One issue facing bands making music that is both heavy and yet nuanced, is that they can find themselves hamstrung by the limitations of a given venue. Paradise Lost, although frequently excellent live, can suffer from this problem and are, therefore, better suited than most to the control offered by a live stream. Available for one night only, this special performance, captured and streamed live, serves to celebrate the release of Obsidian (surely one of the albums of the year) and the band deliver an astonishing, eighty-minute performance that runs the gamut of their back catalogue.
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. The sound is crystal 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 (the chat room goes nuts during the latter track), 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 presented in one of its best live renditions, thanks to the clarity and depth of the mix, whilst 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, the samples coming across loud and clear in the impressively detailed mix. The band keep the surprises coming with a particularly Sabbathy take on Requiem, which feels all the more punishing for following the svelte As I Die, a fan favourite without which no Paradise Lost set would feel complete. It sits comfortably next to the doom-laden No Hope In Sight and leaves only Embers Fire to see out the set…
…Unless you’re a VIP, in which case there are further three songs to get your teeth into. Simply put, the VIP extras are more than worth the additional five dollars. Much to the delight of the buzzing chat box, 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 close and leaves the fans in the chat room clamouring for more.
As noted above, Paradise Lost are a band whose nuanced music demands a well-separated mix, and the sound on offer for this show was pretty much perfect. The unflashy camera work also deserves comment, as it presented 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. All in all, Paradise Lost made fantastic use of the live stream experience, delivering an impressive performance that spanned their career.
As an added bonus, the VIP section wraps up with a forty-minute pre-recorded interview, which features the band answering fan-submitted questions. As always, the band’s sharp wit is to the fore and, although all of the questions asked are given due consideration, some are dismissed as redundant (Q: will you do a B-Sides album? A: [perplexed] We’ve done one) or side-stepped altogether (Q: Did you take influence from Hetfield? A; Who’s he?), the band clearly at ease as they joke between themselves and mock one another over their answers. It’s a welcome peek beneath the band’s rather grim surface and throws up some interesting tales from the band’s storied career and it does not feel anywhere near its actual length.
Set list:
Main:
- Widow
- Fall From Grace
- Blood And Chaos
- Faith Divides Us…
- Gothic
- Shadow Kings
- One Second
- Ghosts
- The Enemy
- As I Die
- Requiem
- No Hope In Sight
- Embers Fire
VIP:
- Beneath Broken Earth
- So Much Is Lost
- Darker Days
