PARAGON hailing from Hamburg Germany count deservedly to one of the best German Metal bands. For the past 15 years they have shown that constant quality and perseverance can lead to a good deal off success even without hype and a great deal of media support.
Founded 1990 by main-songwriter Martin Christian, the band achieved first recognition with the "Maelstrom of Decline" Demo 1992 and the Mini CD "Into the Black". The following first longplayer "World of Sin" was released 95 by the a small label called Tricolor Music did not achieve the recognition it deserved.
In 1997 the line up was reinforced by Andreas Babuschkin (Minotaur) on vocals and Jan Bünning (Erosion, Asmodis) on bass two experienced Metal musicians and went on to writing and recording "The Final Command". Producer was Harris Johns (Helloween, Keator, Sodom) . With the finished product PARAGON got a deal with B.O Records who released it worldwide in August 1998. The follow up "Chalice of Steel" was recorded in the same constellation in January/Febuary 1999. Both CDs were well recieved in the European Metal Scene especially in Underground magazines who were well into the fresh sounding, powerfull 80s' Metal.
A new Decade, a new team, in 2000 PARAGON joined up with Remedy Records and producer Piet Sielck (Iron Savior, Savage Circus) and recorded "Steelbound " which catapulted the band into the German Metal elite. Highscores in most Magazines, a tour with Iron Saviour and Labyrinth helped PARAGON to establish themselves among the top national Metal acts. The following "Law of the Blade" was a first conceptual album and saw the band perfecting their style and skills. The work was rewarded and "Law of the Blade" earned high scores and even was the soundcheck winner in Heavy Oder Was? magazine.
The following European invasion with Gamma Ray, took the band to France, Italy and finally Spain where they rocked 2000 Metal Maniacs into a delirium. Expectations were high in 2003 for the next concept album "The Dark Legacy" with new harder and more direct material was again well received by fans and media, a national tour with Majesty followed. for this tour and a festivals in the summer the band had to replace Guitarist Claudius Cremer, with Günny "Gunmann" Kruse who had helped out as a guitar tech before.
The most of 2004 PARAGON spent on writing new Material for the follow up CD. After jamming in shows at the Sweden Rock, Wacken ,Summer Breeze in Summer 2004 and the Keep it True Festival April 2005 the next CD was launched. Revenge was a milestone of German Metal , PARAGON had yet again improved their style with tracks like Traitor, Impaler or the epic masterpiece Masters of the Seas and the production was the most powerful so far.
The reactions of the fans and press were fantastic and brought PARAGON another step forward.
Autumn 2005 the band reinforced themselves with a new drummer, Christian Gripp of Torment and Powerslave, who replaced Marcus Big M Corby who left the band due to health reasons. Chris showed his talents on the following European tour with Dark Age and Torment and succeeding headline club shows.
2006 was spent writing songs with the ambition to top "Revenge" in terms of power and aggression and to get back to the basics of Heavy Metal, alongside to this Paragon had several live excursions which interrupted the work on the CD, the highlight was another Sweden trip to the "Gates of Metal" and the "Destroyed World" festival in Germany. In autumn the songwriting was completed and it was time to start recording.
After four releases being produced by Piet Sielck it was time for a slight change in sound and production. To get a better picture of the live Power of the band it was decided to go for the studio of Metalbash Roadkill tourtechs, Steve Quellmalz and Arne Wachtmann. The title of the album was to be "Forgotten Prophecies" one of the faster tracks of the new CD. The new blood in the form of Chris on the drumstool and the production team meant that the energy level was upped yet again and tracks such as "Hammer of the gods", "Wargods" or the furious cover of "Deny the Cross" by Overkill are fast pounding Metal as we all love it. The release was set for 29th June 2007 and was to be accompanied by an excellent DVD bonus pack containing the Metalbash 2005 show and two tracks from the Metalbash roadkill tour the same year. Unfortunately a line-up change occured during the production and long time bassplayer Jan Bünning left due to musical differences. A new man was found in Dirk Seifert-Doelves (long time companion and friend of the band). And the tank kept rolling on.....
Later that year the band signed a new record deal with massacre records. New songs were needed and the band went back into songwriting mood.
Recordings started in april 2008. The first result was an EP called "Larger than Life". Featuring a metallic version of the Backstreet Boys' smash hit, a video of the same song, a cover version of Slayer's "Die by the sword", the title track of the forthcoming album, "Screenslaves" and 2 previously unreleased live-tracks ("Dragon's Flight" and "Legions of Metal"). The new album "Screenslaves" was released in November 2008. The album was produced by Uwe Lulis (Ex-Grave Digger, Rebellion). An album full of metal hymns and pure aggression featuring an italian version of the Paragon classic "The Legacy" ("L'eredita").
13 years, 9 albums, several line-up changes....
In 2009 the band decided to do a little break to regain strenght and creativity.
The result is not the split of the band but the return of the "Metal Beast" bassplayer Jan Bünning, the planning of special 20th anniversary shows for 2010, new songs,.....
Watch out! They're not dead yet!
Line Up:
Andreas Babuschkin - Vocals
Martin Christian - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jan Bünning - Bass
Christian Gripp - Drums
Discography:
1994 Into The Black MCD (Self Release)
1995 World Of Sin (Tricolor / Blue Merle)
1998 Final Command (B.O. Records)
1999 Chalice Of Steel (B.O. Records)
2001 Steelbound (Remedy Records)
2002 Law Of The Blade (Remedy Records)
2003 Dark Legacy (Remedy Records)
2005 Revenge (Remedy Records)
2007 Forgotten Prophecies (Remedy Records)
2008 Screenslaves (Massacre Records)
PARAGON has been featured on my Metal radio once maybe twice. Tune in and stop by the chatroom to insure it happens again. Be sure to let your friends know also. Powermaker Radio goes Live every Sunday evenings at 8pm pst only on Hard Rock Radio Live www.hardrockradiolive.com .
Brazilian rhythms and the Portuguese language added to the songs makes £leTriKa style unique, giving birth to a new kind of Metal. If you are really looking for something new about Metal, you should check £leTriKa out!
Hugs from Brazil, Claudio David
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