Paradise Lost is a historical band, one of the leading doom/gothic metal bands, a living legend which shaped and laid the foundation of the gothic metal of the 90s and also of the doom/death genre along with bands like My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Anathema. In the course of their career they experimented much with their music style often changing it from doom/death to gothic metal and then combining gothic rock and synthrock in the middle of their career. They released records that often divided their fans due to the changes in the style and the musical experimentation, but always, despite of the direction of their music, they retained a high level in their compositions and albums. In the recent years, with their albums “Paradise Lost” (2005) and “In Requiem” (2007) Paradise Lost turned to their gothic metal past using many elements from their past works but the total return came this year with the release of their 12th studio album. And the name of it “Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us”.

The return to their roots that all of the old fans of the band waited so long is now a fact.  "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" unites and combines the glorious past with the present of Paradise Lost returning close to the sound and style of albums such as "Draconian Times", "Icon" and "Shades Of God". Lyrically the album continues the tradition of Paradise Lost with interesting lyrics and gothic themes. Heavy atmosphere and melancholic melodies are the main elements of all the songs of the album with Gregor Mackintosh creating great melodies on the guitar thrilling the listener with his riffs and creating feelings of sadness, pain and anger. Their singer Nick Holmes contributes significantly to this with deeper and rougher vocals returning to the style he sang in "Icon" and "Draconian Times". Each track is unique but from the whole album the ones that stand out from the first listening are "As Horizons End", "First Light", the "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" which beautifully combines rage and melancholic melodies, and "Last Regret". In general, "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" is one of the best albums of their career.

It is worth noting that after the departure of their drummer Jeff Singer, Peter Damin replaced him temporarily only for the recordings of the album and now well known Adrian Erlandsson (At The Gates, The Haunted, Cradle Of Filth) took the place behind the. A limited edition of the album will also be released, that contains orchestral versions of "Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" and "Last Regret" which were recorded by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague in July 2008. The "Lost In Prague Mixes», as they were called, turned out to be brilliant as classical music can support and express the feelings of the songs of Paradise Lost, giving them a different and very interesting approach.

Eventually, “Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us" is an excellent album that marks the total return of Paradise Lost in the sound that established them in the gothic metal scene as one of the best and most influential bands. I highly recommend it.