With Tragic Idol, Paradise Lost found their way back to their roots. With The Plague Within, the band has fully come full circle. Classic albums like Gothic through Icon and Draconian Times, can be heard as a mixture of where they have been, and where they are going now. The more industrial flair of albums like Host, are not heard, almost if this came out after Icon/Draconian Times(sans death growls on that album of course). So 2015 sees twenty five years of the band, and with The Plague Within, the next step in Paradise Lost’s evolution(Re-evolution maybe!). No Hope In Sight was the first lyric video released by the band, and you can hear this one for yourself. The driving drums of Terminal, the pseudo mix of death growls mixed with rough vocals, Paradise Lost has definitely picked up the pace on this song(more like music heard in Nick Holme’s other band, Vallenfyre). The eery piano and strings mix that opens An Eternity of Lies(my favorite song on the disc), really sets you up for what is in my opinion, one epic song. The doom laden legato riff, the slight distorted(yet clean sounding) lead guitar of the intro, really draws you in. With all the focus of the death metal vocals, Holmes’s clean vocals, especially on this song, shows he definitely has the pipes to still sing as well. This song is that perfect mix of Icon/Draconian Times and Gothic I mentioned earlier. While very depressing, it also begs hope, and is majestic and somber all at the same time. Punishment Through Time and Beneath Broken Earth, follow with the first being another faster song, and the latter being the first video single released. Beneath Broken Earth is the longest song, at just over six minutes long, and along with An Eternity Of lies, are among the highlights for me.

Sacrifice The Flame is slow moving, somber piece finding Holmes mixing his melancholic clean vocals with the harsher death growls, that alternates throughout the song. Victim Of The Past and Flesh From Bone follow the same suite, while the first has a nice middle section that really slows things done, and adds a huge dynamic to the song when it picks up. The latter picks things up in parts, but is definitely not a faster song. I really enjoyed the guitar solo, in the last third of the song along with the double time marching feel of the drums. Cry Out, has what some may say a real groove to it, that actually works really well here. With the pseudo death/rough vocal mix throughout the song(some pure clean vocals are heard midway through), with a mixture of great lead guitar playing as well. Return To The Sun, starts off pretty epic sounding with its orchestral intro. The song is one of the best on the disc, and is also the last one. This is definitely a song to listen too, and not just be told what it is about. Twenty-five years later, Paradise Lost has created a disc, that travels back in time, and yet stays permanently planted in 2015. Easily one of their best releases in many years, and has me excited to see where they will go next. If you are a Paradise Lost fan, old or new, this is a release, you don’t want to miss.