PARADISE LOST
Ascension
Nuclear Blast Records
PARADISE LOST brings its on-going return to classic form full circle with Ascension. The English band's 17th album, Ascension serves as a royal sampler of the ever-evolving quintet's peak periods. And it does so with as consistently good a batch of material as PARADISE LOST has ever produced, which is saying something after nearly 40 years.
Following a long period of sometimes rather dramatic stylistic shifts, the band revisited its doomdeath roots with 2015's The Plague Within and has been, well, on the ascent ever since. Medusa followed in 2017 with full-on misery and doom while 2020's Obsidian featured a more balanced, diverse mix still steeped in the old school.
Ascension broadens the scope to encompass the full doom/death/goth/arena metal spectrum of the Gothic to Draconian Times period from 1991-1995 that brought PARADISE LOST to prominence - and with good reason. But here the band combines these elements so that some, and sometimes all, are present within the body of each song, and delivers it with considerable contemporary punch.
This varied, at times unpredictable, approach makes for an all-the-more engaging listen and something that transcends a mere march down memory lane. Its old sounds made new - or at least reinvigorated - even if, as frontman Nick Holmes notes, the band's instruments are still tuned "to the key of despair".
That certainly is the prevailing mood at the outset, as "Serpents On The Cross" opens achingly low and slow but soon gives way to a determined gallop as now ex-drummer Guido Montanarini ramps up the tempo under Aaron Aedy's muscular riffs, Gregor Mackintosh's ethereal lead melodies and Holmes' imposing growl. From there, the "despair" comes and goes - at last from a musical standpoint.
The epic "Salvation" largely retains its doomy plod but is punctuated by Holmes' soaring cleans during the choruses and a tumultuous midsection, whereas "Diluvium" alternates from gloomy trudge to an almost speed metal lope, as Holmes shouts over the top with Hetfield-esque authority. "Lay A Wreath Upon The World" is the one song here that carries its melancholy the whole way through, with its elegant gothic sparseness flavored by acoustic guitar passages and the angelic vocal harmonies of Heather Thompson accompanying Holmes' mournful cleans.
Ironically, as Holmes brought the growl back into his repertoire on The Plague Within after having first dusted it off upon joining BLOODBATH in 2014, his baritone clean vocals have grown more confident and effective. From PARADISE LOST's transformative One Second on, there was always a certain awkwardness to Holmes' clean singing. But he sounds comfortable and resonant here on the gothy hard rock of "Savage Days", the aforementioned "Lay a Wreath ..." and the lush, rather stunning finale "Precipice".
And when mixed and matched with the burlier shouts and roars, it makes for an ideal contrast - and a perfect match for Ascension's range of musical moods. This includes an ample selection of straight-up metal numbers from the grandiose chug and deathly grimness of "Silence Like The Grave" to the anthemic swells of "Tyrant's Serenade" and its Jekyll & Hyde chorus. "Sirens" and "Deceivers" offer a back-to-back romp of Black Album-esque bluster and crunch, buoyed by the bottom end swagger of Montanarini and bassist Steve Edmondson and prove these guys really can kick ass - when, in fact, they want to.
With Ascension, PARADISE LOST has produced a complete, well-rounded triumph of an album. Since opting to look to the past a decade ago, the band has managed to keep itself moving forward and raising the bar and Ascension may well be its finest work - then, now or whenever.
4.5 Out Of 5.0
