Important Information

Paradise Lost are a heavy metal band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, England.
The band's 1991 album, Gothic, was a seminal album in the doom/death genre.
Paradise Lost gradually polished its sound during the mid-90s and started incorporating electronic instrumentation beginning with their 1997 album, One Second.
With 2002's Symbol of Life, Paradise Lost diminished its use of electronic elements in favour of a return to a guitar-oriented approach.
Paradise Lost has proven to be influential, with Jonas Renkse of Katatonia saying that his band started off "as Paradise Lost fanboys".Their line-up has remained stable for such a long-standing heavy metal band, consisting of singer Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmondson.
Holmes and Mackintosh are the principal composers, with almost all of the band's songs credited to them.
During the years, the band has only changed drummers.Lost ParadiseEarly on, Paradise Lost were inspired by Black Sabbath, Kreator, Celtic Frost, Candlemass, Death, Morbid Angel, and Repulsion.
Up to 1989, the band recorded demo cassettes, then signed with Peaceville Records for their first album (recorded at The Academy), Lost Paradise.
Their debut was well received by press and fans alike.
This album following the next few are examples of the death/doom style.GothicIn November 1990, Paradise Lost went back to The Academy to work on the second album.
1991's Gothic (also on Peaceville) was the band's stylistic breakthrough which incorporated some melodic and gothic elements, eventually becoming an influential album within the extreme metal circles.
The album was labeled a "classic" and was rated highly by both fans and critics.
The album expanded beyond the original death/doom format by being more melodic and featuring symphonic orchestra and female vocals by Sarah Marrion.
With this album the band pushed "gothic" into the metal scene and started a new genre - gothic metal.Shades of GodParadise Lost was signed to the Music for Nations label, and in July 1992 released Shades Of God.
The album contained the song "As I Die," later released as a single/EP.
In accordance with the change in musical approach, vocalist Nick Holmes changed his singing style.
He used a death grunt on the band's first three albums, but on Icon refined his voice to have a cleaner tone.IconIn summer 1993, the band commenced work on their fourth full-length record, Icon which was released on September in the same year.
The album hit the German charts at number 31, It solidified the band's position in the mainstream metal scene.
With the release of this album, Paradise Lost also became known as pioneers of the gothic metal subgenre.Draconian TimesOriginal member Matthew Archer quit and was replaced by ex-Marshall Law drummer Lee Morris in December 1994.
Quickly after, the band began to record demos for their 5th studio album, Draconian Times, one of the band's most successful albums and then released it, which came in June 1995; a limited edition digipack offered a second disc, dubbed "Live Tracks, Demos & B-Sides," with five live recordings as well as demos and outtakes.
To promote the album, Paradise Lost went on a tour through Europe, South America, Australia, and Japan.One SecondOn the album One Second (1997), the band began to experiment with Depeche Mode-esque synth pop and electronica.
The album turned out to be one of the band's most important releases, cracking the German and Swedish top ten charts and giving the band a boost in popularity everywhere, it seemed — except the UK.HostThe band later contracted EMI Electrola in Germany for its next album, Host, released in 1999, on which they continued to experiment with new sounds, appearing to shed their metal roots.Believe in NothingOn the next album, Believe in Nothing (2001), Paradise Lost continued the synth direction, but adding rock elements to the music, forcibly by EMI at the time.
Due to the creativity control, Mackintosh said that the album "doesn't really exist for him".Symbol of LifeIn May 2002, the band signed to GUN records, and on the album that followed, Symbol of Life, the metallic roots of the band began to resurface.
The band managed to get guests like Devin Townsend, Jamie Muhoberac and Lee Dorrian on the record.Paradise LostIn March 2004, Morris left the band.
Jeff Singer took Morris' place and has played on a few subsequent releases.Paradise Lost released their 10th, eponymous album in 2005 on GUN records.In RequiemThe eleventh album, In Requiem, was released in Spring 2007 on Century Media; it was generally well-accepted and highly rated by both critics and fans, pleased to see the band returning to their heavier, gothic metal sound similar to that of earlier albums like Draconian Times.
The full-length was preceded by a single, "The Enemy" and on the single, Singer was finally listed as a permanent band member.
In a recent video interview, Mackintosh and Holmes revealed that Singer had already auditioned for the band when Archer left, but they chose Morris instead because "[Singer\] had a pink drumkit".In November 2007, Century Media released the DVD Over The Madness, which documents the impact Paradise Lost has had on gothic metal and provides insight into the mindset and workings of Paradise Lost.
Disc 2 includes further interviews, rehearsal footage, plus backstage and memorabilia sections.On 13 August 2008, drummer Jeff Singer announced his departure from the band on the Paradise Lost official website.
He wanted to be with his family, had an upcoming job, and the then-upcoming South American tour would interfere with that.
As a result, Paradise Lost had to cancel the South American tour dates that they had planned.
Soon after, on 28 August 2008, the Paradise Lost official website announced that the cancelled South American tour has been reconfirmed and that Mark Heron from Oceansize would take over on drums.Faith Divides Us - Death Unites UsAt the beginning of 2009, Paradise Lost recorded an album with producer Jens Bogren in Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.
At the time there was no full-time replacement for Jeff Singer and drums were played by Swedish drummer Peter Damin.
On 16 March 2009, when recording for the album was already finished, the band recruited Adrian Erlandsson (ex-At the Gates, ex-Cradle of Filth) as a full-time drummer for the band.On 18 June 2009, Paradise Lost officially announced Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us as the title of their album to be released on Century Media Records on 25 September 2009 in Germany, on 28 September 2009 in the rest of Europe and on 6 October 2009 in the US.Paradise Lost headlined the Jägermeister Stage at Ozzfest 2010 on 18 September 2010.Tragic IdolIn late 2011, Paradise Lost began recording its 13th studio album Tragic Idol in The Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire.
The album was released on 23 April 2012.Adrian Erlandsson was unable to play a few live shows for this album so the band got Jeff Singer again to fill in.14th Studio AlbumOn 27 October 2013, it was announced that the writing for the next album will begin after their 25th anniversary tour and the recording to the album will start in June 2014.
A compilation album of b-sides titled Tragic Illusion was released on November 5, 2013.