“Goths would get up for their songs, then glare when the punks’ tracks came on. No one really mixed”: Paradise Lost’s Gregor Mackintosh, who’s never liked a happy song in his life, escaped genre restrictions and embraced Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance and Paradise Lost’s Gregor Mackintosh — (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I think it’s obvious Paradise Lost have been influenced by Dead Can Dance, and through them, by similar things. What first drew me to them was the way they constructed melodies using such a wide range of influences.

They pulled from Arabic, medieval, and church music – harmonies you couldn’t learn just by playing the guitar. I’d never encountered anything like that. It really shaped how we developed our own style.

I started trying to interpret those kinds of melodies through guitar. I had other guitar heroes, of course, but Dead Can Dance were instrumental in how I approached songwriting and melody.

I grew up in and around Leeds and used to go to clubs like Adam And Eve. They weren’t genre-specific – it was a mix of metal, punk, goth and everything else. Goths would get up for their songs and glare at the punks when their tracks came on. No one really mixed. I was a punk at first, but I had a friend in the goth corner, and eventually I crossed over – first to goth, then to metal.

That friend was into the 4AD label and handed me a copy of The Serpent’s Egg, saying, ‘I think you’ll like this.’ I did – but it took time. The first track, The Host Of Seraphim, is six minutes long. I was just getting into doom metal and I thought, ‘This is really doomy and grim; full of church-like melodies.’

The Host of Seraphim (Remastered) - YouTube

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Later I got into their other albums. Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun is my favourite – it’s the purest version of what they do. If you connect with that one, the rest become easier to love. It’s their darkest record – and I’ve never liked a happy song in my life!

Our early music definitely re-appropriated that kind of grandeur. Then Aion came out and took a turn by leaning more into world music and less into pomp.

I never saw them live as our schedules always clashed. Friends told me their shows were incredible. When they released the live video Toward The Within, I watched it obsessively – it was always on aboard the tour bus.

Their music has become ingrained in me. They’re a truly progressive band, drawing on centuries of influence.”

Dawn of the Iconoclast (Remastered) - YouTube

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Julian Marszalek is the former Reviews Editor of The Blues Magazine. He has written about music for Music365, Yahoo! Music, The Quietus, The Guardian, NME and Shindig! among many others. As the Deputy Online News Editor at Xfm he revealed exclusively that Nick Cave’s second novel was on the way. During his two-decade career, he’s interviewed the likes of Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourne, and has been ranted at by John Lydon. He’s also in the select group of music journalists to have actually got on with Lou Reed. Marszalek taught music journalism at Middlesex University and co-ran the genre-fluid Stow Festival in Walthamstow for six years.

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