Zeche, Bochum, Germany
31st March 2011
Paradise Lost, Ghost
‘Draconian Times’ is deemed THE PARADISE LOST record by many fans. If there’s an announcement then, saying there’s going to be a tour honouring that release on its 16th anniversary where the record is being played in its entirety you bet those shows are packed with fans. As was the case in Bochum being a sold-out show!
Ghost
The origins of Swedish band GHOST remain hidden in the shadows, but rumours have it they’re just devil worshippers thrown out of hell who decided to form a Death Metal band to live out their gloomy desires. So it came to pass that this band was signed to a record company in 2010 and the same year released their debut album ‘Opus Eponymous’ in October of that same year.
Music & Performance
If you’re listening to a band’s music you’re in one way or the other picture their appearance and I admit I was quite surprised to see some guys in black cowls and masks entering the stage that looked so totally different from what I’ve expected. That one was unusual but the demonic pope following them with sublime, slow movements was the peak. Add to it dark lights and lyrics about god’s opponent himself and you get the complete package of an unreal scenery. I’ve got to say though the music itself wasn’t that bad, especially the vocals were flawless and had something urgent to them, but the eerie and sometimes even disquieting outshined everything else which might have been on purpose. Anyway, it couldn’t hinder anyone from giving a warm applause to the band on several occasions. Well, it’s pretty cool to watch but regardless of the musical skills it’s nothing I could see myself buying and I sincerely doubt that the satanic theme will hold up for enough stories forever.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.9 / 10
Paradise Lost
No one would have thought at that time when a couple of friends formed a band called PARADISE LOST, that it would be the birth of what would one day become one of the most influential in their area and the founder of a complete new genre. But first things first. As the first songs, amongst others, included on the legendary ‘Frozen Illusions’ demo were more Death Metal with some Doom influences than anything else, a style they also celebrated on the debut ‘Lost Paradise’(1990). The following ‘Gothic’ then was the album eternalizing their name in the annals of musical history as the inventors of ‘Gothic Metal’ The preliminary peak of their popularity was reached around 1995 with the release of ‘Draconian Times’. Fast forward to 2009. The band releases ‘Faith Divides us - Death Unites Us’ and gets celebrated just like in the old times. It unites influences from every chapter of the band’s history and therefore is their most mature work to date. PARADISE LOST are Nick Holmes (vocals), Greg Mackintosh (lead guitar), Aaron Aedy (rhythm guitar), Steve Edmonson (bass) and Adrian Erlandsson (drums) and Milly Evans (live keyboards, backing vocals). http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/ / http://www.myspace.com/paradiselostuk 
Music & Performance
One or the other might have saved themselves watching the support. At least that’s the impression you could get when the time of the PARADISE LOST performance drew near and as the first spherical piano sounds started the show and ‘Enchantment’ all the enthusiasm was released in direction of the stage with screaming and chanting. The rhythm kicked in and the head banging and “singing” in the audience began. With ‘Hallowed Land’ blasting out into the crowd, the hands of everyone went immediately upwards to clap a little before venturing into rocking afterwards. The effect the injection of the keyboards, actually played live by Milly Evans, into the otherwise harsh build has is still second to none for me. ‘The Last Time’ kicked the tempo up a few notches before ‘Forever Failure’ licked it all down again into depths of depression, and the Charles Manson samples only contributed in amplifying those feelings. “I don’t really know what sorry means / I am sorry all my life”
It was the power of a racing train ‘Once Solemn’ came rushing around the corner with, and the perfect opportunity to let yourself go completely. To a certain extend the band did the exact same thing. Aaron Aedy was completely gone most of the time while playing and Greg Macintosh played with full commitment while Steve Edmondson rather stayed in the background. The focus as always was placed on Nick and its clean/harsh swings in vocal delivery. The excitement was on a peak after ‘Jaded’ had closed up the album and the band left the stage for the first time to quite quickly return for an encore. The bloc was opened with ‘Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us’. Finally, I got to hear this one live and it was brilliant. My next personal highlight was ‘One Second’, quite a mellow track and certainly not up everyone’s alley but it’s one of their emotionally strongest. But ‘Say Just Words’ made up for anything and managed to get out energy reserves you didn’t think would be inside of the people anymore.
Again, the band walked off stage and had to return once more for bitter ‘Sweetness’ and the highly anticipated ‘As I Die’. It was a stirring and exciting event for everyone and while some people went to the bar to grab a beer or two, others ways led straight to the merchandize booth or home to recover for the coming last day of the week.
Setlist
01. Enchantment
02. Hallowed Land
03. The Last Time
04. Forever Failure
05. Once Solemn
06. Shadowkings
07. Elusive Cure
08. Yearn For Change
09. Shades of God
10. Hands of Reason
11. I See Your Face
12. Jaded
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13. Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us
14. True Belief
15. One Second
16. Say Just Words
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17. Sweetness
18. As I Die
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.7 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography / www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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