Paradise Lost - Symphony For The Lost
- Written by Marky Edison
Paradise Lost wrap up a bumper year with a live CD/DVD set just in time for Christmas.
They recently toured the UK and Ireland with a storming set, including their first visit to Dublin in over a decade.
The Plague Within, released earlier this year is their best album since 1995s Draconian Times. It manages to be their heaviest album yet without sacrificing their melodic side.
Symphony For The Lost is the third live release from the band since 2008 which may explain the song choice.
It’s a split concert recorded in Bulgaria. The first half is performed with the backing of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra.
The second half is a straight run through the greatest hits delivered in Plovdiv’s crumbling amphitheatre.
The DVD was recorded last year so only one song from the latest album appears on it. Which is a pity as the likes of ‘Return To The Sun’ would sound massive with an orchestra playing them.
During the first half, the band eschew the expected setlist and offer up a selection of rarely played tracks that spans their whole career.
Many of the songs played are from albums that were more successful in Eastern Europe, while neglecting the songs that define them in the public eye here.
Throughout the set Aaron Aedy, as always, is the lifeblood and dynamo of the band, exuding personality and passion.
The DVD version illustrates further how much Gregor Mackintosh’s playing is underrated. His tuneful leads make him the Eric Clapton of metal. The rhythm section provides a solid foundation for him to play over. It is his playing that defines the band and makes them sound different to every other band out there.
The high watermark for metal/classical crossovers is Metallica’s 1999 collaboration with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony. Compared to Kamen's work on S & M, the orchestra and choir contribute little here and don't alter the tone of the songs or add extra dimensions to them. The band play a slow set, even by their doomy standards. ‘Soul Courageous’ is the only uptempo number and is boosted by the orchestra.
Nick Holmes sticks to smooth singing through the orchestral section. The death growl only really emerges on the last song, a rip thru ‘Gothic’.
Paradise Lost's music gives the orchestra plenty of room to express something and to add new aspects to the music but the opportunity seems wasted. The song selection is poor and the accompaniment unimaginative.
The big songs are saved for the second half, without the orchestra and choir. Bizarrely the unaccompanied songs played are the ones that would benefit most from their presence. ‘The Enemy’ and ‘Erased’ use tape loops of backing vocals that could have been better provided by the choir.
The change in tempo is welcome and Paradise Lost crank out their best known songs for the second half. ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’ and ‘As I Die’ piss all over anything played with the ensemble.
The band leave the stage after ‘True Belief’ and are lead out for the encore as always by Aedy.
A massive roar greets the opening notes of ‘Say Just Words’. It killed in Dublin and Belfast recently. It has somehow become their biggest tune. They have better songs but that one always gets the biggest reaction of the night. They finish off with an enthusiastically played and received version of ‘The Last Time’.
If I were to recommend one live Paradise Lost album, it would be Draconian Times MMXI. I don’t think I’ll be returning to Symphony For The Lost too often but a proper live set of their best songs, perhaps with a different orchestra, would be a very tempting proposition.
Symphony For The Lost is available from amazon.