Writer:
Dean Underhill
Presented by:
David Roy Williams
Venue:
Max Watt’s
refer to end of article for relevant artist/stakeholder links.
Foreword - Additional PARADISE LOST ISC Content:
(Greg’s not the only one to have jumped on the mic with us to talk all things Paradise Lost:
Big thanks to Dean for another evocative and atmospheric piece of gig-review scripture.
I’d call him a goth, but he’s got plenty of ammo to fire back with re: the characters I’ve made for his DnD 5e campaign (Shurra, amirite Dean?!).
Enjoy the read - and a big thank-you to the artists, David Roy Williams, Max Watt’s and all who made another [Gig Review] possible. Now, onto the review proper.
As Always,
Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady (Podcast-Host/Patreon-monkey) & The ISC Team.
‘For Jesus Christ’, why did it have to be 22’C the night Paradise Lost played Melbourne?
I mean, where was the grey cold and rain that Melbourne is ‘otherwise’ synonymous with?
That would have been welcome as a dismal backdrop to the monolithic, metal, melancholy (MMM) (huh?), of these icons of a genre from ‘Halifax, West Yorkshire’. (Nick Holmes was very specific about this, make sure you know it).
Respect where undeniably due, though. Heading to this gig, I felt privileged to be able to witness these pioneers of Death/Doom/Goth + +. (DDG++) (what?). Being a relative newbie to metal, I don’t think that I can fully appreciate what it must be like for someone who has been into this band since the late 80’s. Now, since I was around at that time and listening to the likes of Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, The Mission, Bauhaus etc, I have this dark romantic nostalgia of teen Goth sweethearts, sitting down, packing a bong and listening to Gothic in 1991. Perhaps, to still be together today and standing in front of the stage at Max Watt’s (Highly unlikely).
Anyway, I was there and I can say that the elevation from The Corner in 2017 to Maxx Watt’s was well-deserved. Although it was a Tuesday night, quite a good number turned out to watch their support Victoria K. Ever the exuberant performer, VK dazzled us with her stunning vocal range, deftly complemented by the harsh growls of Charlie Curnow (not the football player).
[Editor’s Note: The above shot was taken by Sarah Barnett at the same venue, specifically for their set supporting Katatonia. Much more Victoria K photographic splendour available via @firesandframes on IG + our incoming Gig Review + Gallery of Brewicide! Go peep her Instagram for a bunch more great shots of the VK in action.]
It’s hard to pigeonhole Victoria K into a specific sound. Listening to their set is quite a collage of intensity. I would definitely say symphonic metal, with prog/alt metal core. Their latest offerings (check out Incubus, ‘cause it’s a pretty damn good 3-track) have that thick, distorted, twangy effect on the guitars and James Davies’ drumming has groove. Think of a Melbourne version of Lacuna Coil.
See below for footage of Victoria K performing latest single ‘Incubus’ at this very gig - with thanks to YouTube user GSXR1127L:
When I re-entered the venue, the crowd was jam-packed.
You know a show is going to be good when Max Watt’s is at capacity. Following a brief chat with some punter regarding the authenticity and longevity of Metal over AI (vomit), the band swaggered on-stage, bathed in cool blue and green lights. The Paradise Lost logo emblazoned along the back wall behind Jeff Singer’s screened-off drumkit. The eerie intro to ‘Serpent on a Cross’ floated out across the venue. Applause greeted the band alongside the grating guitar refrain accompanied the icy, piercing choral notes, the pound of the drums accented by Nick Holmes’ spine-chilling growl before slowly, the track kicks off in the splendour of clippy, distorted, lumbering guitar riffage. This song is a captivating to-and-fro from slow-to-fast headbang-inducing death/doom. And headbang in unison we did. Nick Holmes' deep, resonating and clear vocals mesmerise us as the song builds into Greg Mackintosh absolutely lighting it up stage-left. Single white floodlight on Greg as he meticulously powers through the screaming, arpeggiated solo. Wow, this guy is a metal god! Donning a black singlet, tattooed arms and shoulder-length white hair drifting in the fan breeze like wicked tentacles. What an opening to the show. I gravitated my way from the back to the centre - tonight was going to be something else and I needed a better vantage point.
