You know, I'd love to say that I remember 1988 very well but my brain disagrees with me on the subject. In '88 there was a short supply of death metal here in the uk. Those of us who where avidly supporting the underground death metal scene back then always thought we were pretty much 'on the ball' about new death metal bands. Little did we know, one night in '88, that one of the heaviest bands ever to emerge from the death metal scene were not from California, Ohio or Florida, but from Bradford, UK. No-one saw it coming, no one suspected a thing; but when PL hit the stage here, I still remember the look on people's faces. . . here, 'in our own backyard' was at last, our very own MASSACRE! Up to that point UK bands like ND, Bolt Thrower, even Carcass to some extent just werent cutting it well enough to be termed as 'true death metal'. Paradise Lost were the beginning of the greatest time for death metal - both here and abroad; together with Autopsy they breathed new life into death metal.

However, around 1992: much stagnation, bandwaggoning, 'scene rivalry' and elitism took a stranglehold on the death metal scene as a whole and many including myself sought different influences further afield. In a similar turn of events, PL turned their back on the petty death metal scene and embraced a more goth like direction; however they managed to pull it off once more and capitalise again, this time on the then re-flourishing 'goth movement'.

Todays younger generation, when watching films like "The Exorcist" now, simply cannot appreciate how terrified a 1960's film audience would have been, having experienced little or no horror/gore in the media or in film. The mere sight of blood on film back then was enough to have people running from their cinema seats. PL one night in 1988 had the same effect on hapless crowds of thrash metallers, indie kids and even hardened death metallers (such as myself) - although I certainly wasnt fuckin' running anywhere that night!!!