Lee Morris

Lee Morris — born in England in 1970 — was Paradise Lost's drummer between 1994 and 2004, a period covering both the band's commercial peak and its most experimental phase. He joined in time for Draconian Times (1995), the album on which the group consolidated gothic metal and reached its widest audience. There his function is to hold mid tempos with constant weight, leaving room for the melodic guitar lines and for Nick Holmes's baritone — drumming as dramatic accompaniment, not as drive. The records that followed demanded something else. On One Second (1997) and above all Host (1999), Paradise Lost took in synthesizers, programming and electronic pop structures, going so far as to replace the acoustic drums with programmed elements. Morris crossed that transformation from an uncomfortable position: playing on a record that practically dispenses with drums requires accepting a step back. He stayed until 2004, taking part also in the gradual return to the original weight on Symbol of Life (2002) and the self-titled album of 2005.