 

Paradise Lost have returned with one of their strongest albums, and tonight they reminded the faithful that had made the journey to Leeds 6 what a powerful live band they are, and how many genuinely classic anthems they have in their repertoire, and importantly gave a flavour of how well the new tracks hold up when played alongside these classics, reinforcing exactly how relevant, nay important, this band is to the current metal scene. 

You can find all of Paradise Lost’s forthcoming tour dates here.

Here’s Lay A Wreath Upon The World from Ascension.

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