PARADISE LOST Signs With NUCLEAR BLAST

British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST have signed a worldwide deal with German-based metal powerhouse Nuclear Blast.

Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1988 and still boasting four of its five original members, the band is widely credited with co-founding the gothic metal genre with its sophomore album, "Gothic" (1991). Through the years, PARADISE LOST has changed its style effectively and reinvented itself again and again. They elbowed their way from their original melodic death metal sound on their debut, "Lost Paradise" (1990) to the classic "Icon" (1993) and more experimental "One Second" (1997). Finally they went back to the roots with their most recent release, "The Plague Within" (2015),achieving some of the best reviews of their career.

PARADISE LOST vocalist Nick Holmes commented: "PARADISE LOST's career has run alongside Nuclear Blast Records since the label began in the late '80s. And as huge fans of original death metal, we still have the majority of the label's first releases from those very early days. It's pretty incredible to see how the label has become a real force in metal music over the years, both in Europe and America and now, nearly 30 years later, in a new chapter for the band, it's exciting for PARADISE LOST to be a part of Nuclear Blast!"

Nuclear Blast owner Markus Staiger adds: "As a fan from day one I've been following PARADISE LOST ever since their death metal era, but have also enjoyed watching them grow into something even bigger and so unique. They defined and later on re-defined the gothic genre and always delivered the most dark and memorable songs. It's a great pleasure to finally welcome the band to the ever-growing Nuclear Blast family! Needless to say that we're very much looking forward to this partnership!"

In a 2015 interview with Isolation Grind, Holmes stated about "The Plague Within"'s heavier sound compared to that on some of PARADISE LOST's earlier albums: "We just tried to capture the spirit of the old days without forgetting everything else that has happened over the last 20 years. I don't think the album is back to our roots as such, as we couldn't have written an album like this 25 years ago."

Nick also talked about the progression of PARADISE LOST's sound, calling it "just evolution. Certain albums have taken us in significant directions, I guess 'Icon' was probably the first album to do that, and we continued that style until 'One Second'. It's too early to see if ['The Plague Within'] will be a new progression."

PARADISE LOST 2016 is:

Nick Holmes - Vocals
Greg Mackintosh - Lead Guitars
Aaron Aedy - Rhythm Guitars
Steve Edmondson - Bass
Waltteri Väyrynen - Drums