Video Premiere: PARADISE LOST's 'Darker Thoughts'

The official music video for "Darker Thoughts", the new single from British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's latest album, "Obsidian", which is being released today (Friday, May 15) via Nuclear Blast. The group's sixteenth studio LP, which was recorded with producer Jaime Gomez Arellano, eschews its immediate predecessors' gruesome, myopic approach in favor of a richer and more dynamic deluge of black shades. From the deceptive elegance and dual atmospheres of opener "Darker Thoughts" through to the crushing, baroque doom of war-torn closer "Ravenghast", "Obsidian" reveals a band in masterful control of a broad array of vital ideas. Most noticeably, the record boasts several songs that draw heavily from the much-loved, Kohl-encrusted days of '80s gothic rock: in particular, newly minted PARADISE LOST anthem "Ghosts" is a guaranteed dancefloor filler at any discerning goth nightclub.

Singer Nick Holmes comments on "Darker Thoughts": "Musically, this is a song of two halves and was originally written as an intro towards the end of the 'Obsidian' writing process. As a result, it's one of the more spontaneous songs on the album. Lyrically, it's a song about choosing the wrong path — failing to look before you leap, and dealing with the consequence of dubious decisions."

The unique style of the "Darker Thoughts" video is due to the restrictions of COVID-19. Whereas Nick's performance parts were shot pre-lockdown, video producer Ash Pears from AshTV had to finish the video with random filmed bits.

Holmes told Invisible Oranges about "Obsidian": "The last album [2017's 'Medusa'] was very much a specific attempt to make a death-doom metal album. That was absolutely the intention with the last album where we didn't want to wander too far off. I guess any time we start to write a new album, the last one is the model we look at for where to go next, and bearing that in mind, we just thought we'd vary this one up a little bit. Actually, the first song we wrote, 'Fall From Grace', is very reminiscent of the last album. From there, you kind of get a vibe for where you're going after about three songs. I suppose these sorts of influences from different eras are in this album, but I think it's very, very much a PARADISE LOST album. I have no doubt about that. I also think it's a very, very dark album as well. In many ways, darker than the last one, even if it's not as heavy. I think we don't wander too far away from what we're known for, but we still added a few new kind of gothy extra bits which we haven't done for a while. Perhaps a more gothic slant in a couple of songs."

"Obsidian" track listing

01. Darker Thoughts
02. Fall From Grace
03. Ghosts
04. The Devil Embraced
05. Forsaken
06. Serenity
07. Ending Days
08. Hope Dies Young
09. Ravenghast