Paradise Lost - At the Mill Review

Paradise Lost At The Mill I’ve always thought Paradise Lost as a Cirith Ungol album, and one of the best. Fun fact is that “Paradise Lost” is from 1991 and Paradise Lost is from 1988. At least I admit my shame. I know many will have the urge to kill me because of what I just said but it’s the freaking truth. Of course, I know the band. I mean, I’ve heard or read about them but never heard an album. Don’t know, never was attracted by the band. In my mind Paradise Lost were a synonim of Modern Metal and the cores. Sorry about that, but as I said zillion times it’s impossible to keep up with all the formidable Metal bands in this sad and lonely and pathetic little world. Some bands you just can’t reach. For my freaking sake this album “At the Mill” is a live compilation of the band’s career. Compilations are great in cases like mine when one doesn’t have a clue about a band’s career and wanna take a quick look at it. “At the Mill” does this job perfectly and much more, it makes me wonder why I haven’t met Paradise Lost before. It’s pretty hard to meet a band that goes from Doom to Death so easily and so naturally with so many features of gothic with the 1980’s scent. Their symbiosis with their music is almost organic. And wanna know what? I loved the band because this “At the Mill” is pretty good.

It’s pretty hard to find an album that has so much musical diversity as “At the Mill.” There is no track like the other. To me it shows a band that really knows to reinvent itself. Of course, this must also be because of all the albums this live compilation covers. Some bands are very good on reinventing themselves and changing their sonancy throughout the years. The more years, the more changes. Not a rule, but explains a lot. The general mood and main drive of Paradise Lost is the good old Doom Metal. I made a joke about Paradise Lost and Cirith Ungol but now I see many details in common between the two, especially when it comes to the guitars. “Embres Fire” gives the fan a good idea of what I’m talking about. I mean a song where the guitar solo takes the lead or with a phrase that goes throughtout it or when it goes soloing all the time. That is what happens here and with the Ungol. A track as “Beneath Broken Earth” does have a slow and melancholic cadence, however the feeling isn’t the same. It envolves you, it embraces, the embracing guitar makes you feel part of it as in a cold hug. But I guess the song that captivated me the most was “Gothic” with its duet between the harsh and gritty male vocals and the soprano female vocals. Plus the guitar that envolves everything.

Okay, then. Now that I confessed my mea culpa and admited and regretted a lot not having met Paradise Lost before I can tell you my fan that is “At the Mill” a great atarter to the band. An album that will make you a fan. That I guarantee you.

P.S.: Some info about “At the Mill.” It was captured at The Mill Nightclub near the band’s hometown in Yorkshire, England. It’s a live album consisting of 16 tracks that cover nearly every style and big hit from their 3-decade-long career.

Paradise Lost “At the Mill” will be released on July 16th via Nuclear Blast Records.

Track Listing: