Furthermore the band will be touring the UK this April performing tracks from their forthcoming album ‘Tragic Idol’. To celebrate the event PARADISE LOST will have a very limited number of VIP tickets available (10 per show) which you can purchase online on Wed 1st February 2012 from the band’s website www.paradiselost.co.uk. Nick Holmes comments on the tour as follows: “This is a pretty extensive UK tour for us, I’m speechless and excited. It’s nice to know there’s a WH Smith in every town we play”

PARADISE LOST

April 2012

16th – Cardiff, Great Hall 2
17th – Southampton, The Brook
18th – Folkestone, Quarterhouse
19th – Colchester, Arts Centre
20th – Stoke, Sugarmill
22nd – York, The Duchess
23rd – Glasgow, King Tuts
24th – Sheffield, Corporation
25th – Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
26th – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
27th – Manchester, Club Academy
29th – London, Scala
30th – Norwich, Waterfront

With a back catalogue spanning twelve albums over twenty two years – and a DVD set for release before Bloodstock 2012 (‘Draconian Times MMXI’ features the London show at The Forum on April 1st, a documentary from the whole tour, interviews about the history of ‘Draconian Times’ and the two promo videos from their latest album, ‘Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us’) – PARADISE LOST are one of the few bands capable of delivering a set that will satisfy both fans of more brutal, death tinged doom with songs such as ‘Eternal’, ‘As I Die’ and ‘Gothic’, as well as the melodic, gothic darkness of ‘Embers Fire’, ‘Hallowed Land’ and ‘The Last Time’.

Joining them are Swedish Black Metal misanthropists WATAIN, who make their BLOODSTOCK debut at a very special slot on the RONNIE JAMES DIO stage. Festering in the Black Metal underground since 2000, WATAIN’s rise through the ranks has been an impressive one, with Erik Danielsson’s dedication and conviction setting them apart, leading the band to become one of the most prolific acts on the scene today. Of next year’s appearance, the band states:

‘The United Kingdom has spawned many a thing inspirational to WATAIN, be it druidic sorcery, Venom or Judas Priest. Our performances there have always been spiced with a nameless sensation of raw power, and this is the main reason why we have chosen Bloodstock to be one of the very few festival shows we will perform next year. As always, expect something very far from the ordinary.’

Famed for their incredibly atmospheric live shows, their set at BOA 2012 will be their biggest UK performance to date, and as such the band are preparing to deliver a suitably memorable set, with a show full of satanic majesty planned, as blood, fire and fierce Black Metal spew out over a dusk covered CATTON HALL.

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2012 takes place at Catton Hall August 9th – 12th. Four day camping tickets for next year’s event are available now at bloodstock.uk.com for just £90 (plus booking fee) until xmas.

Tickets for the 2012 event are on sale now at www.bloodstock.uk.com

Opening with ‘Ghost of The Sun’, KATATONIA delivered an excellent 40 minute set of truly beautiful intertwined melodies with more heavy riffs, and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic, despite their being hardly anyone there. With a fantastic new album out, ‘Night Is The New Day’, it was a little disappointing to only hear one new track tonight in the form of ‘Forsaker’. Tracks like ‘Liberation’, ‘Nephilim’ and ‘The Longest Year’ would have definitely worked well in this environment.

Still, the rest of the set made up for the lack of new material with some note perfect renditions of ‘My Twin’, ‘Soil’s Song’ and ‘Consternation’, while the brilliant ‘Evidence’ went down superbly with those in attendance. The majority of the set came from the previous two albums, ‘The Great Cold Distance’ and ‘Viva Emptiness’, and set closer, the superb ‘Murder’ rounded off a wonderful performance from the Swedish doom/gothic metallers who will be returning to the UK in March next year. Get yourselves there, I will be.

Onto tonight’s headliners and the UK’s very own PARADISE LOST took to the stage with the venue just shy of half full, which was much to the contrary earlier in the year when I saw them at Hammerfest. I know PARADISE LOST aren’t as big over here as they are in Europe, but hey, even this was a disappointing turnout for one of the founding fathers of the genre. With one of the best drummers in the world being newly appointed, Adrian Erlandsson fitted in perfectly tonight and it hasn’t taken him long to get up to speed as the set was very tight tonight considering Nick Holmes seemed to be having some technical problems with hearing the songs (which seemed to be the reason for him leaving the stage at one point).

Plenty of new material from their superb new album, ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’, was on show tonight with the standout tracks being set opener ‘The Rise of Denial’, the brilliant ‘Frailty’ and ‘First Light’. There was plenty of old school songs in tonight’s set for the older fans in the form of ‘Pity The Sadness’, ‘As I Die’ and ‘Enchantment’ being some examples, while newer songs like ‘Erased’ and ‘The Enemy’ also got an outing and both were well appreciated by the fans.

A surprise omission to the set was ‘Hallowed Land’ and the opening track of the new album, ‘As Horizons End’, which I thought would be certainties, but they made up for it by playing ‘Eternal’ to many of the fans delight. Closing the main set with ‘Requiem’, before kicking into the encore with the title track from the new album, ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’, and then closing with the ‘The Last Time’ and their most famous song to date, ‘Say Just Words’, closed a truly wonderful set.

With a strong new album, PARADISE LOST are still at the top of their game both live and on record, even if Nick Holmes can’t sing the old stuff like he used to. Tonight’s performance was professional and excellent, given the technical problems they had during the set. It’s just a shame there weren’t more people in to see some quality doom and gothic metal.

PARADISE LOST Setlist: The Rise of Denial / Pity The Sadness / Erased / I Remain / As I Die / The Enemy / First Light / Eternal / Enchantment / Frailty / One Second / Forever Failure / Requiem / Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us / The Last Time / Say Just Words

KATATONIA Setlist: Ghost of The Sun / July / Criminals / My Twin / Soil’s Song / Evidence / Forsaker / Consternation / Murder

Ratings:

Photography By Alexander Shaw (click here for Photo Gallery)