Paradise Lost are one of the most underrated bands in the history of heavy metal. Shortly after they formed in Halifax in 1988, the Yorkshiremen became one of the “Peaceville three”: a unit of bands on the label of the same name who refined the death/doom genre. That alone would make frontman Nick Holmes, guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and their cohorts worthy of adulation, but since then the quintet have leapt between styles without putting a foot wrong. They pioneered gothic metal with 1993’s Icon, then laudably forayed into synthpop and dance-rock before, nowadays, settling at the junction of every genre they’ve previously explored.
Though Paradise Lost were never the arena-sized superstars they deserve to be (anthems like The Last Time and One Second practically beg for thousands-strong singalongs), for most millennial metalheads, they’re your favourite band’s favourite band. Turn-of-the-2000s goth icons from Him to Cradle Of Filth have all acknowledged the masters’ influence. However, none of them have been a more outspoken champion than Cristina Scabbia, co-singer of Italian sensations Lacuna Coil.
