PARADISE LOST Parts Ways With Drummer GUIDO ZIMA MONTANARINI

British gothic metal pioneers PARADISE LOST have parted ways with their drummer of the past two years, Guido Zima Montanarini.

Earlier today (Thursday, May 29),PARADISE LOST released the following statement via social media: "We've made the difficult creative decision to part ways with our drummer, Guido Zima. We thank Guido for his contributions to the band and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

"We appreciate your continued support and understanding, and we're looking forward to the next chapter with the band."

When Guido first joined PARADISE LOST in March 2023 as the replacement for Finnish drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, PARADISE LOST guitarist Greg Mackintosh said in a statement: "We welcome Guido as PARADISE LOST's new drummer. He cut his teeth with us on our European tour at the end of 2022. Guido did such a good job that we have decided to make him our new drummer and he will be playing on all upcoming PL shows and working on new material with us for our next album."

PARADISE LOST just completed "The Devil Embraced" North American tour. The trek kicked off on May 16 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest and concluded on May 24 at Maryland Deathfest.

In September 2022, Väyrynen left PARADISE LOST to join OPETH. At the time, he issued a statement saying that his decision involved "absolutely no bad blood or drama whatsoever."

In a recent interview with Alejandrosis, PARADISE LOST guitarist Aaron Aedy spoke about the status of the follow-up to the band's latest album, "Obsidian", which was released in May 2020 via Nuclear Blast. He said: "It's not fully mixed yet, but it's recorded." Asked if he could give fans some details about the musical direction of the new PARADISE LOST material, Aaron said: "No. It's like opening your presents before Christmas. No, I don't wanna go into the new album too much just yet, 'cause I'll wait to see what it's like when it's mixed. It's almost finished, but not quite."

This past March, Mackintosh told Chile's PowerOfMetal.cl that PARADISE LOST's new LP would likely be released "September time." He added: "It's been the longest time we've ever had between albums. But that's kind of because of the pandemic as well… So shit happens. And, yeah, hopefully it'll come out September, October time this year."

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their fourth album, "Icon", PARADISE LOST re-recorded the LP for a special new release. There was also "an extra special vinyl" version of the album, both of which were made available in December 2023.

"Icon 30" is a totally re-recorded version of "Icon", and PARADISE LOST once again worked with longtime collaborator and producer Jaime Gomez Arellano.

Roman P-V - 2025-05-30 10:24:38