EP Review: Paradis – Paradis (Self Released)

London’s highly rated up and coming metalcore stars, Paradis, unleash their self-titled debut EP, Paradis, on the 20th of September.

Hitting your senses from the backstreets of London, England, Paradis are a fiery quintet that blend elephantine riffs and powerful vocals, merged with a raft of influences that incorporate enticing synths and considered arrangements. Born in 2023, Paradis have already racked up favourable comparisons to everyone from Parkway Drive, Architects and Avenged Sevenfold.  Countless rehearsals and lengthy writing sessions have certainly strengthened the five-piece over the past year and have enabled the energetic riff merchants to produce their debut self-titled EP.

As well as creating their debut release, Paradis have also gained a mounting reputation for their towering live performances and are quickly making a name for themselves throughout the London scene. Now, with the release of their brand-new debut EP, the band are truly ready to shine.

Featuring Jonny Weaver (Vocals), Pedro Silva (Guitars), Federico Di Biase (Guitars), Mark Kuchmenko (Bass), and Flynn Everard (Drums), the band members have been born widely across the globe, but collectively they’re a group of brothers with a mutual love for all things metal.

Speaking about the new release, Paradis, Jonny Weaver comments:

“This is the first project I’ve ever worked on that was truly a team effort. We’ve integrated everyone’s ideas in one way or another and created an EP we are so proud of. Expect heavy riffs, huge choruses and immense breakdowns, featuring extra elements of synths and orchestration.”

Paradis delivers 5 tracks to get stuck in to and to get your heads banging kicking things off with Boneyard. A song that delivers in many ways starting with the intriguing synth intro that transitions into a bone shaking verse with pummeling drums and riffs and dark, heavy vocals. Touches of melody fall into place in the chorus and there are some nice variations to the vocals as the second verse starts. The chorus is simple and stompy, but effective in a song that definitely leans on the heavier side of metalcore. It’s a strong start and a song that you can see being an absolute belter in a live environment.

Reflections raises the tempo up further hitting with an awesome riff to get your necks working. Vocals are spat out venomously and at pace before the chorus sees the first chunk of clean vocals so far. Slightly faded, buried in a sea of thick bass, punishing riffs and crunchy drums, it’s a powerful sound. Breakdowns that bring some deep gutturals are welcomed and show more and more of the vast array of talent in Paradis’ ranks. I’m really enjoying the guitar and bass work as well where they are keeping things quite progressive at times. These little moments work really well and challenge you as a listener as they throw unexpected curveballs at you.

Immortal is up next and keeps the bar very high combining dirty riffs and aggressive vocals with a symphonic/choir backing to create some real ear candy. It’s really neat to see Paradis flexing their creativity and making sure this release is not just “more metalcore”. It stands out. The instrumental section here is fire too with some neat guitarwork and really cool drum beats that lead into a strong solo. Everything comes together for an epic ending with strong riffs, roared vocals, choir backing and squealing leads to really get the hairs on your arms standing up.

Storm goes for the jugular with a meaty start packing punchy drums, riffs and vocals. It’s a strong but standard start and Paradis clearly don’t like to stay standard for long so it isn’t long before the variety starts to rain down on us. From sections of stop start riffing, deep guttural vocals, choir backing and meandering melody, Storm is a strong example of all that Paradis can offer. Packing a heavy metalcore track out with enhancing elements to again keep the bar very high and exciting throughout.

We close out Paradis with Walking Aberration and as I now expect, based on the rest of this release, it’s a banger. The intro is fast and furious before it drops down just a touch into a verse that is packed with groove. The chorus is catchy, keeping the heaviness up but dropping in a little of the backing and a touch of melody to make it stand strong. Then chuck in a fiery little solo followed by a deep and reverberating vocal section that shakes your core, well, damn! To close out everything nicely, and leave a lasting mark, the track ends with a chaotic breakdown of screeching guitars, bellowing vocals and killer riffs and drums making sure you remember the name.

Paradis clearly pack a lot of talent in a band that may be new, but seem to come with a ton of experience. 5 tracks of high quality, creative and exciting metal built around a foundation of metalcore, but with branches that reach comfortably into any genre they want. If it enhances the song, it is welcome here and that makes for a very creative and exciting listen.

Paradis have all the tools required to make a lasting mark on the metal scene so make sure you get onboard early, starting with the release of this top notch EP, Paradis, on the 20th of September.

Paradis Links

Instagram – Facebook – TikTok – YouTube – Apple Music – Spotify