Paragon - Revenge

*=Staff's pick	Impaler (intro)* Assassins* Traitor Master Of The Seas* Revenge* Symphony Of Pain Beyond The Veil* The Battle Rages On The Art Of War* Empire Of The Lost* The Gods Made Heavy Metal (bonus)

Genre	Heavy Metal	Andreas Babuschkin	Vocals
Tracks	11	Martin Christian	Guitar
Runningtime	59 Min.	Günny Kruse	Guitar
Label	Remedy Records	Jan Bünning	Bass
Release	02 May 2005	Markus Corby	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Iron Savior, Grave Digger, Wizard

Their minds are set, the aim is vengeance - be on your guard! Paragon strikes again from the realms of German Power Metal and with Revenge delivers their 7th full length studio album, (as usual) produced by Piet Sielck. While some bands strive to seek new directions for their music and develop their style and sound, others remain true to their signature and deviate very little from that. That's very fitting for Paragon that's not changing a winning concept this time around either. So still sounding like a mix between foremost Iron Savior, Wizard and Grave Digger, Paragon thus aren't breaking any sensational new ground but the form curve of writing better and better songs for each new album is definitely a continuing trend. Revenge absolutely follows that pattern and continues the successful streaks of Steelbound, Law of the Blade and the previous Dark Legacy but I feel the material this time is the strongest, fastest and at the same time also heaviest in the band discography.

Many numbers are spearheading the lightning strike and some of them have to be given individual attention. Impaler sets the standard right away and opens the album in the usual Paragon way. Strong and fast distinctive riffing, pounding double kegs and a thundering bass put up front plus of course Andreas Babuschkin's unique vocal signature marks an impressive opening act. The long lead guitar section in the middle of the song by Tom Naumann (Primal Fear) is a fantastic metal feast and the song also compiles a very simple yet highly effective chorus. There's no doubt whatsoever that Paragon really means business here. Assassins opens with a riff leaning almost to the thrash metal genre and is exactly like Impaler a very fast driven groove oriented bit. This song also contains a riff at the end of the solo section that's just screams Running Wild-ism and yet another highlight is presented.

The following Traitor is slowing down things a tiny notch and here the Iron Savior resemblances are very distinct, especially in the chorus and strong influences of old Accept in the riffing are also very detectable. Master of the Seas then is absolutely Paragon's most ambitious outing to date. With over 9 minutes of playing time this over all semi paced monster track provides quite an epic feel. It delivers many tempo changes and a very memorable chorus section that marks this outing as one of the absolute strongest recorded tracks from this German camp. I really wonder why Paragon haven't played this card earlier…. More of these epic in the future please =)

The rest of the album blends up- and mid-tempo in very fine fashion keeping the listener's interest up throughout the whole deal. The title track once again shows Paragon's faster abilities, showcasing a twin guitar lead theme and presents one of the simplest choruses while Beyond the Veil and Symphony of Pain are more Iron Savior inspired mid tempo outings. The doom inspired mid tempo Beyond the Veil must also be classified into the more epic category and reaching almost 8 minutes in length. The concluding semi ballad Empire of the Lost rounds things off very majestically and sets a fitting end to it all letting Babuschkin prove that he also manages slower and calmer parts with the honours.

With an abundance of a fat and juicy guitar-sound, strong choruses and top score songs all the way through Revenge simply packs pure metal dynamite and is headbanging friendly as ever. Besides that the solo/lead/middle sections of above all the up tempo tracks really lift the songs there is also much more to whoop things up. The idea of speeding up the pace in the concluding choruses in especially some mid-tempo tracks is well nursed by Paragon and even though this is an old trick in the book it really works for me. The production is crystal clear and the very strong Iron Savior touch definitely fits the style of the band without taking away the Paragon signature backbone. The new guitarist Günny Kruse is an impressive addition to the line up as he performs a very solid and inspiring handling of his instrument.

The band's interpretation of Manowar's hymnic The Gods Made Heavy Metal is also a top class performance showing their absolute best sides. The only factors that are holding back an absolute top score is that Paragon are a little trapped in the recycling process. Some riffs and parts of the choruses on some tracks revisit areas already exploited on former albums. I also feel that the best tracks are presented on the first half of the album where songs 1-5 stand a little above the rest. Even though maintaining that not a single track passes with indifference, the second half still chronicles material in a little more standard (yet way above average) class.

Otherwise this has to be regarded as the best release ever in the band discography and that's definitely saying something considering the very high quality of above all the last four albums. Driven by an iron will Paragon once again delivers German Power Metal to the very core and it truly works. For fans of this band and the genre this is an absolute compulsory investment and one of the top releases of 2005 so far.