Icons of goth and doom, PARADISE LOST will release their long-awaited, 17th album Ascension on September 19th with Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s first album in 5 years, following 2020’s critically acclaimed Obsidian, was produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory. Ascension is a testament to the band’s longevity and relevance over their 35+ year career, encompassing their signature styles of gothic, death and doom fans have cherished along the way.
Ascension’s album cover fittingly features the painting The Court of Death (1870-1902) by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts, which hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. The painting depicts Death as an enthroned angel flanked by allegorical figures of Silence and Mystery guarding sunrise and the star of hope, while a warrior surrenders his sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status offers no protection. The painting’s bleak, prophetic vision embodies Ascension’s dark, tormented soundscapes as mournful verses collide with dire, foreboding riffs.
Commenting on the record, vocalist Nick Holmes says:
“Ascension is a cavalcade of molten misery, a vigorous sorrow filled stroll through a wicked world of glorious triumph and pitiful tragedy.”
Today, PARADISE LOST offer a glimpse into their melancholic masterpiece with the record’s first single and music video, ‘Silence Like The Grave.’
Stream ‘Silence Like The Grave’:
https://paradiselost.bfan.link/sltg
Pre-order Ascension:
https://paradiselost.bfan.link/ascension
Ascension Tracklist:
1. Serpent On The Cross
2. Tyrants Serenade
3. Salvation
4. Silence Like The Grave
5. Lay A Wreath Upon The World
6. Diluvium
7. Savage Days
8. Sirens
9. Deceivers
10. The Precipice
Produced by Gregor Mackintosh at Black Planet Studios in East Yorkshire, UK & NBS and Wasteland Studios in Sweden
Mixed/Mastered by Lawrence Mackrory
PARADISE LOST will be performing alongside KING DIAMOND and at festivals in Europe this summer before embarking on the first part their Ascension of Europe tour this fall, with Italian band MESSA as direct support on all dates. HIGH PARASITE will be opening on the UK dates and LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE on selected mainland Europe shows. Tickets are available at https://paradiselost.co.uk/tour-dates/.
PARADISE LOST Tour Dates:
June 7 – Berlin, DE – Columbiahalle (w/King Diamond)
June 10 – Wiesbaden, DE – Schlachthof (w/King Diamond)
June 11 – Tilburg, NL – O13 (w/King Diamond)
June 13 – Oberhausen, DE – Turbinenhalle (w/King Diamond)
June 14 – Ludwigsburg, DE – MHP Arena (w/King Diamond)
June 16 – Milan, IT – Alcatraz (w/King Diamond)
June 17 – Zurich, CH – Komplex 457 (w/King Diamond)
June 18 – Dessel, BE – Graspop Metal Meeting
June 21 – Lublin, PL – Lublin 2025
June 28 – Vana-Vigala, EE – Hard Rock Laager 2025
June 30 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Academy
July 1 – London, UK – Roundhouse
July 4 – Joensuu, FI – Ilovaari Festival 2025
July 6 – Sariyer, TR – Headbangers’ Weekend 2025
July 10 – Malakasa, GR – Rockwave Festival 2025
July 17 – Málaga, ES – Sun and Thunder Festival 2025
July 31 – Bergen, NO – Beyond The Gates 2025
Aug 1 – Czaplinek, PL – Pol’and’Rock Festival
Aug 8 – Jaroměř, CZ – Brutal Assault 2025
Aug 15 – Eindhoven, NL – Dynamo Metal Fest 2025
ASCENSION OF EUROPE TOUR 2025 – PART 1
PARADISE LOST
w/ guests MESSA, HIGH PARASITE, LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE
Oct 9 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
Oct 10 – Wolverhampton, UK – KK’s Steel Mill
Oct 11 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK – Newcastle University
Oct 12 – Glasgow, UK – Glasgow Garage
Oct 14 – Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
Oct 15 – Bristol, UK – Electric
Oct 16 – Southampton, UK – The 1865
Oct 17 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall
Oct 19 – Oignies, FR – Tyrant Fest 2025
Oct 20 – Paris, FR – Élysée Montmartre
Oct 21 – Lyon, FR – La Rayonne
Oct 23 – Köln, DE – Live Music Hall
Oct 24 – Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU – Rockhal
Oct 25 – Dornbirn, AT – Conrad Sohm
Oct 26 – Padova, IT – Hall
Oct 28 – Munich, DE – Backstage Werk
Oct 29 – Prague, CZ – Palc Akropolis
Oct 30 – Zagreb, HR – Boogaloo Zagreb
Oct 31 – Vienna, AT – Simm City
Nov 1 – Budapest, HU – Dürer Kert
Nov 3 – Geneva, CH – PTR/L’Usine
Nov 4 – Nürnberg, DE – Z-Bau Biergarten
Nov 5 – Utrecht, NL – Pandora
Nov 6 – Antwerpen, BE – Trix Hall
Dec 13 – Bradford, UK – Bradford Live
About PARADISE LOST:
More than three decades into their career, and with over two million albums sold, PARADISE LOST remain the undisputed kings of metal’s dark side. Formed in Halifax in 1988, the band quickly became noted as the pioneers of gothic metal through their early groundbreaking albums like 1991’s aptly-titled Gothic, a mixture of heaviness intertwined with shadowy melody and atmosphere.
Never a group to remain creatively static, across their career they’ve explored a myriad of avenues of dark music, from sludgy doom-death roots, to conquering the metal mainstream with the enormous, lush sounds of 1995’s Draconian Times, to more experimental, electronic leanings, leaving an influence on a trail of artists as varied as CRADLE OF FILTH, HIM, GATECREEPER and CHELSEA WOLFE.
Now, in 2025, the Yorkshire quintet return with their staggering 17th album, Ascension, a record that sees their crown continue to gleam as it underlines just how they attained their position. Produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh at Black Planet studios in East Yorkshire, with drums and vocals captured at NBS and Wasteland studios in Sweden, its 10 tracks traverse the multitude of sounds in the band’s arsenal, from full-bore heavy metal to sky-high melody, all the while keeping a minor-key melancholy that remains irresistible.
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