PARADISE LOST – Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us

“Tear me down or break me, I remain” – This phrase is not just a line on Paradise Lost’s greatest hit, “I Remain”, taken from their new upcoming album, Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us, it’s a declaration of intentions. No matter how tough it is, nothing can stop one’s desires for completion of one’s purpose.

As you probably noticed, Paradise Lost, are coming in with yet another album and another addition to their massive career as one of the oldest and greatest Doom / Gothic Metal bands. Their new album will be released under their long time label, Century Media, and will hit you squarely as the sweaty summer washes away.

Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us, like Paradise Lost’s four previous releases is the band’s ongoing comeback to their old self which was back in the early 1990s. Moreover, this new album is the closest thing to a merger between Shades Of God and Icon, its intensity is far beyond anything Paradise Lost ever did in their entire career. By issuing a strong and even somewhat violent production, Paradise Lost breached their own style by creating compositions, which at first listen, will frighten its followers’ a bit. Upon first listen, your first reaction might almost be a near shock. This shock will be caused not by the heaviness of the album but rather its production and several of its riffs. Nevertheless, after a few more spins, one will fall in love with this new creation as Paradise Lost keeps on preserving their natural spirit of desperation, sadness and self disappointments, this is the Paradise Lost everyone learned to admire over the years and they make sure that this admiration stays.

Paradise Lost have written down riffs they never used before on any of their older albums. Their willingness to be partially innovative on this stage of their career is commendable and this feature is providing more force to their doomy music that seems to be everlasting. In the course of the songs, you will perceive how powerful this band became with violent like smashing riffs of sheer power. However modern these guys sound today, and that is something that was a bit bothersome at first listen, their mixture of their old Doom Metal touch with modern elements, mostly found in Metalcore or on a variety of modern Groove / Hardcore bands, has turned out to be rather special and quite refreshing.

In comparison to their older releases, and especially to their previous In Requiem, Paradise Lost have taken a much larger step in order to become what they once were back in their youthful days. Furthermore, this album opens up questions regarding their next step, whether they will turn back on being the Paradise Lost of Lost Paradise or Gothic? The answer is uncertain just like no one knew that they planned to change their style back in 1997 when One Second was released.

A huge marker in Paradise Lost’s attempts to reach their more extreme phase is the band’s vocalist Nick Holmes. Over the years, Holmes has made a serious progress with his voice and on Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us he gives his best performance yet. His voice, in the present, is even stronger than was in the band’s prime years between 1991-1996, he is able to maneuver a raspy, even semi-growly like, voice with a soft, velvet like, cold and clean voice. His current ability is one of the greatest strong points of the album alongside his lead guitarist’s, Macintosh, who constructed the genius gloomy solos and leads that will always be true Paradise Lost markers.

Highlights: “As Horizons End” – The band’s first single out of the album, a well-done traditional Paradise Lost song. “I Remain” – the best song of this release, it’s structure and music are an important example of how the band’s mixture of new and old styles succeeded. “First Light” – a song screaming with pain as it turns out to be one of the heaviest songs. “Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us” – a classic Paradise Lost killer with an amazing work by Holmes on the vocals, the music is rather simple yet alluring with its atmosphere. “The Rise Of Denial”, and “Last Regret” – two more heavy crushers which present the newer style of Paradise Lost, these two will leave you with an appetite for more. “Universal Dream” – sounds like another version of the band’s old hit “Pity The Sadness” from Shades Of God, yet it’s still a good song and it has parts that are different, musically mostly, from the old tune.

In order to really enjoy this album, you will have to spin it more than once. For true Paradise Lost fans, this album will provide a newfound belief and maybe a new understanding regarding the band’s direction in the future.