Band:	Paradise Lost
Album:	The Plague Within
Style:	Death doom metal, Gothic metal
Release date:	May 29, 2015
A review by:	Windrider

01. No Hope In Sight
02. Terminal
03. An Eternity Of Lies
04. Punishment Through Time
05. Beneath Broken Earth
06. Sacrifice The Flame
07. Victim Of The Past
08. Flesh From Bone
09. Cry Out
10. Return To The Sun
11. Fear Of Silence [bonus]
12. Never Look Away [bonus]
13. Victim Of The Past [orchestral version]

You know an album is good when you can experience a moment of ?wow" in almost every song. You know an album is great when you experience this even after multiple listens. Paradise Lost managed to craft such an album (once again) and named it The Plague Within. You all know this band, they play in the highest league of doom and gothic metal and the only question remaining from year to year is if they can take the cake in their genre. In fact, they're like one of those big football (European here) teams where it's only about which of the first few places they will be in by the end of the season.

Starting off with one of the best tracks on the album, The Plague Within will take you on a 50 minute journey, and after some seconds, the direction is already clear. For creating a doomy gloomy atmosphere, the beginning of the opener "No Hope In Sight" is surely one of the best ways an album of this style can start with. Throughout the record heavy riffs together with minor key melodies form the foundation, while bass and drums give the dragging rhythms and bring some fresh air from time to time at faster parts. Vocals are top notch in both clean and harsh form, while harsh means old-school death metal style.

I tried to figure out one best and one worst thing. The best one surely has to be the guitars here, with a tone that most bands are yearning for in vain. Powerful mid's and clear high's stand out in this British-old-school sound. The mix is also great and gives enough room for all guitars and the bass. However, what stands out even more for me personally is the guitar playing with lots of feel and passion in it. During some melodies it feels like I can see the expression on the guitarist's face while he's playing it right before my eyes.

Now, when it comes to a worst point I could hardly find something. In fact, the only thing I would have done differently was picking the song "Cry Out" as a bonus track rather than having it on the regular album. Don't get me wrong, it's a good song like all the others, but it doesn't really fit the overall mood and makes more sense to me when listened separately. But yeah, that's not such a big a deal actually.

Altogether Paradise Lost delivered an excellent album once more and it still doesn't become boring with them. If I were to choose my favorites on The Plague Within, that'd be "Beneath Broken Earth", "Sacrifice The Flame" and "No Hope In Sight". Probably "Victim Of The Past", too. Damn, that's a tough choice. However, I think everyone should have their own opinion about that, but what most of us can agree on is that we have here a contender for the album of the year.