- Country: United Kingdom
- Style: Gothic metal / Death-doom
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Release date: 19 September 2025
Paradise Lost have been turning grief into art since the late eighties, and Ascension, their first album of all-new material since Obsidian in 2020, shows the well is nowhere near dry. Greg Mackintosh produced, and singles like “Silence Like the Grave” and “Serpent on the Cross” arrive wrapped in that familiar Yorkshire gloom, heavy as wet stone and just as cold. It is also the final record with drummer Guido Zima Montanarini, who left in May 2025. Metal Hammer put it well: the godfathers of goth metal still take real pleasure in darkness.
Best tracks:
Serpent on the Cross
Tyrants Serenade
Silence Like the Grave
Author’s rating: 8.5/10
