Nicholas John Arthur Holmes (born 7 January 1971) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of British gothic metal/ doom metal band Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band

Bloodbath Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open Air (in 2010). The gr ...

History and style

Holmes formed Paradise Lost in late 1988 when he and the other band members were barely out of secondary school. Like other contemporaries of the British death-doom scene (

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

and

My Dying Bride My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 13 studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. Alo ...

), the band began purely as death metal, with Holmes using a low, guttural

death grunt A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

on their early demos and '' Lost Paradise'' (1990), ''

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

'' (1991), and ''

Shades of God ''Shades of God'' is the third album by British metal band Paradise Lost, released in 1992. It retains the heavy instrumentation and growled vocals characteristic of the band's previous death-doom efforts, and also shows the beginning of the ban ...

'' (1992) full-lengths (though the latter two albums were not exclusively death metal in execution, and Holmes even utilized some clean vocals as well). Beginning with 1993's ''

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

'', the death grunts were discarded entirely in favour of a raw but decipherable James Hetfield-like bellow. When the band yet again transitioned stylistically with 1997's '' One Second'', Holmes' vocals took on a more gothic rock croon, which remained his prevalent style for the next several albums that followed. However, with 2015's '' The Plague Within'', the band reincorporated low growls in some songs, a style which continued with 2017's ''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

'' and 2020's '' Obsidian''. In September 2014, it was officially announced that Holmes had replaced

Mikael Åkerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)Mikael Åkerfeldt
, Op ...

as the vocalist in the Swedish death metal band

, taking the moniker Old Nick. He has thus far released three albums with the band, ''

Grand Morbid Funeral ''Grand Morbid Funeral'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. It was released by Peaceville Records on 17 November 2014. Background ''Grand Morbid Funeral'' was recorded in 2014 at Ghost Ward and City of Glass in St ...

'' (2014), ''

The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn ''The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath, released on 26 October 2018 via Peaceville. It is the only album to feature guitarist Joakim Karlsson. Background and release In a 2017 interview w ...

'' (2018) and ''Survival of the Sickest'' (2022).

Discography

with Paradise Lost

with Bloodbath

- ''

'' (2014,

Peaceville Records Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Throat. ...

) * Bloodbath - ''

The Arrow of Satan is Drawn ''The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath, released on 26 October 2018 via Peaceville. It is the only album to feature guitarist Joakim Karlsson. Background and release In a 2017 interview w ...

'' (2018, Peaceville Records) * Bloodbath - ''Survival of the Sickest'' (2022)

Guest appearances

*''3 AM'' - "

Deus Ex Machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...

" -

Liv Kristine Liv Kristine Espenæs (born 14 February 1976) is a Norwegian singer who has performed and composed songs mostly for various subgenres of heavy metal music. She started her career in the music industry as a vocalist for the gothic metal band Thea ...

(1998, Swanlake) * ''For a Voice Like Thunder'' - "

Rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

" -

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creat ...

(2016, Season of Mist) * ''Gallows Bird'' - "Hour of the Nightingale" -

Trees of Eternity Trees of Eternity was a musical collaboration between Finnish guitarist Juha Raivio ( Swallow the Sun) and Sweden-based, South African-born singer Aleah Stanbridge. Their music is often described as down-tempo, doom/death-inspired melancholia ...

- (2016, Svart Records) * ''Wake Up the Coma'' - " Wake Up the Coma" -

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...

(2019, Metropolis Records) *... and a Cross Now Marks His Place - Where Fear and Weapons Meet - 1914 (2021, Napalm Records)

Filmography

*''666 - At Calling Death'' (1993, documentary, directed: Matt Vain) *''Over the Madness'' (2007, documentary, directed: Diran Noubar)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Nick 1971 births Death metal musicians Living people English male singers Bloodbath members Paradise Lost (band) members 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers