Paradise Lost – Medusa

After a most awaited “return to the roots” album with The plague within, it seems that Paradise Lost went all in into the world of gothic doom with a bleak and depressing Medusa. Apparently the fans weren’t the only ones over the moon with excitement as far as Beneath broken earth was concerned, but also the band itself, as Medusa picks up right where Beneath broken earth left us.

The first three tracks are in the same vein, a medium paced doom, with slow and powerful drum beats and deep grunts. Everything is very gloomy, but for the most part, it’s the kind of doom that I like, where they don't carry the same riff through tout 10 minutes of song, but where they change the pace and atmosphere and play with instruments, and amidst all the hopelessness of it all, there's still room for being engaged, surprised and curious.

As the tracks succeed one another, the crushing burden that threatens to suffocate everything good in the world is starting to become grating for me, so when the first ray of hope appears in The longest winter, it’s exactly what this album needed, at exactly the right time. Now, I may not be the trvest metalhead, but in my mind there has to be some beauty hidden underneath the despair, even if it’s a sad kind of beauty. Lacrimosa, for example, do this beautifully, and thankfully Paradise Lost do it as well later on, especially during the title track. Medusa is one of the best songs of the album, the guitar is just gorgeous, telling a story and pouring out emotions all by itself, and Nick's clean vocals compliment it perfectly (yes, I have a soft spot for his clean vocals, even though I also enjoy his grunts; songs like this where he blends both of them together are my dearest PL dream).

And speaking of clean vocals, that high(er) piercing voice in No passage for the dead kills me every time. Combined with the melodicity of the guitar, contrasted nicely by the heaviness and rawness of the rest of the track, this is one awesome song. Come to think of it, this is one awesome album. Except for the first three tracks, which maintain a certain pattern, all the others are different in their own way, even though they belong to the same story. I also love that they have a very specific sound not only when it comes to the actual music, but also in terms of production and sound editing, and that there's Paradise Lost spilling out through every note and sound.

Blood and chaos is a bit unexpected, as it’s a track better placed in the Forever After era, slightly faster paced, a bit lighter and with a catchy hook. Don't worry, it still has enough grunts and ominousness to belong on this album, but it’s still quite the surprise.

The record closes out with Until the grave, another great track, carried musically by that unmistakable guitar that I just adore. The bridge gets me especially invested and gives that familiar feeling of teasing that I was talking about in the previous review. 

To my ears, Medusa is a great Paradise Lost album. It doesn’t quite have the same variety and spice The plague within had, but I feel that the compositions are more solid and balanced, and maybe even better rounded. The record has exactly enough doominess and despair to not become unbearable, but still be piercing and intriguing, it has enough grunts, enough clean vocals, enough intensity, enough resignation, it gets me fired up, it gets me down, it plays with my emotions and sometimes even my expectations... it's the most Paradise Lost journey since Draconian Times.