Nick introduces the band from West Yorkshire, and wastes no time following up as Greg and Aaron Aedy on rhythm-guitar play the descending scale of riffs in unison, opening up the familiar, doomy and brooding ‘No Hope in Sight’. This was an absolute banger, showcasing the amazingly foreboding sound of Steve Edmondson’s bass stomping beneath the aggressive, maleficent guitar chords and thump-and-slap of Singer’s drums. Wow, that slow chugging riffage during the verse, building into the screaming chorus, Holmes’ transitioning from cleans to audible growls like a wounded vampire. Mackintosh’s lead ringing out that sonic clean tubular sound, those heavy, distorted chords ripping in whilst Aedy’s windmilling over the fretboard and bouncing off his front foot with every down-beat. All whilst wearing a psychotic smile, leaving you to quiz whether he’s genuinely joyful or if he’s one bad rider away from psycho clown. This track was fucking amazing. The hopeless rage could be felt through the music and Holme’s emotive vocals. I kinda get the feeling that nu-metal has a formula for this sort of emotional outpour, whereas Gothic Metal on this level just does it organically and it's powerful in the process.
As if to further demonstrate this epic ability of the band to build their tracks into sweeping anthems of dark emotions, no sooner had ‘No Hope in Sight’ concluded than the solemn piano intro to ‘One Second’ started up. It’s incredible how this track sounds vastly different, but undeniably Paradise Lost. I mean this is dark electro, of a similar vein as Ulver. This is a wonder to behold - how the band plays effortlessly over the backing track, and the live instrumentation gives the track a hardened edginess without crossing the line of terror and fear expressed in their death/doom tracks. Is this dance/metal? I guess so. It ends with a great, muted solo from Mackintosh. The band convey the solemn brooding so well that Holmes reflects on the carpeted stage as ‘a deep and satisfying shag’ before introing ‘Gothic’ to raucous applause. (Perhaps there are a few couples here that were teen Goth-hearts in 1991).
Speaking of goth-heads - this particular fan caught nearly 20 minutes of the bands’ set for your viewing pleasure! With thanks to YouTube user Andrey Kuksa:
The desperate chaos embodied in this song was not lost on the crowd. Singer’s superlative drum rolls featured heavily throughout, nicely framed by Mackintosh’s wicked, soaring guitar-leads, the eerie operatic female vocals sitting at a discomforting juxtaposition with Holmes’ growls. This track to me does sound a bit clumsy, but that still doesn’t detract from the occult-like atmosphere that it manifests. Not that it was played in a clumsy fashion, just that as an early work in their catalogue, it sounds clunky in some transitions.
As if to just humbly display the bands’ progression, Holme’s prompts the band to ‘sing along if you know this!’ and the familiar screeching lead intro to ‘As I Die’ kicks in. The drums slap to the beat as a lead-melody akin to something from The Cure’s ‘Disintegrate’ begins, before the drums kick it up a notch and the crowd bellows ‘As I Die!’, the bass melody and guitar-riff hitting hard and monstrous. This track hit so hard that a ‘mini mosh’ momentarily broke out to my left. I love the raw, visceral sentiment delivered in the chorus of this track. It’s so doomy and epic, and reminds me of the tragic story of Brady’s first D&D character in our long running campaign. More of that in another post if that sort of thing grabs ya! [Editors’ Note: Ah yes, poor stupid Nazuul.]
From one kick arse track to the next we were solemnly led into ‘Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us’ by the chilling lead and open guitar chords until the chorus crashed on the audience like waves of sadness and rage. ‘Vanquish the pain!’ Holmes, myself and many in the crowd were belting this out. From ‘Gothic’ to as ‘I Die to Faith Divides Us’…man, the band just nailed it, demonstrating that every album has seen them develop their craft like a smith polishing a double-edged sword.
That double-edged sword shone brightly with the darkwave synth of ‘So Much Is Lost’. Nick Holme’s clean vocals just adding more tones to the wonderfully-mixed palette of sounds and atmosphere that Paradise Lost are so accomplished at working with. Not to discredit the innovation that Paradise Lost have in their catalogue, but I think this track was somewhat lost on the Aussie audience. ‘So Much Is Lost’ is unmistakably a dark, introspective pop song that would not be out of place alongside the likes of Depeche Mode and New Order.
