How to best celebrate that Friday feeling? With a night of slow and Gothic Doom of course. The Electric Ballroom in Camden, London, is full to the brim, and it seems the crowd is somehow wearing even more black than usual to celebrate the morbid tones of the UK’s very own Paradise Lost.

Portuguese gothic doom outfit Sinistro open up proceedings. Considering the early start the Ballroom is pretty full already. And though slow doom doesn’t lend itself too much crowd movement, they get a decent cheer between songs. Frontwoman Patrícia Andrade is the band’s focal point. Her eerie, marionette-like stage moves are offset by haunting vocals; she can sound both delicate and powerful. Behind her, the band deal in foundation-rumbling riffs of the heaviest and leaden-paced order.

Pallbearer are tonight’s wildcard. Undoubtedly a Doom band, but in lieu of any Gothic elements, there are just lashings of old-school riff worship. They manage to overcome some initial sound trouble – luckily, they still sound good even as a three-piece – to play an excellent set. Easily the most energetic group on stage tonight, there’s more of air of classic 80s metal about music filled with classic Maiden-esque twin lead guitar work (albeit about half the speed). They fill the stage with their performance and the room with massive riffs. For the neutrals in the crowd, Pallbearer are the highlight of the night.

It’s made quickly clear, however, who the vast majority of the crowd are here to see. Paradise Lost garner the biggest cheers of the night before the whole band has even made it on stage. After something of a flat start, they really hit their stride a few songs in with ‘One Second’.

Frontman Nick Holmes knows how to work a crowd and has an effortless charisma, but his job is made easy by a baying crowd. They’re already singing along to every chorus, so it only takes the merest suggestion of a sing-along or a clapping session to rile the audience back up. Material from the excellent new album Medusa (Nuclear Blast) gets its fair share of airtime. The likes of ‘The Longest Winter’, ‘Gods of Ancient’, and the title track sit nicely with their older, more established material.

But what exactly are Paradise Lost? Are they a Doom band with elements of Death and Goth weaved in, a heavy Gothic band, or a mix of the two? Give their 15-album and 30-odd year career, they’ve straddled all three. But then who do you try and please?

The set is split predominantly between the more gothic and melodic (‘Just Say Words’, ‘Faith Divides Us Death Unites Us’, ‘Erased’) and the heavier end of their back catalogue (‘As I Die’, ‘From The Gallows’) so everyone gets something. But unless you’re a die-hard fan of every side of the band, there were undoubtedly moments that dragged. But whichever version of Paradise Lost is your preferred, there definitely is something for you. A quality night filled with quality music.

DAN SWINHOE