Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1988, they are considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre, and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement.

[5] Their line-up has remained stable for such a long-standing heavy metal band, consisting of singer Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmondson.

[6] In November 1990, Paradise Lost returned to Academy Music Studio to record their second album, Gothic, which was released in March 1991.

[7] Paradise Lost left Peaceville and were signed to the Music for Nations label and released Shades of God in July 1992.

[6] The band's musical approach continued to evolve with this album as evidenced by the addition of quieter passages in the song's compositions, the softening of vocalist Nick Holmes's death grunt, and Gregor Mackintosh's incorporation of acoustic guitar to his sound.

Following the success of Draconian Times, and after four years of continuous touring, the band began to get bored with their signature sound and started to experiment with Depeche Mode-esque synth-pop and electronica.

The album was one of the band's most successful releases, particularly in Northern Europe, cracking the German, Swedish, and Finnish top ten charts.

[12][13][14] The band moved to EMI Electrola in Germany for its next album, Host, released in 1999, on which they continued to experiment with new sounds, appearing to shed their metal roots.

On the next album, 2001's Believe in Nothing, Paradise Lost continued this synth direction but adding rock elements to the music, forcibly by EMI at the time.

[19] In March 2004, Lee Morris left the band due to "personal and musical differences"[20] and was replaced by Jeff Singer.

[23] In November 2007, Century Media released the DVD Over the Madness, which documents the impact Paradise Lost has had on gothic metal and provides insight into the mindset and workings of the band.

[25] Soon after, on 28 August 2008, the Paradise Lost official website announced that the cancelled South American tour has been reconfirmed[26] and that Mark Heron from Oceansize would take over on drums.

At the beginning of 2009, Paradise Lost recorded an album with producer Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.

[34] On 26 January 2015, the release date for 2 June 2015 was announced, along with the producer, Jaime Gomez Arellano and the recording location of Orgone Studios, London.

[38] 2018 marked the band's 30th anniversary and was celebrated through select dates around UK and mainland Europe, including their first gig in the hometown of Halifax, as well as a South and North American tour with Solstafir and The Atlas Moth.

On 24 March 2023, Paradise Lost announced on their Facebook page that touring drummer Guido Montanarini had become an official member of the band.

[55] Other bands that have cited Paradise Lost as an influence (or have covered them) include My Dying Bride,[56] Anathema,[56] The Gathering,[56] Amorphis,[57] Cradle of Filth,[58] Katatonia,[59] Moonspell,[60] Lacuna Coil,[61] HIM,[61] Nightwish[61] and many others.

[62] Nick Holmes cited Iron Maiden's singer Bruce Dickinson in his main influences along with Metallica for their Master of Puppets album.

[62] The band experienced a considerable shift in style between 1997 and 2002, on their albums One Second through Symbol of Life; One Second saw the heavy use of electronics and keyboards and Holmes using clean vocals,[64] with Host moving even more towards synthpop / dark wave.

Believe in Nothing moved the band to a more alternative rock direction, with Symbol of Life re-establishing a heavier gothic metal tone.