Alcatraz Line up: 2017, 2024

Paradise Lost’s breakthrough album ‘Gothic’ (1991) propelled them to the top tier of the death/doom metal genre. On the strength of this album they have also been credited as a precursor to gothic metal, a status they consolidated on Shades of God (1992) and the gothic/death masterpiece Icon (1993). The sublime “Draconian Times’ (1995) catapulted their popularity into the stratosphere. On subsequent records they chose to experiment but on 2007’s ‘In Requiem’ they returned to their heavier roots. As their sound continues to evolve, they boast a highly varied back catalogue that marries the doom influences from their early days with more melodic elements and a mixture of clean and harsh vocals. ‘Medusa’ (2017) continues in the same vein as ‘The Plague Within’ in terms of heaviness but abandons the gothic approach in favour of the doom sound of their early days. The result is some of the heaviest work they’ve put out since the early 90s. Their most recent work to date, 2020’s ‘Obsidian’, is a dark and brooding slab of metal that invites self-reflection. A one-hour set is far too short but we’ll just have to make do.