Review by Adam M on September 8, 2017.

Paradise Lost has brought a lot more aggression to their sound. Though still rooted in doom, they have a death element that makes them a lot heavier than other bands in the genre. This album completely explores this heavier element and makes for a disc that is as vicious as it is glorious. There are still some moments where the clean vocals are used, but the band has chosen to focus on the more aggressive portions. Whether this is the best move for the band going forward is up for debate.

I liked the melodic clean portions on the album Tragic Idol and would like to see a return to that. This is still very well done for the style the band is going for despite not equalling their last couple of records. Some songs like the excellent The Longest Winter use both styles to craft a varied and interesting effect. This is actually one of the songs where the clean vocals are used more exclusively. The effect of adding the harsh vocals, however, is something that was begun on The Plague Within and is explored here to great effect here. It’s a nice idea to try to change one’s sound and innovate, but then there are things that were working well in the past that should be maintained as well. Make no mistake, there is still melody to be found on this disc. It is just that the memorable moments of melodic beauty from Tragic Idol have been replaced with harsh moments that fade away from memory. This is why I believe this album is the worst of the last three from the band.

I still like Paradise Lost’s music and believe it has a lot of good things going for it. Fans of the band’s last effort should find Medusa right up their alley.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10