Revenge

If your familar with bands like Grave Digger or Running Wild then Paragon should be right up your Alley. This band sounds very similar to Grave Digger even in vocal style. I picked up this album about six or seven months ago hearing Paragon before but never really checking them out but I'm glad I finally did. This is pretty much in your face heavy speed metal with all the trimings. This band also reminds me of Agent Steel at times which anyone with good sense what speed metal should sound like knows thats not a bad thing.

I guess I should get a little more detail about the album at hand. Revenge is pretty much the best example of power metal for 2005. ( Savage Circus debut is just as good though ) This and that album are pretty the best that year have to offer but anyways this album starts off fast and ends fast. The album's first song is the "Impaler" which is very good with a catchy chorus. The drumming here is very nice and riffing here is very fast not weak like most modern day power metal.

"Assassin" is similar to Impaler but the chorus isn't as good but still pretty catchy. This song might remind of modern day Agent Steel like I mentioned before. Like the song before it the guitar playing going on here is very good. The rest of the album is similar to these two songs I mentioned so if you like them you'll probably enjoy the whole thing. Not a whole lot of variety but it doesn't get boring at all. Pretty much standard power speed metal but what more could you ask for.

There is also a really good cover of "The Gods Made Heavy Metal" by Manowar, I don't believe I've heard the original but this version rules! this is a true metal anthem done right. I'm not the biggest fan of Manowar but the lyrics here are fun and enjoyable. So if your looking for a good album from 2005 this probably the best ( along with Savage Circus) so I highly recommend it.

This is it, it was 2 years ago "The Dark Legacy" was released and Paragon strikes back with ”Revenge”. The production and sound is with this release much heavier than any other Paragon album, guitars,bass,drums..everything. The album opener “Impaler” is one of the best songs Paragon have written,
fast & heavy with killing verse, killing bridge and chorus. It’s brilliant. It follows by a song that reminds a lot about Iron Savior, called “Assassins” opens fast, slow verse and comes with a Iron Savior chorus. Though a little bit darker maybe ?

The 3rd song, “Traitor” breaks out with a heavy riff, mid-paced song follows. Nice and heavy, but maybe a little too much Iron Savior-like chorus. Then with “Masters of the Sea” they try to go a bit epic, but to me it sounds like a 9 minutes long normal Paragon song :), it’s cool though. Then songs 5-9 are a
mixture between slow & midpaced songs and fast ones. Just like Paragon always has. And the albums last Paragon-written song ends with a ballad, that actually is pretty good..the chorus sits in your mind for
days. “The gods made heavy Metal” ends the whole CD (yeah, Manowar cover) well, they make a good cover of it..but it’s not directly a favourite song of mine.

All in all this is just like always, a very good & heavy album..and I start to wonder if Paragon can make a bad album ?
Everytime they make a new album you know it will kick some serious ass, they never fail. And I hope it will continue that way in the future too.

Standout/killer tracks: Impaler, Traitor, Symphony Of Pain, Battle Rages On

Anyone who chooses to praise an amazingly derivative and uncreative band such as Paragon and all of their work with 90+ scores exclusively, if only for staying "solid" or "true heavy metal" or whatnot on all of their albums, and not take the lack of musical progression between them into account - I'm fine with that. However, to describe this album as "Paragon's breakthrough album" or "where Paragon takes it to the next level", in comparison to their previous releases - well, that's just fine too, I guess, but at least I can allow myself to respectfully disagree. I live in a free country, too! (maybe I care too much about what other people think, but hey, I'm doing my best to be an asshole critic and need to know my stuff in order to maybe piss one or two people off!:P)

Well, they didn't turn mallcore on us. But neither did they exactly take that "giant step forward" that the previous review indicates. At least I'm not hearing it. Ok, so there is a *little* bit of progression; be it some added heaviness here, a few intricate/epic overtones there, etc. - but not sufficiently so to call this album anything but "another solid Paragon release", or the less amicable "more of the same".

Furthermore, on a strict "enjoyability" level, I actually consider this album to be a step DOWN from the previous, 2003's 'The Dark Legacy', which I felt was their most accomplished work overall due to the damn near 100% consistency of "good" to "excellent" tracks. 'Revenge' doesn't quite reach up to that level; after the usual strong one-two-three punch at the album's onset that I've seen them do on every album since 2001's 'Steelbound' (also the earliest Paragon release in my collection), things tend to turn quite a bit less interesting from time to time. In that sense, this album reminds me mostly of 2002's 'Law of the Blade', and its sound is also more similar to that album than that of 'Dark Legacy', as the guitars are a bit more up front and less deep and "echo"-sounding (I'm no guitar tech, but I'm sure there are better terms to explain it). However, it is also made heavier - making this Paragon's heaviest release yet and also their most well-produced one overall, which earns it enough extra points to be pushed above 'LotB'.

