PARADISE LOST's NICK HOLMES: 'We Still Have No Problem Calling Ourselves' A 'Gothic Metal' Band

In a new interview with Kati Rausch of Music Interview Corner, Nick Holmes of PARADISE LOST was asked how he feels about being considered one of the pioneers of the so-called "gothic" metal movement. The singer responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know. We kind of came up with that title at a time when everybody was labeling everything, and it was kind of the only one that we felt fit the music, really. We didn't really give it a lot of thought. But it kind of sums up particularly the early material; around the second album [1991's 'Gothic'], it kind of really fit the bill for that."

He continued: "We don't really think about labels too much, I guess, but we still have no problem calling ourselves that, though I'm sure a lot of maybe younger people wouldn't even regard us as gothic metal. They think another younger band, that is gothic metal and we are not. But it's not a problem. I don't lay awake at night worrying about these things."

Regarding the fact that PARADISE LOST is often cited as a musical influence for a lot of the younger metal bands, Nick said: "It's great. It's the same way that the guys in the bands that are in their 60s, such as bands like CELTIC FROST and DEATH and SODOM and CANDLEMASS, these bands are all a few years older than we are, and we were influenced by them. And then we've got the guys who are kind of three, four years younger than us in bands that kind of listen to us. So there's a four-year interval for people to get into bands, and then the next gen gets into that band, and that's how it's kind of gone for us listening to bands growing up, and for younger bands listening to us, I guess. So it's just a generational thing."

Holmes also talked about the inspiration for the title of PARADISE LOST's seventeenth studio album, "Ascension", which came out last September. He said: "'Ascension', in the biblical terms, is about rising up to God and rising up to greatness. But I kind of find that throughout life, all you're trying to do is rise up and do the best that you possibly can from minute you're born. So I was thinking more along that line, as opposed to anything remotely religious. Although we do love religious imagery, as a band, we always appreciate religious imagery. We are not a religious band whatsoever, but we do like the art of that."

The band's first LP in five years, following 2020's critically acclaimed "Obsidian", "Ascension" was produced by PARADISE LOST guitarist guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory.

Nearly four decades into their career, and with over two million albums sold, PARADISE LOST remain the undisputed kings of metal's dark side. Formed in Halifax in 1988, the band quickly became noted as the pioneers of gothic metal through their early groundbreaking albums like 1991's aptly titled "Gothic", a mixture of heaviness intertwined with shadowy melody and atmosphere.

Never a group to remain creatively static, across their career they've explored a myriad of avenues of dark music, from sludgy doom-death roots, to conquering the metal mainstream with the enormous, lush sounds of 1995's "Draconian Times", to more experimental, electronic leanings, leaving an influence on a trail of artists as varied as CRADLE OF FILTH, HIM, GATECREEPER and CHELSEA WOLFE.

PARADISE LOST's current lineup consists of Nick Holmes (vocals),Gregor Mackintosh (lead guitar/keyboards),Aaron Aedy (rhythm guitar),Stephen Edmondson (bass) and Jeff Singer (drums).