British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST will release their new album, "Medusa", on September 1 via Nuclear Blast. With this fifteenth full-length release, the legends are returning to their early beginnings, delivering their heaviest record of the past fifteen years, melding crushing doom metal with Nick Holmes's harsh death growls and raw organic sounds, heralding a new era of pure Northern misery.
"Medusa" track listing:
01. Fearless Sky (8:30)
02. Gods Of Ancient (5:50)
03. From The Gallows (3:42)
04. The Longest Winter (4:31)
05. Medusa (6:20)
06. No Passage For The Dead (4:16)
07. Blood & Chaos (3:51)
08. Until The Grave (5:41)
Bonus tracks:
09. Frozen Illusion (5:45)
10. Shrines (3:59)
11. Symbolic Virtue (4:38)
A snippet of the song "The Longest Winter" is available below.
The artwork was created by Branca Studio and shows the infamous Gorgone Medusa from Greek mythology, carrying venomous snakes as hair and turning anyone into stone who would dare to look into her eyes.
PARADISE LOST guitarist Greg Mackintosh states about the artwork: "Whilst we were writing 'Medusa' and realizing what the new songs were becoming, we had to find an artist to reflect this direction. After searching around for a while, I found Branca Studios. They have a keen eye for design and their modern take on retro artwork really fit the bill. What they have come up with is a blending of colorful-yet-retro styling, whilst maintaining the classic PARADISE LOST feel."
About the choice to make her the figurehead of this new album, Holmes adds: "I was intrigued about a greater meaning and thinking more along the lines of what Medusa represents metaphorically. 'Medusa' as a title works in many ways. From a nihilist perspective, when I read the description of 'Medusa' on the Wikipedia page: 'Attempts to avoid looking into Medusa's eyes represents avoiding the ostensibly depressing reality that the universe is meaningless.' The title was pretty much in the bag!"
In other news, PARADISE LOST has announced a very special release show that will take place in Stuttgart at the iconic LKA Longhorn. Only on this night of September 1, PARADISE LOST will perform its entire new album. A short time later, PARADISE LOST will embark for an extensive European journey and bring their label mates and U.S. doomsters PALLBEARER, as well as SINISTRO from Portugal.
Regarding the sound of "Medusa", Nick told Italy's Linea Rock: "I would say if you've ever heard every album by PARADISE LOST, it's closest to the 'Shades Of God' album, our third album. It's an album carrying on from that, but hopefully it's a lot more sophisticated and it's better produced and better played than that album." Lead guitarist Gregor Mackintosh added: "Style-wise, it's more between 'Gothic' and 'Shades Of God' era, with modern touches to it as well."
