Paradise Lost
The Anatomy Of Melancholy

THE REVIEW

Most likely, the beautiful dark adventure of Paradise Lost, which started out from the Halifax area (England) back in 1988, should, in some way, make all their biggest supporters think carefully.

Since their youth, they have worked incredibly hard, released beautiful albums always full of magical innovation ("Gothic," "Icon," "Draconian Times," "One Second," etc.), and by the late nineties, they completely lost their heads over Depeche Mode and Sisters of Mercy, coming close to physical and psychological saturation with the overly soft "Believe in Nothing." Finally, they returned once again to occupy the usual "gothic" lane by releasing the album of reconciliation with their glorious past in 2007.

And today, in a music business where too many things are programmed to excess, Holmes and company are still here and have decided to release two immensely precious gems that the most ardent fans could hardly overlook: a DVD with the concert held in April 2007 at the Koko in London and a live album, composed of 2 CDs, which equally represents the most important songs of their entire brilliant career (including synth rock).

It’s a journey marked Paradise Lost, from which we can draw the very first track, the famous single "The Enemy" belonging to their latest album "In Requiem" released in May of last year, historical, ancient, and milestone pieces such as "Gothic," "As I Die," "Say Just a Word," "One Second" and "Embers Fire" alongside the indispensable synth rock singles from the middle albums such as "Mouth," "So Much is Lost," "Erased" and "No Celebration." The job of completing everything in the best way is entrusted to many other tracks, which, despite not having had as much success as the ones I mentioned, fit perfectly and have been included by the English band with a lot of attention and special accuracy. If you happen to get the DVD directly, you would also have, in addition to the aforementioned concert, the two official videos for "The Enemy" and "Praise Lamented Shade," an enduring and interesting documentary, and the interview with Paradise Lost themselves.

One thing that highly disappointed me was the fact that, last March, the promoter on duty, here in Italy, had them perform as a supporting act for HIM (let me say it and rightly contest me greatly if you do not agree), one of the most useless and insignificant bands on our planet, and someone rightly shouted "scandal!" I think they have let things slide a bit in this last period; I believe that through the interviews I have had the chance to read ("Stop once and for all, you journalists, with this story of Paradise Lost as 'godfathers' of gothic metal and HIM as their faithful disciples"), they have underestimated themselves a bit too much and have abandoned any stance about everything they achieved, brilliantly and highly exhaustively, in the past. However, this was just a small parenthesis and I would invite fans to purchase this very useful and fresh "anatomy of melancholy."