LIVE REVIEW: Paradise Lost @ The Garage, Glasgow

Goth metal founders PARADISE LOST return to The Garage in Glasgow to play another live show, following their last sighting in Scotland in 2022. The show tonight is completely sold out, a testament to the band’s unwavering gothic legacy. Cleverly and selflessly, this tour curates a lineup that provides a catwalk for relevant younger acts to reach a fresh audience.

First on the stage is HIGH PARASITE, the new collective by the very newly ex-MY DYING BRIDE frontman Aaron Stainthorpe. With such metal royalty, they’ve leveraged a visibility boost that other new acts could only dream of; last year, they toured with CRADLE OF FILTH, so they have already haunted the city and converted some fans. While the group evocatively labels their music ‘death pop’, it’s actually a well-worn gothic metal/rock style.

Opening with Parasite from their debut Forever We Burn, the Yorkshiremen proceed to play almost all of the album. The record is similar to mid-era PARADISE LOST efforts, with rain-drenched melodic guitar leads from Jonny Hunter, punchy mid-paced 2000s-era goth rock rhythms along the lines of 69 EYES and HIM, and Stainthorpe’s defiant clean vocals (don’t expect the pained singing of his former band), baritone goth crooning and raspy death metal growls. All the members headbang, and Stainthorpe, contrastingly bedecked entirely in white, gives a nimble and emotive performance, despite the cramped space on stage, thanks to PARADISE LOST’s drum kit. Songs such as the insistent Wasn’t Human, the scathing Let It Fail and the varied closer Forever We Burn are highlights of their set. Despite only hitting the stage ten minutes after the doors open, the venue is busy, and the crowd is positively reactive to the openers.

Rating: 8/10

Next up is Italian metallers MESSA, who have been quietly garnering attention in underground circles with their devilishly stylish compositions. Their music spans a wealth of genres, including heavy metal, gothic metal, blues rock, doom metal, progressive rock and more. Their show begins with Fire on the Roof, from their new album The Spin, but the sound fails to serve the quartet, especially vocalist Sara Bianchin. It takes a few tracks for the sound engineer to remedy this and the end result is commendable. Almost all of the set originates from The Spin. At Race strikes with a nocturnal goth rock temperament, while Immolation is a tender vocal-led ballad that explodes with a heavy metal climax, and Reveal’s country-inspired start morphs into a bluesy strut, with bursts of furious double bass drumming and tremolo picking.

While the music is fascinating and well-delivered, the only downside after the sound is clarified is that Bianchin’s stage presence is mostly static; she stands in the same place for the whole set, in contrast to Stainthorpe, and she looks like she’s unsure of what to do during instrumental sections. This violently contrasts with the rigorous headbanging of guitarist Alberto Piccolo next to her. That said, this is something that Bianchin can easily learn to overcome and doesn’t pull too much from their show. Final song Thicker Blood contains some quiet passages that annoyingly fall victim to people in the crowd chatting over the music. Still, the reaction that MESSA receives proves that the lion’s share of the attendees appreciated their non-conforming yet cohesive take on fusing popular genres together.

Rating: 8/10

Finally, headliners PARADISE LOST grace the sold-out venue to cries of unbridled adulation. The five-piece kickstart the gloaming with Serpent on the Cross from the new album Ascension. Armed with a deadly catchy guitar lead from Greg Mackintosh, it’s clear to see why this song opens the full-length and their set. While reviews of the goths’ 17th album are mixed, this is certainly one of the best songs on the release, featuring vocalist Nick Holmes’ beloved death metal growls and a boisterous tempo set by drummer Jeff Singer. The sound engineer’s labour immediately hits the mark, providing a voluminous yet detailed result. Impressively, all but Singer have shared all of PARADISE LOST’s victories and defeats since its inception in 1988. Being in their mid-fifties, the lineup is highly energetic and fully devoted and engaged in the live show. That’s certainly not something you can say for many bands that formed in that hedonistic decade.

Of course, such a continuous active career means that picking setlists must be a challenge to placate all of their dedicated fanbase. Tonight, songs come from thirteen of their albums, a very broad representation of their discography, despite excluding their early death/doom metal days: Tragic Idol showcases the gritty, aggressive side of the band with a TYPE O NEGATIVE influence, as does new song Tyrant’s Serenade. One Second shows off their foray into electronic-infusion. The muscular Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us roars through The Garage, while the divisive DEPECHE MODE-coloured Nothing Sacred seeps through the venue. Despite the band’s age, the songs beautifully match their recorded counterparts, including Holmes’ versatile growls, thrashy shouts, and lower-pitched vocals. The music never loses its grip on the desolate, spectral or brooding.

Fan favourite Say Just Words unfurls before allowing the Yorkshire lads to leave the stage. Of course, an encore is expected, and this consists of the bleak No Celebration, the SISTERS OF MERCY-tinged Ghost and wraps up with new song Silence Like the Grave (although the headliners would have harnessed a stronger impact if they’d swapped this one with the track before it). Unlike most shows, the audience doesn’t thin out at the back as people leave early to get a headstart on their journey home. With a set that lingers for an hour and a half, PARADISE LOST have once again cemented their position in the pantheon of goth metal icons. This night of unbridled dark romanticism leaves a deep impression on the fans, brimming with the highest accolades as they shuffle on to Glasgow’s autumn streets.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here: 

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