British doom champs PARADISE LOST have posted the cover art for their forthcoming new effort, The Plague Within.
The cover for The Plague Within was created by Polish artist, illustrator and architect Zbigniew M. Bielak, best known in the musical realm for his record cover illustrations, which, among others, include meticulously handcrafted artworks of WATAIN, GHOST and ENTOMBED A.D. albums.
Zbigniew comments: “Since their late ’80s inception, through somber abrasiveness of their debut and harrowing tristesse of groundbreaking Gothic, the unparalleled icons of gloom, PARADISE LOST grew deep into all things murky and dreadful in modern music. Let alone Duncan Fergado’s artwork for their Lost Paradise debut remains one of my fave covers, so having heard that with Plague Within the band harks back to days of old, was — to say the least — a thrilling incentive to pick up the commission. It was also a rare joy to see how preliminarily calm and reflective Arcimboldian artwork, kept becoming ever darker and more sinister past each of Nick’s and Greg’s scrutinies, to finally become what one can see on the actual cover. A portrait of hopeless decrepitude of mental illness — which is what Plague Within deals with thematically — where the tormented Sisyphus struggles to push his burden back up the slippery walls of a long-frozen illusion.”
Regarding the musical direction of The Plague Within, PARADISE LOST singer Nick Holmes said: “We wanted to approach the new album differently this time, by embracing the band’s VERY early days with the last few years.
“We have written a very dark-yet-melodic album, but this time many songs definitely have a death metal edge, which is something we haven’t done for a long, long time in PARADISE LOST.”
