The package:
Having reviewed the live stream back when it emerged, we were excited when Paradise Lost announced that the stream would be captured for posterity both on vinyl (with a number of cool, limited variants) and CD/Blu Ray set, complete with cool artwork and bonus features. Comprising the complete sixteen-track set aired by the band, the 41-minute (and frequently hilarious Q&A) and a short (12-minute) making of segment, Live At The Mill provides a snapshot of life under lockdown for touring bands, not to mention an impressively shot and recorded overview of Paradise Lost’s thirty-odd year recording history. The CD/Blu Ray set (reviewed here) is packaged in a standard double jewel case with a svelte booklet containing a handful of shots from the gig and, in a nice touch, the lyrics to all the songs played – a rarity in a live album. It’s a decent package and, whether you caught the stream or not, well worth a look.
The gig (edited from the original live stream review found here)
Opening on a surprising note, Paradise Lost launch into a brutal Widow, an Icon highlight that adopts an admirably raw posture and sets the tone for the performance overall. The sound is clear, with plenty of room for Nick’s deftly delivered vocals, and it’s a good thing too, because he’s on a rare form. Showcasing just how comfortably the hitherto unaired new material sits alongside classic fare, Fall from Grace slots neatly in between the opening gambit and a blistering Blood and Chaos from Medusa. It makes for one hell of an opening triptych, and, despite the absence of a physical audience, you can feel the palpable excitement of a band just happy to be on stage again. An epic Faith Divides Us Death Unites Us is well performed, but lacks something compared to its recorded counterpart, although Gothic’s scabrous vocals are delivered with a savagery that impressively echoes a recording nearly thirty years in the past. Surprisingly, given that the album is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, only Shadow Kings represents Draconian Times, before we’re taken to a darker place altogether with One Second’s haunting title track.
Having aired a number of classic cuts (not to mention one or two surprises), Paradise Lost remind themselves that they’re here to launch Obsidian, offering up Ghosts, a track that perfectly bridges the divide between gothic metal and post-punk. Opening with Steve’s gruelling bass line, the track sees Nick’s splenetic vocal set against an atmospheric soundscape, and it works perfectly in the live environment. It’s followed by a particularly vicious take on The Enemy, and the band keep the surprises coming. Following a svelte As I Die, a fan favourite without which no Paradise Lost set would feel complete, Paradise Lost launch into a Sabbathy Requiem, which, sits comfortably next to the doomy majesty of No Hope In Sight. it leaves only Embers Fire to see out the main set, which is where things ended for standard package viewers of the live stream.
The final three songs were originally aired for VIPs only, but here serve as a neat encore. First up, a highlight from A Plague Within is delivered in the form of Beneath Broken Earth. You’d think that it would contrast heavily with the sample laden So Much Is Lost and yet, as the band so often maintain in interviews, the heavy guitar tone they use live means that the song slots neatly in, providing a lift thanks to its faster pace, but otherwise sounding every bit the classic cut that it is. The final song of the set proves to be another surprise, albeit a welcome one. A suitably elegant take on Darker Days, the stunning opener from Obsidian, it sees the band move from folk-infused melancholy to towering doom in just four short minutes, and it proves an inspired, if unexpected finale, that brings the show to a powerful close.
As noted above, Paradise Lost are a band whose nuanced music demands a well-separated mix, and the sound on offer for this show is dry and clear, occasionally lacking punch, but often besting the less-controlled audio from attended gigs. The unflashy camera work also deserves comment, as it presents the band in a simple, yet suitably atmospheric setting, the judicious application of smoke and subtle lighting adding a live feel, without attempting to replicate an actual concert experience. As such, it feels natural that the band moved between songs without any stage announcements or other such uncomfortable interventions and it’s a pleasure to relive the experience on blu ray.
Final Thoughts
Despite a pretty decent live representation of their catalogue, At The Mill is a worthy addition, partly because it contains tracks from both Obsidian and Medusa (both well regarded albums, which deserve a live showing), but predominantly because it provides a document of a difficult time, during which bands had to adapt rapidly in order to continue to engage their fan base. Different bands took different approaches to the live stream experience, but At The Mill managed to impress with a powerful, admirably raw performance, not to mention a typically dry Q&A. Not, perhaps, the best live set the band have offered (that remains Anatomy Of Melancholy), nevertheless, for fans of Paradise Lost this is pretty much essential stuff. 8.5/10
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