Now, for those that are not overly familiar with the preceding, I’m alluding to the fact that Paradise Lost's sojourn into darkwave was comparable to the giants of the genre. Nothing to be scoffed at. Nowhere was this more evident than the bands’ soon to follow rendition of Bronski Beats’' ‘Smalltown Boy’. Recorded it’s amazing enough; to see live? Yt’s the dog’s bollocks mate! This interpretation from the album Symbol of LIfe just masterfully demonstrates how the band further evolved to amalgamate the dark electro-synth pop back into a piping hot Gothic Metal pastry turnover. Just witnessing the band playing this live with Aarons’ manic jumping, headbanging and swinging through the chords whilst Mackintosh leans heavily into the lead melody. Nick Holmes absolutely commanded the stage with his rock n’ roll swagger, leading the crowd in guttural chants of ‘Run away, turn away, run away…’
From raging, flashing orange lighting the ‘Smalltown Boy’ was gone, and an icy chill permeated the stage as the howling wind intro saw in ‘Tyrant’s Serenade’ to muted blue lights. Gothic Death-Doom is back baby! (Yes… played live on a ‘shag’ pile carpet). There’s no denying that Paradise Lost have returned to their roots with great aplomb on Ascension. The Death-Doom of ‘Salvation’ was dark and broody, Holme’s live growls in the verses absolutely exquisite. ‘Tyrant’s Serenade’ was more melodic overall, but the lumbering palm-muted guitars and thumping bassline overlayed with Mackintosh's soaring, screaming lead, sent cold shivers up and down the spine. Another great sing-along, this track. Once again, absolutely masterful live syncing of Nick’s growls over pre-recorded cleans. OK, so these guys aren’t hanging from the ceiling or crowd-surfing - but my god they play tight!
See Below for Footage of ‘Tyrant’s Serenade’ Live at Wacken Open Air 2026 - via Paradise Lost on Youtube:
Paradise Lost close out their major set with the haunting notes of the piano leading into the high-gain riffing of ‘Say Just Words’. Once again, Aedy jumps around stage right like a jack-in-the-box. Holmes croons like a vampire, as we are treated to another superlative example of Gothic Metal. When the song loops back into the piano refrain, Holmes encourages the crowd to clap along during the quiet, electronic pulse, accented with the forlorn piano melody ‘till we’re dragged back in with the swirling synths and guitar melodies, until the final ‘Say just words to me…’, as the band exits for a well deserved break.
Returning to the stage for a 3-song encore we, are treated to ‘Embers’ Fire’ which to me just felt a bit lacklustre, too slow and quite frankly not one of the better tracks off Icon to play live. That’s my opinion, and you are free to disagree. Hell, I would have loved to hear them come out from the back of beyond and launch into ‘Forging Sympathy’. Notwithstanding, the droll feel of ‘Embers’ Fire’ and Mackintosh' s solo was certainly a breathtaking spectacle.
Nevertheless, the force-majeure was not to be lost on one song. Out of the dust of ‘Embers’ Fire’ came the pop, kick, kick of Singers’ bass-drum with a heavy, distorted bassline and creepy lead melody; I feel like I’m 17 again listening to Sisters of Mercy. The ethereal guitars soaring into the chorus as the crowd chants along with Holmes ‘For Jesus Christ!’. Some guy in the crowd in a Kraftwerk T-shirt is absolutely vibing - I get it dude. Oh man, that distorted guitar-tone screaming through the chorus as Mackintosh is absolutely working a spell. Holmes belting out a scream over the top of it all. I love this track, and to hear it live was memorable indeed.
The finale. ‘A Silence Like The Grave’. As a last triumphant declaration to the audience, the darkened stage swirls with the sound of deep horns, the shivering of a cymbal , the cascading, compressed guitar chords with the slap, bang of the drums before Singer rolls through the drumkit into a delectable presentation of nasty, evil riffage. Holmes keeps growling like James Hetfield through the verse until Mackintosh accompanies his depraved, demonic growls with intense, piercing melodies leading into an absolute screamer of a solo.
‘A silence like the grave
A fury will prevail
Preach to all like a prophet from long-dead tales
The look from weary eyes
A longing for relief
Leaving all of humanity on its knees’
Well, not exactly left on our knees, but what a truly memorable evening to witness this ingenious band of Yorkshire lads.
They may be aging, but Paradise Lost haven’t ‘lost’ anything, as true pioneers and giants of the metal scene.
Setlist in order:
Serpent on The Cross
No Hope In Sight
One Second
Gothic
As I Die
Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us
So Much Is Lost
The Last Time
Salvation
Requiem
Small Town Boy*
Tyrants Serenade
Embers Fire
Ghosts
Silence Like The Grave
Check out a great Short encapsulating footage across the set, courtesy of skyvally9nick on YouTube:
LINKS:
VICTORIA K (AUS):
Official Website
LinkTree
(see for: Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, LP/single streaming, etc)
PARADISE LOST (UK):
Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | Youtube | Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp
DRW ENTERTAINMENT - WEBSITE
Inner-Strength Check - Links:
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