Paradise Lost – Tivoli, Utrecht (concert review)

November 6, 2017 | Tivoli, Utrecht – It’s not so often that we can see some doom metal bands in Utrecht, except Paradise Lost who visits Utrecht for the eleventh time! Paradise Lost, which is of course not a typical doom metal band because of their gothic/death metal influences, is touring because of their latest release ‘Medusa’ (2017). They are around since 1988 and with their groundbreaking album ‘Gothic’ (1991) they can be considered as on of the pioneers of the death/doom/gothic genre. The two support acts this night are Sinistro and Pallbearer. Text: Ron van Schaik

Sinistro (POR)
The evening kicks off with Sinistro from Portugal. This band started in 2012, but singer Patricia Andrade joined the band a year later. From that moment on, the band became more popular with a great performance at Roadburn last year. The sound of the band is slow and heavy, while Patricia is like a kind of Kate Bush on stage waving with her arms. Due to her solid voice, she gives a special touch to the sound of the band. In the background, there are also doomy black and white images which give the atmosphere an extra dimension. Nice performance!

Setlist Sinistro:
Partida
Relíquia
Abismo
Cidade (Parte II)

Pallbearer (USA)
The popular American band Pallbearer is a band with a lot of potential. They already proved it with some very well-received albums like ‘Sorrow and Extinction’ (2012), ‘Foundations of Burde’n (2014) and the just released album ‘Heartless’. The last record even reached the album charts of America and Germany. Can the men also get this high quality on stage? Well, they certainly can! The band played as tight as hell. Well, the voice of singer Brett Campbell is quite specific, quite high. Not everyone in my area thought the same about it, but I think the combination with the heavy and slow riffs is just beautiful. However, to me the 40 minutes that they played was quite enough, because there’s not so much variation in the songs.

Setlist Pallbearer:
Worlds Apart
Heartless
Fear And Fury
Dancing in Madness
Foreigner

Paradise Lost (UK)
When Paradise Lost is ready to begin, the hall becomes more packed and people push and shove themselves between the leading rows. Perhaps it’s smarter to come a little earlier and not to push people away who have been there all night? However, Paradise Lost has already released fifteen official albums and tonight’s tour was all about their latest release ‘Medusa’. It’s also very special that the band is visiting Utrecht for the eleventh(!) time, which seems to be a second home for the men.

The sound of tonight is very good, but quite loud to be honest. After the first songs ‘From the Gallows’, ‘Tragic Idol’ and ‘One Second’ the atmosphere is already outstanding and that keeps going on the whole performance. With ‘From the Gallows’, ‘Gods of Ancient’, ‘Medusa’, ‘Blood & Chaos’ and ‘The Longest Winter’, the new album is widely represented. Of course, all the classics came along, like ‘As I Die’, ‘Beneath Broken Earth’ and ‘Embers Fire’.

Tonight I really enjoyed the incredible enthusiasm of guitarist Aaron Aedy, who stood before me and could not really stand still for a minute. The other guitarist (and founding member) Gregor Mackintosh was regularly put in the spotlight, throwing out the most beautiful solos. The last song ‘Say Just Words’ ended up having a wonderful appearance. A little bit predictable, but please keep it forever, because everyone will return to their homes happy and excited again, despite the many doom songs this evening!

Setlist Paradise Lost:
From the Gallows
Tragic Idol
One Second
Gods of Ancient
Enchantment
Erased
Medusa
An Eternity of Lies
Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
Blood and Chaos
As I Die
Beneath Broken Earth
Embers Fire

Encore:
No Hope in Sight
The Longest Winter
Say Just Words