5 Albums I Want To Be Buried With #42: Perpetual Paradox!

Ahead of their fright night special on 31st October at The Music Room on Ipswich where they will be joined by Ember, Azure Sky and Knocked For Six in supporting headliners Existentialist we got talking to Perpetual Paradox riff lord Oliver Miles about the albums he’d take beyond the grave. The band are currently surfing a tidal wave of Technical Metalcore having inked a deal in blood with the Bleeding Art Collective which saw their end of August released record “May Misery Befall You” hit new heights!

The premise is simple: “Back in ancient Egypt they believed that the items their Kings were buried with would travel with them into the afterlife and so part of the burial ritual would see the mummified bodies surrounded by chariots, gold and more. Fast forward to now. If there were five albums that you’d want buried in the coffin with you to take to the afterlife, what would you choose?”

1. Megadeth – “Rust in Peace”

“The first metal song I ever heard was Metallica’s Ride the Lightning, when I was 14. From that moment, I nosedived into the world of metal music, particularly thrash at the time. It wasn’t long before I discovered Rust in Peace and I was absolutely floored. An album way ahead of its time. I listened to this album till I knew every solo, riff and lyric off by heart. Marty Friedman is one of my favourite players of all time and Mustaine is the reason I swear by Jackson guitars now. Rust in Peace was a totally defining album for me and is 101 for anyone getting into (thrash) metal in my opinion.”

2. Polaris – “Fatalism“

“I’m actually relatively new to Polaris but since discovering the band a few years ago, it’s been a love affair since day one, Fatalism in particular. It’s a masterfully produced and written album by a band that understands the importance of contrast and dynamics. The riffing is unreal and the band is absurdly tight live. The whole album is perfect to me, and I frequently listen to it all from start to finish on repeat because it’s such an enjoyable experience.”

3. Bullet for My Valentine – “Scream Aim Fire“

“Probably going to get a tonne of flak for this but I love this album. I think a lot of it has to do with when it came out. I was 16 in 2008 and still quite new to metal and a lot of my friends at the time were into Bullet. It struck a chord with me and the nostalgia I feel when I listen to this has never waned. Can’t really speak for what the band is up to these days, but this album genuinely had a huge influence on how I write music and play guitar.”

4. Lorna Shore – “Pain Remains”

“It’s become quite popular to hate Lorna Shore but I love them. Pain Remains is, to me, perfect deathcore. Adam De Micco is an absolute machine of a shredder and criminally underrated. There’s so much depth and richness to this album buried beneath the blast beats and the shred, and Will Ramos is such a ridiculous vocalist. Lorna Shore is by no means an original deathcore band but their approach to the genre is, to me, original. I saw them live earlier this year in Ally Pally and it was like a religious experience. Great to see deathcore getting this kind of mainstream attention.”

5. Metallica – “Master of Puppets“

“Saved the best for last. Best metal album ever written, to me at least. It is the single most defining album for me, nothing else comes close. I’m a die-hard Metallica fan and this album is the band at its best. Battery is my favourite metal song ever written. I discovered this album as I started getting into guitar proper and progressed loads learning Master of Puppets, Battery and Disposable Heroes. Hetfield is one of the few musicians I look up to and as a half Dane, you can’t help but be a little bit proud of Lars, questionable chops notwithstanding. I could talk about Master of Puppets all day but I’ll end with saying that it’s simply the best metal album there is and I hope I’m alive the day someone writes an album surpasses it, because I’d like to meet that genius.“