The Plague Within

CENTURY MEDIA, 2015

The headline news surrounding Paradise Lost’s fourteenth album was that it marked their return to doom metal – inspired in part by singer Nick Holmes and guitarist Greg Mackintosh’s extra-curricular activities in their respective side projects Bloodbath and Vallenfyre.

Certainly it was heavier than anything they’d done in 20 years. Six-minute centrepiece Beneath Broken Earth featured Holmes growling like there was no tomorrow. But the likes of No Hope In Sight and Return To The Sun were far from onedimensional retreads, indicating that there was still plenty of life in Halifax’s finest.