Icons of goth and doom, PARADISE LOST have revealed the second single, ‘Serpent on the Cross,’ from their long-awaited, 17th album Ascension that’s out September 19th from Nuclear Blast Records.
Commenting on the song, vocalist Nick Holmes says:
"The cross represents stability, prosperity, hope and happiness. The serpent represents trepidation, anguish and overbearing sadness, lurking in the shadows ready to take everything away."
Stream ‘Serpent on the Cross’: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/serpent-on-the-cross
Pre-order Ascension: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/ascension
‘SERPENT ON THE CROSS’ MUSIC VIDEO BELOW.
PARADISE LOST’s first album in 5 years, following 2020’s critically acclaimed Obsidian, was produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory. Ascension is a testament to the band’s longevity and relevance over their 35+ year career, encompassing their signature styles of gothic, death and doom fans have cherished along the way.
Ascension’s album cover fittingly features the painting The Court of Death (1870-1902) by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts, which hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. The painting depicts Death as an enthroned angel flanked by allegorical figures of Silence and Mystery guarding sunrise and the star of hope, while a warrior surrenders his sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status offers no protection. The painting’s bleak, prophetic vision embodies Ascension’s dark, tormented soundscapes as mournful verses collide with dire, foreboding riffs.
Commenting on the record, Holmes states:
"Ascension is a cavalcade of molten misery, a vigorous sorrow filled stroll through a wicked world of glorious triumph and pitiful tragedy."
PARADISE LOST are currently performing at festivals across Europe and will embark on the first leg of the “Ascension of Europe” tour this fall. Tickets are available at https://paradiselost.co.uk/tour-dates/.
About PARADISE LOST:
More than three decades into their career, and with over two million albums sold, PARADISE LOST remain the undisputed kings of metal’s dark side. Formed in Halifax in 1988, the band quickly became noted as the pioneers of gothic metal through their early groundbreaking albums like 1991’s aptly-titled Gothic, a mixture of heaviness intertwined with shadowy melody and atmosphere.
Never a group to remain creatively static, across their career they’ve explored a myriad of avenues of dark music, from sludgy doom-death roots, to conquering the metal mainstream with the enormous, lush sounds of 1995’s Draconian Times, to more experimental, electronic leanings, leaving an influence on a trail of artists as varied as CRADLE OF FILTH, HIM, GATECREEPER and CHELSEA WOLFE.
Now, in 2025, the Yorkshire quintet return with their staggering 17th album, Ascension, a record that sees their crown continue to gleam as it underlines just how they attained their position. Produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh at Black Planet studios in East Yorkshire, with drums and vocals captured at NBS and Wasteland studios in Sweden, its 10 tracks traverse the multitude of sounds in the band’s arsenal, from full-bore heavy metal to sky-high melody, all the while keeping a minor-key melancholy that remains irresistible.
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