The reason this is a Buried Treasure and not a review or something — aside from album’s having been already reviewed — is that I just finally got around to buying a physical copy last night at Vintage Vinyl. I was there for the Crippled Black Phoenix, The Resurrectionists/Night Raider box and figured since opening track “As Horizons End” has been in my head for a couple days, I’d grab the 2009 Paradise Lost release as well. Maybe there was some subliminal connection because both bands are British. In any case, I had some store credit to burn.

Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us is not an album I’ve consistently gone back to, but for some reason, I recently clicked open the folder of promo mp3s from which the review was written and gave it another shot. It’s still formulaic, but as I stood with the copy of it in my hands and debated taking it to the register, I realized formulaic was exactly what I wanted. There’s no question there’s some filler toward the record’s back half — I know that now even more than the first time around — but that’s what I wanted. A metal album. Something I could put on and not think about. A couple catchy choruses, some decent guitar work, and done. Mind-boggling complexity is wonderful, but sometimes you just want to relax.

I felt way back in August and still feel “As Horizons End” is the strongest cut on the record. It’s the one that led me back to Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us, and a good portion of motivation for any subsequent listens will be to hear that one song. But what follows it, at least for the next four songs until you get past the title track, isn’t half bad either. I doubt the purchase will instill in me a wholesale new affection for the album, but hey, at least I know it’s on the shelf should I decide to pay it another visit half a year from now.

It?s a well-known fact that when Paradise Lost are heavy, life is just better. As the most commercially successful of the original Peaceville Three — the other two being My Dying Bride and Anathema — who came up in the UK and boldly changed the landscape of the metal underground with releases like 1991?s Gothic and 1992?s Shades of God, Paradise Lost have amassed a loyal following setting them apart from almost any other band. They?re gothic, but they?re death metal, they?re melodic, but their heaviness is unquestionable. For a while there they were even a disco band. On their new release, Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us (Century Media), it?s abundantly clear they?re over that one.

If there are any resonant trademarks that have existed throughout the many phases and faces of Paradise Lost, they are result of the consistency of the players, who apart from new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (ex-At the Gates, The Haunted, Cradle of Filth, etc.) are the same today as they were in 1988. Happy to say the riffing of Gregor Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy brings serious metallic weight to tracks like opener ?As Horizons End? and the start-stop cadence of ?The Rise of Denial.? Erlandsson also turns in a remarkable performance on the latter, tapping his ride cymbal to lend the song an accent that blends well with Stephen Edmondson?s subtle bass work.

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