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Paragon has built up a firm reputation through the years, surely in
their home country Germany. The band, who has been around since
1994, has two amazing guitar tyrants in their rows Martin Christian
and Günny Kruse. They produce that kind of uncomplicated, but
contagious heavy metal that make them feel right at home at a
festival such as ‘Keep It True’.
Their
seventh album ‘Revenge’ turns out as the heaviest of them all and it
pleases me more than its predecessor ‘Dark Legacy’ (2003). Going
into the studio with producer Piet Sielck (Iron Savior, Blind
Guardian) gave them a dynamic, chunky sound. The first edition
contains a limited DVD with recordings at the Sweden Rock Festival
in 2004.
The
‘balls to the wall’ metal with muscular vocals of Andreas Babuschkin
has the most impact in stunners like the title-track and ‘The Art Of
War’. Sturdy harmony vocals advance the sing along factor. The two
longer tracks on the album offer some diversity, done well to keep
the attention. ‘Masters of the Seas’ starts rather dark and has an
atmospheric centrepiece. Also ‘Battle Rages On’ is a bit slower and
more epic. ‘Empire of the Lost’ finally is the ballad of the album.
Clichés? Indeed, I cannot deny. Take a pinch of Manowar, a lot of
Accept and Judas Priest. Just stir firmly into the vocabulary of
this true hevy metal, and you’ll have a ‘new’ Paragon composition.
Spinal tap stunner of the album is the bonus track ‘The Gods made
Heavy Metal’, a cover of Manowar.
Paragon belongs to the sub top of the German power metal bands. With
‘Revenge’ they release an exuberant and enthusiastic album that is
not extremely inventive, but it will not miss its effect. Fists in
the air, hell yeah! |
