British goth and doom metal icons Paradise Lost, formed in 1988 in Halifax, England, have released their second single, Serpent on the Cross, from their 17th studio album Ascension, set for release on September 19, 2025, via Nuclear Blast Records. The track, accompanied by a music video, is streaming at paradiselost.bfan.link/serpent-on-the-cross.
The band, consisting of Nick Holmes (vocals), Gregor Mackintosh (guitar), Aaron Aedy (guitar), Steve Edmondson (bass), and Waltteri Väyrynen (drums), continues their 35-year legacy with their first album since 2020’s Obsidian.
Vocalist Nick Holmes describes Serpent on the Cross as a metaphor where “the cross represents stability, prosperity, hope, and happiness,” while “the serpent represents trepidation, anguish, and overbearing sadness, lurking in the shadows ready to take everything away.”
Ascension, produced by Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory, features 10 tracks blending gothic, death, and doom metal:
- Serpent on the Cross 06:12
- Tyrants Serenade 04:20
- Salvation 07:07
- Silence like the Grave 04:46
- Lay a Wreath upon the World 04:51
- Diluvium 05:47
- Savage Days 03:54
- Sirens 04:46
- Deceivers 03:37
- The Precipice 05:42
The album’s cover, featuring George Frederic Watts’ painting The Court of Death (1870–1902), reflects its bleak, tormented soundscapes, with mournful verses and foreboding riffs. Holmes calls Ascension a “cavalcade of molten misery, a vigorous sorrow-filled stroll through a wicked world of glorious triumph and pitiful tragedy.”
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