{"id":21348,"date":"2023-03-02T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=21348"},"modified":"2023-02-28T20:17:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T20:17:39","slug":"host-ix-nuclear-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=21348","title":{"rendered":"HOST \u2013 \u2018IX\u2019 (Nuclear Blast)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><a href=\"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX-65x65.jpg 65w, https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IX.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The last few months would have certainly seen a significant return on investment for anyone with shares in the darker side of music (should such a commodity exist that is). Be it Wednesday Addams dancing to \u2018Goo Goo Muck\u2019 on our TV screens or Demon Records releasing the expansive \u2018Young Limbs Rise Again: The Story of the Batcave Nightclub 1982 \u2013 1985\u2019 5 CD set, Goth is very much back in vogue with the mainstream, although it\u2019s not like it ever really ever went out of fashion for some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two such musicians who have long harboured such an infatuation with the genre are Nick Holmes and Gregor Mackintosh from epic doom metallers Paradise Lost. So much so that back at the turn of the century on signing a major label deal with EMI they decided to totally reinvent themselves (for a couple of albums at least) as a more Gothically tinged electronic outfit, something that some fans of the band still struggle to get their heads around to this day. For me however, those two albums 1999\u2019s \u2018Host\u2019 and 2001\u2019s \u2018Believe In Nothing\u2019 still rank within my top 5 albums by the band (1997\u2019s \u2018One Second\u2019 being my all-time favourite by the band, just in case you were wondering).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"HOST -  Tomorrow&#039;s Sky (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pActIe_Ca0k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s that aforementioned 1999 album that this all-new side project by Holmes and Mackintosh takes its name, but the duo actually cite the origins of the band back to the mid to late 80s, when at a time spent frequenting Yorkshire nightclubs as fledging doom metallers they also found themselves as equally drawn to the burgeoning New Wave and Goth music scenes, and it is this influence that is the underlying theme of the nine tracks that make up \u2018IX\u2019 \u2013 geddit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(The commercial stream of the album (from which I\u2019m writing this review) doesn\u2019t contain the duo\u2019s cover of Flock Of Seagull\u2019s \u2018I Ran\u2019, but then again that surely spoils the numbers play of the album title too doesn\u2019t it? I shall have to wait for my pre-order copy to finally arrive to solve that mystery.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, just like \u2018Host\u2019 (the album) \u2018XI\u2019 is going to test the patience of any Paradise Lost fan longing for another \u2018Draconian Times\u2019 or \u2018Faith Divides Us \u2013 Death Unites Us\u2019, largely because there are very few guitar riffs on offer. What they are doing though is taking risks with their music when perhaps they don\u2019t need to, and most importantly sounding like they are truly enjoying themselves in the process, although with darkwave\/Gothic electro pop that isn\u2019t something that is essentially easy to pick up on. And whilst \u2018IX\u2019 might not be a heavy metal album, it most certainly is a darkly doom-laden affair, so there are loads of commonalities within the music, if you are prepared to take the time to absorb what\u2019s on offer. There\u2019s even a song called \u2018Wretched Soul\u2019 (how metal is that?) to get the album off and running, albeit for this brooding beast of a tune you need to think of what Paradise sounded like on \u2018Host\u2019 and turn up the dial marked \u201clatter day Depeche Mode\u201d, something that is also true of the fantastic \u2018Tomorrow\u2019s Sky\u2019 a song that manages to out Depeche even Gahan and Gore\u2019s recent single effort by some considerable distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"HOST - Hiding From Tomorrow (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tgTfc1Ju2X0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For \u2018Hiding For Tomorrow\u2019 there\u2019s a glimpse of what Sister Of Mercy might have sounded like if they\u2019d employed someone to play a thunderous acoustic drum kit instead of relying on Docktor Avalanche to provide the back beat and is that a soup\u00e7on of Tears For Fears I hear in there mid song too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The highlights of \u2018IX\u2019 are certainly many, but for me it is the fact that songs like \u2018My Only Escape\u2019 and \u2018Divine Emotion\u2019 sound exactly how I\u2019d have loved Paradise Lost to have sounded after \u2018Believe In Nothing\u2019 that perhaps excites me the most, and with \u2018Inquisition\u2019 you have a sumptuous electro drenched lament that would not have sounded out of place on any of Gary Numan\u2019s past few studio records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"HOST - Divine Emotion (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DpbP4oYjarU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018IX\u2019 then, is most certainly a (soul) courageous record for Nick Holmes and Gregor Mackintosh to be releasing, not just in 2023, but anytime, it\u2019s a record that will no doubt provoke discussion and reactions and will hopefully influence (at least a few of) their peers to take risks with their music too. This is sense of Paradise Lost (almost punk rock) defiance I initially fell in love with all those years ago and it\u2019s great to see, and hear, the guys embracing it once again via this set of superb new material. Go seek out a copy NOW!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buy <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3kAv0df\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3kAv0df\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/officialhost.co.uk\/\">https:\/\/officialhost.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/officialhostuk\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/officialhostuk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last few months would have certainly seen a significant return on investment for anyone with shares in the darker side of music (should such a commodity exist that is). Be it Wednesday Addams dancing to \u2018Goo Goo Muck\u2019 on our TV screens or Demon Records releasing the expansive \u2018Young Limbs Rise Again: The Story [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[8143],"class_list":["post-21348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-host"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21350,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21348\/revisions\/21350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}