“I think it’s obvious Paradise Lost have been influenced by Dead Can Dance, and through them, by similar things. What first drew me to them was the way they constructed melodies using such a wide range of influences.
They pulled from Arabic, medieval, and church music – harmonies you couldn’t learn just by playing the guitar. I’d never encountered anything like that. It really shaped how we developed our own style.
I started trying to interpret those kinds of melodies through guitar. I had other guitar heroes, of course, but Dead Can Dance were instrumental in how I approached songwriting and melody.
I grew up in and around Leeds and used to go to clubs like Adam And Eve. They weren’t genre-specific – it was a mix of metal, punk, goth and everything else. Goths would get up for their songs and glare at the punks when their tracks came on. No one really mixed. I was a punk at first, but I had a friend in the goth corner, and eventually I crossed over – first to goth, then to metal.
That friend was into the 4AD label and handed me a copy of The Serpent’s Egg, saying, ‘I think you’ll like this.’ I did – but it took time. The first track, The Host Of Seraphim, is six minutes long. I was just getting into doom metal and I thought, ‘This is really doomy and grim; full of church-like melodies.’
Later I got into their other albums. Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun is my favourite – it’s the purest version of what they do. If you connect with that one, the rest become easier to love. It’s their darkest record – and I’ve never liked a happy song in my life!
Our early music definitely re-appropriated that kind of grandeur. Then Aion came out and took a turn by leaning more into world music and less into pomp.
I never saw them live as our schedules always clashed. Friends told me their shows were incredible. When they released the live video Toward The Within, I watched it obsessively – it was always on aboard the tour bus.
Their music has become ingrained in me. They’re a truly progressive band, drawing on centuries of influence.”
