PARADISE LOST Interview: Nick Holmes on Ascension, Vinyl Mindset & Tour Bus Fire!

PARADISE LOST frontman Nick Holmes joins Jaimunji (Metal on Tap) to talk about the band’s towering new album Ascension (out September 19, 2025 via Nuclear Blast) and the crushing single “Tyrants Serenade.” We get into how PL still keeps things fresh nearly 40 years in, the band’s vinyl-first mindset for sequencing (“A-side/B-side” flow), the art direction (George Frederic Watts’ The Court of Death), how writing by file-sharing keeps them meticulous, setlist strategy for the tour cycle, and why “writing the perfect single” isn’t the goal anymore—writing great albums is. Nick reflects on longevity, family life, and the “old-boy network” of peers built over decades. We dig into songs like “Lay A Wreath Upon The World” and “Life Unknown,” talk about video collaborations with Ash Pears, and how the band balanced anthemic melody with doom/death heft on Ascension. If you love gothic metal, doom, and PL’s classic melancholy, this era feels massive. 🔗 Stream “Tyrants Serenade”: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/tyrant... 🎬 Music video:    • PARADISE LOST - Tyrants Serenade (OFFICIAL...   🛒 Pre-order Ascension: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/ascension Ascension tracklist: Serpent On The Cross • Tyrants Serenade • Salvation • Silence Like The Grave • Lay A Wreath Upon The World • Diluvium • Savage Days • Sirens • Deceivers • The Precipice. About Paradise Lost: From Gothic to Draconian Times to Obsidian, the Halifax legends practically wrote the book on gothic metal, influencing artists from Cradle of Filth and HIM to Chelsea Wolfe and modern death/doom torchbearers. Ascension was produced by Gregor Mackintosh, mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory, with vocals/drums captured in Sweden. It’s classic PL mood: minor-key melody, granite riffs, and sky-high sorrow. 👍 If you dig this chat, like, subscribe, and drop your favourite PL era/song in the comments. 🇦🇺 Filmed in Australia (AEST/AEDT)—cheers for watching! #ParadiseLost #NickHolmes #Ascension #TyrantsSerenade #GothicMetal #DoomMetal #NuclearBlast #MetalOnTap #Jaimunji 🍻 JOIN THE BREW-CREW ON DISCORD:   / discord   🍻 Hang out with fellow metalheads, share tunes, talk gigs, beers & all things heavy! Follow Jaimunji on:► 📺 Twitch:   / jaimunji   📸 Instagram:   / jaimunji_   🌐 Website: https://metalontap.com 👍 Facebook:   / metalontap   Music from https://www.bensound.com I do not own the rights to any of the featured song clips on this video. All credit to the artists and labels. These fall under fair use based on sufficient transformation for the purpose of review, promotion, and commentary. " Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses-such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research-as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use."