Search - Paragon :: Revenge

Some Pretty Good Traditional Metal

Bryan Bugaj | California | 05/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I suppose the argument could be made that this is power metal, but categorization was never my strong point. Let me tell you why I call this traditional metal - no keyboards, no orchestration, no operatic vocals, and just a sparse usage of sound effects. This is straightforward guitar/bass/drums/vocals heavy metal.



What I really like about this album is that it possesses some really great riffs. It has a good mix of straight-ahead thrashers, mid-paced rockers, and some Iron Maiden-esque epic length opuses. The only thing I can think of to compare it to is early Blind Guardian. Vocalist Andreas Babuschkin belts out some great screams and even some growls that approach death metal intensity. Guitarists Martin Christian and Gunny Kruse do a great job of producing great riffs and squealing solos, while bassist Jan Bunning and drummer Markus Corby hold down the low end with rumbling ferocity. There's plenty of double bass drums and and tight, fast, beats, but also plenty of variety with slower songs to keep the whole thing from getting stale.



The first song, "Impaler" is perhaps the album's most agressive, and opens with a shredding riff that is quickly joined by a rumbling double-bass up-tempo beat that creates and powerful 1-2 punch. Another high point for me was "Masters of the Seas", and nine-and-a-half minute epic about pirates that weaves deftly through peaks and valleys of fast-and-slow impact.



The only thing that kept me from giving this album 5 stars was that a few of the songs feel sort of like filler, but overall this is a superb disc full of excellent muscianmanship and well-written lyrics. If you're a fan of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and traditional metal in general, you won't regret giving Paragon a try, whom I feel are underrrated and overlooked. Truly a great band, and they deserve plenty of recognition."

Amazing power metal not for the weak and feeble minded

Brandon Whitson | 10/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"hello, my name is brandon whitson and i have been collecting power metal since i was old enough to know what a stereo was. im allways on the lookout for new and amazing metal bands. paragon have been around for quite some time now. to give you metallians a good idea of the style of paragon here is an example. on the album chalice of steel PARAGON had guest musicians and friends from bands such as iron savior and gamma ray to lend a helping hand in the writing process. and even an exciter cover. needless to say this album follows in paragons traditional style of bold aggressive, mellodic, and super charged galloping riff,s just as all their albums do. PARAGON has a style that brings to mind the middle ages trillogy era of gravedigger, or any grave digger for that matter. listening to highlights from this album such as #3.traitor. and the amazing metal anthem #6. symphony of pain, you cant help but think you are listening to gravedigger. I am not trying to say that paragon are a total copy off of grave digger because they have alot of other styles of metal in the mix as well. the cover of manowars the gods made heavy metal is not bad but they would have sounded much better doing a manowar song like violence and bloodshed. Any way if you love power metal and if you love the feeling you get when you hear a new metal song that just gets your veins pumping and makes your hair feel like it going to start growing rapidly like a wherewolf, then you will love paragon, any of their albums are worth owning. and if you are a true metallian and are on the prowl for more amazing metal you might want to check out such amazing albums as. WOLF (evil star), ROB ROCK (holy hell) a must have. SILENT FORCE (worlds apart). any primal fear,espescially jaws of death and black sun. or even some old classic power metal albums such as LIEGE LORD (master control) with the awesome eye of the storm, or BURNNING STARR(the 2 albums with mike tirelli on vocals and savatages bass player. and if you love classic power metal you must check out ATTACKER and manilla road.

GRAVE DIGGER has a ton of awesome albums , try out tunes of war and knights of the cross, and rheingold.PARAGON fits in nicely with all of these bands i have mentioned. any true metallian cant deny that there is just so much amazing power metal out there to be heard, from the beauty and mellody of greats such as stratovarius(destiny) or even the more pop power metal style of the ever amazing pink cream 69(electrified)and all the way to the epic scene with its amazingly tallented acts such as twisted tower dire and their amazing masterpiece crest of the martyrs.and the amazing into eternity who throw arch enemy and andromeda all into one to make an amazing growl plus clean power metal style. then you have the bands that pour speed power and beauty all into one like pyramaze or dragonforce. so may metal allways stay in your heart and give these amazing bands a try. BRANDON WHITSON of N.C."