When it comes to bridging the abyss between savage wickedness and ethereal beauty, Paradise Lost are authentic heavy metal alchemists. The high-decibel brooders from Halifax initially conquered British metal with a pioneering iteration of Goth-stained doom. Released in 1991, the aptly named Gothic is a hellish procession of lurching riffs and sinister groans draped in symphonic splendor. In the years since, the group has crafted progressively more elaborate manifestations of their core vision. On 2015's The Plague Within they even incorporate elements of blackened hard rock.