British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST will release their long-awaited 17th album, “Ascension”, on September 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s first album in five years, following 2020’s critically acclaimed “Obsidian”, was produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory.
“Ascension” is a testament to PARADISE LOST‘s longevity and relevance over the band’s 35-plus-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, PARADISE LOST vocalist Nick Holmes says: “‘Ascension’ is a cavalcade of molten misery, a vigorous sorrow filled stroll through a wicked world of glorious triumph and pitiful tragedy.”
Today, PARADISE LOST offer a glimpse into their melancholic masterpiece with the record’s first single and music video, “Silence Like The Grave”.
“Ascension” track listing:
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
“Ascension” was produced by Gregor Mackintosh at Black Planet Studios in East Yorkshire, U.K. and NBS and Wasteland Studios in Sweden. It was mixed and mastered by Lawrence Mackrory.
PARADISE LOST will perform alongside KING DIAMOND and at festivals in Europe this summer before embarking on the first part its “Ascension Of Europe” tour this fall.
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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