Icons of melancholic doom and gothic metal, PARADISE LOST have released their long awaited 17th album, Ascension, today with Nuclear Blast Records.
PARADISE LOST’s first album in 5 years, following 2020’s acclaimed Obsidian, was produced by the band’s revered guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackroryand is adorned with artwork by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts’ classic painting The Court of Death (1870-1902). Their latest, critically lauded masterpiece is evidence of a band still at the height of their prime 35+ years into a groundbreaking career. Soaked in misery and grief, Ascension soars with song’s like ‘Tyrants Serenade,’ ‘Serpent on the Cross’ and ‘Silence Like The Grave,’ that take listeners on an unforgettable journey through morose despair forged in soundscape of massive riffs and searing solos.
Commenting on the record’s release, vocalist Nick Holmes states:
"It took us nearly 40 years to get here but we're still tuning our instruments to the key of despair! Please enjoy!"
Today, PARADISE LOST has revealed a lyric video for their next highlighted track, ‘Lay A Wreath Upon The World.’
Adding about the song, Holmes says:
"Lay a wreath upon the world serves as a harbinger of the impending tempest, where humanity will eventually obliterate all that it has created."
Purchase/Stream Ascension: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/ascension
‘LAY A WREATH UPON THE WORLD’ LYRIC VIDEO BELOW;
PARADISE LOST will embark on the first leg of the “Ascension of Europe” tour this fall. Tickets are available at https://paradiselost.co.uk/tour-dates/.
The band has also recently announced a handful of intimate signing sessions and a record release show in Leeds, UK. Tickets are available now at https://tix.to/Ascension.
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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