Paradise Lost
Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us

Anyone, and I mean absolutely anyone who loves the "Gothic" genre, with every release of Paradise Lost should honestly jump off their chair. The name is one of those tough ones, those that have made history, together with My Dying Bride and Anathema, and more than 20 years after their debut, it can be safely said that the band from Halifax has come a long way, and quite a lot: from the Death/Doom beginnings, to the turning point, or rather the "invention" of Gothic Metal as we know it today, passing through experiments related to Depeche Mode (whether they succeeded or not, I suppose that by listening to the present album, and not even in an in-depth manner, those familiar with the genre should find an easy answer), finally arriving at a "Dark Rock" (as Nick Holmes himself likes to define the genre he plays) that gathers the best of what the band has thought out, put on the score, played, and re-imagined. With courage and perseverance, qualities that, by now, given the prominent name the band possesses, could very well be overlooked, to live off past achievements, as many other bands have done and continue to do.
But this is not at all the case we are writing about. On the contrary. This "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" is yet another chapter to be framed in the discography of Paradise Lost.

I found myself having to listen to it more than once to grasp its essence well. And this, for a "gothic" album, is by no means a defect. The song structures are always martial and severe, yet not neglecting to enhance the symphonic breadth used here to give depth to the compositions. The sound was designed " elegantly rocky ", recalling more than once "Icon", with one song above all: "Frailty". But the very opener "As Horizons End" manages well to transport the listener back to certain early works of theirs, enveloped in the fog of blurred images and the tragedy of their desperately furious architectures. Also, Holmes' voice, extraordinarily melodic and melancholic, does not hesitate in many instances to offer hints of aggressiveness that, yes, are not growl anymore, but come damn close, and, in this case, a perfect example turns out to be "The Rise of Denial", which follows a symphonic beginning with a very heavy instrumental performance and a vocal partition almost forced, given "through gritted teeth".

A particular praise, however, in my opinion, should be given to two songs in particular, which better highlight the extraordinary talent of the band, and they are, in order, "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" and "Last Regret".
The first, also chosen as the first single, and whose video has been described by many as "the most distressing ever released by Paradise Lost", is a song to which thousands of adjectives could be attributed to describe its extraordinary suppuration of melancholy, anguish, and tears, but I choose one only, simple and straightforward: beautiful.
It is, indeed, because it constitutes a perfect and textbook blend of what those who love this band expect from it. No tricks and no deception: a slow structure that, however, does not lapse into the typical cadence of Doom but maintains a low and resigned tone, albeit fascinating, and tells, beyond the video that I hope you will want to watch, of confusion and alchemies of dark colors, which merge and split their essence without ever disregarding the consideration of being unique parts, even if heterogeneous, of the same human mind, of the same head of those who thought them, and realized they were well put into music instead of, abandoning themselves to a certainly extreme example, killing themselves. But the dust that rises chokes the throat like a noose, and the wounds discovered in the chorus burn in the same way as the fire that burns the flesh. Beautiful, and I repeat it at the risk of becoming monotonous because it is precisely songs like this that Gothic needs.
"Last Regret", on the other hand, touches other strings. Or at least: the strings it plucks are always the same, but the manner changes, the modus operandi of description. Here the setting is more classical, and the guitars play with a particular intonation, more vibrato, also bringing back to life the habit cultivated by Gregor Mackintosh of exploiting his instrument as in a long, poignant solo, almost perceiving, in the very body of the piece, as if standing on the edge of a chasm. If to this you add also the sung chorus which only repeats " Hear my last words, this my last regret... " then the cards are on the table to claim you are listening to a classic, and without fear of contradiction.

The games, however, do not end at all here because this is Paradise Lost we are talking about and not Motley Crue (with all due respect), and there is no question of filler songs. The last episodes, starting with "Universal Dream" and "In Truth", still grant us a lingering taste of all the negative sensations that this album has unexpectedly proposed to us. In particular, the latter cited is a fine example of how, precisely, the curtain should fall: rock-solid yet changing structures, pressing and giving no respite, almost forcibly torn from guitars and drums, with keyboards towards the end providing that something intangible that makes all the things the Lost have decided to craft precious.

We must be objective: this album is not comparable to their "Draconian Times" or "Icon", but not because it stands a step below. None of this. Simply because this record is "different". Another piece in the universe of unknown meteors that the band decides to slowly make us discover.
As far as I'm concerned, I believe this is an excellently constructed work, with jewels inside that will surely not look out of place next to the giants of the past. In the end, the concept that remains is that anyone who takes the trouble to listen to it will perhaps find different facets, ones that probably escaped me for now, or that, hidden in the depressing fluctuation of the notes, I did not deem necessary to highlight.
But isn't the beauty of music also this? Is it not imagining, thinking, transported by a melody, sad or otherwise, about thoughts of intimate subjectivity? Here. If that's what you seek in music, then I can only recommend purchasing Paradise Lost. It will certainly be a safe and bomb-proof investment.