On a dreary Saturday night in October, which saw England flop inelegantly from the Rugby World Cup, a Gothic/Doom Metal band from Halifax, West Yorkshire were giving it their all in front of a three quarter full Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton. Paradise Lost in all their glory shining on a night where there wasn’t much else to shine about in England. 

 

Blasting straight into their number one listened to track on Spotify, No Hope In Sight tore the skin off the onlookers faces of the front row. Big booming riffs with a brilliant guitar overlay. Nick Holmes voice as dark and dulcet as ever, he doesn’t lose any of his power live like so many vocalists do. 

 

One thing I had noted was that there was a weird feedback sound coming from the PA stage left. This seemed to persist throughout the entire set for PL. Finally, I figured out that it was the microphone hanging from above the left hand side of the drum kit. It wasn’t picking up the cymbals properly. A bit of shame but you were able to look past that and enjoy the performance nonetheless. 

 

Another new one next with Terminal. A personal favourite of mine and it didn’t disappoint. Great showmanship from Holmes get the crowd clapping and punching the air. This was followed by Tragic Idol. The frontman jeering the guys at the bar waiting for their next drink. The Fans laughing and hanging off every word which left his lips. 

 

The toxic emotion from the gothic metallers radiates throughout the entire crowd. Victim Of The Past is the next on the set list. The crowd really feeling the need to get involved with PL, enjoying a clap along with the band. Everyone singing the chorus with Holmes as MacKintosh’s guitar screams over them with enchanting notes. 

 

Flesh From Bone is next on the agenda, the frontman explaining to the crowd that it’s about dying in shit! The first thing you recognise is the ground vibrating from the deep tones of the bass and guitars. Holmes enjoying a giggle to himself at the end of this song explaining to the crowd that he had just witnessed a middle aged mosh pit. The crowd following him with a laugh of their own. 

 

As I Die was introduced to the Wulfrun horde as a song to cheer everyone up. This was met with screams of glee from the crowd. Then I witnessed something I don’t think has ever happened before…crowd surfing at a Doom gig. The band then take a short break and come back three minutes later and fly straight into Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us. The screaming and cheering from the crowd almost overwhelms the music, an incredible show from the fans.

 

Holmes asked the lighting engineer to light up the crowd so that the band could take a picture. At this point all the arms in the Wulfrun pointed their horns to the skies. Eternity of Lies followed this. Finishing on Say Just Words, it felt like this gig had come to a conclusion all too soon. I think the crowd were half expecting an encore which never came. The lights came up and the band said their goodbyes and that was that. Needless to say it was still awesome and a real privilege to go see these veterans in action. A must see in the future!