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Medusa (Paradise Lost album)

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Medusa
Studio album by
Paradise Lost
Released1 September 2017[1]
Genre
Length42:41
51:18 (with bonus tracks)
57:03 (Japan edition)
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerJaime Gomez Arellano
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost chronology
The Plague Within
(2015) 		Medusa
(2017) 		Obsidian
(2020)
Singles from Medusa
  1. "The Longest Winter"
    Released: 7 July 2017
  2. "Blood & Chaos"
    Released: 4 August 2017

Medusa is the fifteenth studio album by British gothic metal band Paradise Lost, released on 1 September 2017[1] via Nuclear Blast.[2]

Musical style, writing, composition

According to guitarist Greg Mackintosh the album is "be slower, sludgier and more doom-filled than ever before". He also considered it "eight riff-laden monster tracks of sheer Northern misery".[2] Meanwhile, front man Nick Holmes described the record as "...definitely our heaviest album; the heaviest we’ve done. The idea was to keep it simple but dark and heavy, and I think we’ve achieved that." Regarding the album title, he commented that "...when Gregor writes songs, he gives them working titles, so he called one song Medusa. There’s no real meaning to it. It’s not something I would use in a song and wouldn’t use as a title either. I liked the thought though. When we were kids, Medusa was the scariest character we knew. As I looked into it, I found a lot of different metaphorical meanings that she represents. There was one sentence I read which was ‘Attempts to avoid looking into her eyes represent avoiding the ostensibly depressing reality that the universe is meaningless’, which made a lot of sense to me. To me, this is what Medusa stood for. There are many different interpretations, but this was mine. ” [3]

With the track "No Passage for the Dead" Holmes expressed his skeptical attitude towards the belief in the afterlife, calling it "a ridiculous man-made notion, [...] initially a theory invented to profit clever individuals, aimed at weak, frightened people." He conceded that not sharing this belief is not "a nice thought", but on the other hand could "make you appreciate the time you have, and live life to the fullest."[4]

Touring

In support of the album's release, the band toured Europe during the Fall of 2017, with support from Pallbearer and Sinistro. In December, an Australian tour followed (their first in over six years), while also gradually announcing a UK tour in February, multiple festival slots for the Summer of 2018 and a Central/South American tour in September.[5]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Fearless Sky"8:30
2."Gods of Ancient"5:50
3."From the Gallows"3:42
4."The Longest Winter"4:31
5."Medusa"6:20
6."No Passage for the Dead"4:16
7."Blood & Chaos"3:51
8."Until the Grave"5:41
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
9."Frozen Illusion"Lost Paradise5:45
Limited edition digipak
No.TitleLength
9."Shrines"3:59
10."Symbolic Virtue"4:38

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Blabbermouth8.5/10[6]
Loudwirepositive[7]
Metal Hammer8/10[8]
Metal Storm8.7/10[9]
Sputnikmusic[10]
Team Rock[11]
Terrorizer8.5/10[4]

Medusa received high critical praise. Andy Walmsley of Terrorizer gave the album eight and a half points out of ten and considered it "one of the darkest, heaviest, and doomiest albums of their career", with "some of the most gloriously grim riffs, cruelly catchy melodies, and spine-tingling vocals (both harsh and clean) that the band have ever recorded."[4] Dom Lawson, comparing Medusa to its predecessor album The Plague Within in his positive review in Metal Hammer, thought that "to a certain extent Medusa is simply more of the same. Only slower and heavier."[8] He concluded: "This is still the sound of noble veterans driving the dark heart of their music forwards and onto new terrain. It's just that a dark and scary world needs music that speaks the truth about mankind's accursed frailty. Few do it better, or with more monstrous power, than this."

Accolades

Best of the year (2017) lists
Publisher Accolade Rank
Decibel Top 40 Albums of 2017 1[12]
Loudwire Best Metal Albums of 2017 14[13]
Metal Hammer Top 100 Albums of 2017 9[14]
Rolling Stone 20 Best Metal Albums of 2017 12[15]
Stereogum The Best Metal Albums of 2017 24[16]
WhatCulture Best Rock and Heavy Metal Albums of 2017 14[17]

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 20
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 25
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[21] 17
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 70
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23] 7
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 44
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 6
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[26] 24
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] 229
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[28] 8
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] 30
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[30] 30
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 14
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 56
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[34] 7

Credits

References

  1. ^ a b "PARADISE LOST Unveils 'Medusa' Album Artwork". Blabbermouth.net. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Paradise Lost Unveil Details of Upcoming Album 'Medusa'". Loudwire. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Interview with Nick Holmes". Metal Obsession. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Walmsley, Andy (November 2017). "Paradise Lost 'Medusa' Nuclear Blast". Terrorizer. No. 285. Leigh-on-Sea: Dark Arts. p. 56. ISSN 1350-6978. OCLC 770611553.
  5. ^ "PARADISE LOST - announce European tour!". Nuclear Blast. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Medusa - PARADISE LOST". 28 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Paradise Lost, 'Medusa' - Album Review". Loudwire.
  8. ^ a b Lawson, Dom (September 2017). "Paradise Lost Medusa Nuclear Blast". Metal Hammer (300). United Kingdom: Future Publishing: 91. ISSN 0955-1190. OCLC 775087096.
  9. ^ "Paradise Lost - Medusa review - Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net.
  10. ^ "Review: Paradise Lost - Medusa - Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com.
  11. ^ "Paradise Lost - Medusa album review". 15 August 2017.
  12. ^ "SPOILER: Here Are Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2017 - Decibel Magazine". 20 November 2017.
  13. ^ "25 Best Metal Albums of 2017". Loudwire.
  14. ^ "Metal Hammer's 100 best albums of 2017". 15 December 2017.
  15. ^ "20 Best Metal Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone.
  16. ^ "The Best Metal Albums Of 2017". 12 December 2017.
  17. ^ "50 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2017". 28 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Paradise Lost – Medusa" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – Paradise Lost – Medusa" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Paradise Lost – Medusa" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 37.Týden 2017 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  22. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Paradise Lost – Medusa" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Paradise Lost: Medusa" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  24. ^ "Lescharts.com – Paradise Lost – Medusa". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Paradise Lost – Medusa" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  26. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2017. 36. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  27. ^ "メデューサ | パラダイス・ロスト" [Medusa | Paradise Lost] (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  29. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  30. ^ "Top 100 Albumes — Semana 36: del 01.09.2017 al 08.09.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  31. ^ "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 8 September 2017. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
  32. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Paradise Lost – Medusa". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  34. ^ "Paradise Lost Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
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