After twenty years of producing genre defining music it is hard to conceivable imagine how Paradise Lost have continued to motivate themselves year after year, album after album to achieve their exacting high standards. Culminating in 2007’s majestic return to form ‘In Requiem’ which for yours truly was an album to rank alongside ‘Gothic’ and encapsulated everything that has made Paradise Lost what and who they are.

So it is with a little trepidation that I review their bands new album ‘Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us’, as it has a hard act to follow. Now off with the rose tinted Paradise Lost are great spectacles and try to objectively review the album. The rediscovered heaviness that characterised much of ‘In Requiem’ is still very much present and feels like a continuation of a journey. A journey that sometimes has lead off in some very unexpected directions but not so here as the first thought that permeates your brain upon listening to ‘Faith Divides Us…’ is the feeling of heritage and drawing on the bands darker earlier works.

Gregor Mackintosh has always has an instantly recognisable riffing style to his playing but here more than I’ve heard for many years there is a regression to layered grandiose songs of yesteryear. Be it the decision to record with the album with seven string guitars or to change producers has yielded an album with a dark foreboding atmosphere without loosing any warmth of the songs. The old school syndrome doesn’t stop there as the king of melancholy lyrics, Mr Nick Holmes appears to have reveled in darkness and despair over the past two years, producing a stellar performance showcasing the whole range of vocal styles and emotions.

Honesty, to themselves and their music has always been a fundamental part of any Paradise Lost song. Even in the ‘Host’ days, for which the band were slated there was a sense of integrity to their ‘art’ with few songs over their career that could be considered ‘filler’, and so the trend continues with ‘Faith Divides Us…’. The album provides variation in tempo and mood from beginning to end, from the hugely aggressive ‘Rise Of Denial’ to the mid-paced ‘As Horizons End’ to the combination of all of the above which make up the title track. The whole album has an ebb and flow with each song being unique in its own right yet still complementing one another. Producing a collection of songs while not quite to the level of those found on ‘In Requiem’, they ain’t far short and without doubt need to be in everyone’s collection.