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Band: Paradise Lost
Album title: Ascension
Release date: 19 September 2025
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Genre: Gothic Metal, Doom Metal
Tracklist:
01. Serpent On The Cross
02. Tyrants Serenade
03. Salvation
04. Silence Like The Grave
05. Lay A Wreath Upon The World
06. Diluvium
07. Savage Days
08. Sirens
09. Deceivers
10. The Precipice
11. This Stark Town
12. A Life Unknown
Thirty-five years since their debut, Paradise Lost return with Ascension - an album that not only revisits their legacy but redefines it. Produced by Gregor Mackintosh, their seventeenth studio release is a masterclass in emotional devastation and sonic sophistication. One of the darkest and most cinematic entries in their discography, Ascension is no easy feat - especially not for the strangers to the fold. From its sweeping overture to its final muddy descent, this is no mere follow-up to 2020's Obsidian - it's a reckoning.
The album opens with "Serpent On The Cross", a towering invocation that fuses mournful harmonies with crushing doom riffs. Nick Holmes sounds revitalised - his vocals shift between raw growls and baritone clarity, evoking both despair and defiance. The production is harsh yet cavernous, allowing each track to breathe and bleed in equal measure. "Tyrant's Serenade" slows the tempo but deepens the emotional incision, conjuring a bleak serenity that feels both intimate and apocalyptic. "Salvation", the album's longest track, features a haunting guest appearance by Alan Averill (Primordial). It's a sprawling epic that teases light before plunging back into chaos - its layered melodies begging for a live setting where catharsis might fully erupt. It also marks the band's first subtle foray into pagan metal, adding a new dimension to their sonic palette. Throughout, Ascension moves within a world of its own theatricality - grand, immersive, and unflinchingly dark.
Paradise Lost have always been poets of pain, and Ascension continues that tradition. Themes of inner struggle, existential dread, and natural decay permeate the album. "Silence Like The Grave" and the gothic "Lay A Wreath Upon The World" - featuring ethereal backing vocals by Heather Thompson - stand out as particularly potent, exploring weakness, control, and the eerie beauty of surrender. "Diluvium" begins with a slightly psychedelic doom flourish before evolving into a vibrant gothic metal runner, while "Savage Days" recalls the emotional resonance of Paradise Lost and In Requiem. The album's final stretch offers rhythmically dynamic yet more restrained gothic/doom/death compositions - "Sirens", "Deceivers", and "The Precipice" - culminating in the dramatic closer "A Life Unknown", where melancholic emotion intertwines with brutal impact, underscored by excellent riff work and atmospheric depth.
Gregor Mackintosh's guitar work is sublime - each riff and solo feels carved from sorrow, each lament steeped in nuance. Aaron Aedy's rhythm guitar adds weight and texture, while Guido Zima Montanarini's drumming is both bombastic and precise, driving the album's emotional pulse. Notably, Guido departed the band shortly after recording, with Jeff Singer, who previously played on In Requiem and the live album The Anatomy Of Melancholy, returning to the fold. The interplay between clean and harsh vocals remains impeccable - never forced, always evocative. That said, longtime fans may miss the deeper growl resonance that defined Holmes's early '90s performances.
Ascension is not merely a triumph in a long career - it's a statement of enduring relevance. Paradise Lost have crafted an album that feels both familiar and vital, a guided tour through their sonic evolution that never loses its emotional core. It's a record that rewards repeat listens, each spin revealing new scars and new beauty. While fans of One Second, Host, or Symbol Of Life may find less to cling to here, those drawn to Shades Of God, Icon, Draconian Times, and the post-2005 era will feel right at home. Ascension is superb - a must for anyone who cherishes mournful metal sounds.
Review by Tomaz
Rating: 9/10