For newcomers to Paragon (or to my Paragon reviews, and this happens to be the first one you read;)), and just to make sure this review doesn't get rejected for lack of musical description...this is once again a display of the typical German power/speed metal sound, that Helloween were among the first in developing in the 80's. However, a closer band comparison would be probably Iron Savior - the reason I didn't give them mention in my earlier Paragon reviews was simply because I had yet to hear them around that time. Producer Piet Sielck (and has been since 'Steelbound') is the mastermind behind that band, and therefore the production values of the two bands are just about identical. The other obvious influence is Grave Digger - especially in the vocals, but also in that distinct heavy, raw, straightforward and aggressive riffage, while some "warrior" themes ala a slightly less cheesy Manowar comes through in the lyrics and sound of the choruses. The overt influence from other bands has always been my main beef with this band - it's not a BAD idea they've hooked onto, but it comes to a point when the music just offers so little new to what so many other bands has been doing for the last 20 years, that it becomes a notable liability. Obviously, it risks getting worn out and becoming "old" and uninteresting. As for "that distinctive riff style that is unmistakably Paragon", I can ALMOST discern something like that at times - but that style is quite often ridden into oblivion, not so much unlike Timo Tolkii way overuses his fast riff style (among a long list of other things) in Stratovarius.

But as always, there are good parts. Just as I've come to expect from previous Paragon openers, "Impaler" rules, and rules hard. They even manage to keep things a bit fresh in the riffage department (a little "Chalice of Blood" in the main riff??), while staying vintage speedy Paragon, except turned up a few notches. The previous review already pointed out the amazingly effective "battle cry" chorus...but in fact, even the "BEWARE!!! I will track ya! BEWARE!!! I will get ya!" in the pre-chorus deserves individual mention too. Not to be missed either is the guest solo courtesy of Tom Naumann, of Primal Fear fame. Funny, because I always saw Henny Wolter and Stefan Leibing as PF's TRUE six-string talents...I guess I've underrated Tom's capabilities a bit, from what he demonstrates here. Overall, the song as whole probably ranks Paragon's finest moment ever.

Then, "Assassins" is also speedy and aggressive, but feels much more formulaic and uncreative, especially in the chorus. "ANGELS OF DEEEAAATH!" Sounds EXACTLY like another Paragon song that I can't put my finger on, but it's there...and that's another problem right there with this band. Some HEAVY recycling going on most of the time; see also the opening riff for a demonstration of "the basic Paragon riff" - notice that little "tremolo" thingy at the end of that riff; the number of Paragon songs that use that riff is greater than I can count on my fingers and toes, tell ya that. I get their songs mixed up all the time; see "Armies of the Tyrant"/"Breaking Glass", "Thunderstorm"/"Abducted"/"Black Hole", etc. - they're still struggling with this throughout this whole album, and that does not equal "progression" or "songwriting power", that equals a drop in overall score. However...awesome fucking solo by new axeman Günny Kruse, and then after Martin Christian's solo...DEAR LORD, what the FUCKING THRAAAAAAASSSSSHHHH?!?!?!?! Bang that head!!! Track #3...from past experiences I expect a mid-paced groove stomper placed here, and once again that is what they deliver here, in form of "Traitor". Kinda Iron Savior-esque chorus, otherwise a really typical, but equally solid Paragon-esque track, not much else to say...

"Masters of the Seas". Ya know, every time Paragon tries to go outside the boundaries of what they usually do, I strongly encourage it, so don't get me wrong when I say this...but I don't find this 9 minute+ epic surprise number anywhere near the same success the previous review states. It reminds me a bit of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in overall structure...but the whole thing feels underdeveloped. Forced. The "epic" achieved through mashing multiple songs together. Even in the somewhat epic and different-sounding verse, it feels formulaic as hell, and different only because it's a new territory for Paragon; not for Grave Digger, Running Wild or even Saxon. The acoustic middle section and the fast riffage following it...there's a severe lack of creativity here, and once again we're given an example of "the basic Paragon riff", except simplified. An overall fully passable track; it's just not quite the song that takes Paragon to new heights, it's more than anything else a pretty typical Paragon number, but more multi-faceted.

Title track...stupid and repetitive chorus, otherwise OK. "Symphony of Pain" - catchy, midpaced light/heavy mix reminding VERY strongly of Grave Digger - Andreas Babuschkin sounds damn near identical to Chris Boltendahl when using that "soft", almost whispered voice. This one reminds me a little too much of "Allied Forces" on 'Law of the Blade' to call it 100% passable (plus that forced and overused chorus - see "Back From Hell"), but it holds its own pretty well, I'd say.

Then we arrive at epic #2, "Beyond the Veil". Unfortunately, this isn't even the "nice try, but no cigar" of "Masters of the Seas", this one is just flat-out, completely goddamn boring. Imagine LotB's "Across the Wastelands" drawn out even more. It's slow, plodding, unexciting, and worst of all, the whole "epic" thing they must have been going for judging from its length, is entirely not there at all. The chorus is a complete miss: "We're setting saaaaiiiil...from beyond...the veil." There's no spark...it sounds like a cut-off and forced rhyme. The old trick of speeding up towards the end to make things a bit catchier doesn't help much, and cannot save an uninspired affair such as this to begin with. In all honesty, Paragon had the whole epic thing best nailed on 'The Dark Legacy', with the songs "Eye of the Storm" and "The Afterlife", but not even those two can measure up to Iron Savior's amazing "Machine World".

There's nothing too spectacular about the remainder of the album either..."The Battle Rages On" has an opening riff that sounds a lot like a typical fast and heavy (albeit badly overused) Strato speed metal riff, but if you listen, it's actually Gamma Ray's "Rebellion in Dreamland" riff that I must've heard at least four bands lift by now...anyway, it's nothing overly spectacular even by Paragon standards; nothing we haven't heard before on previous albums, exactly. Actually, let's just end this quickly: "The Art of War" - another speed metal blast here; a short one at just over 3 minutes. "Empire of the Lost" - ballad, very German-styled. See "Immortal" and "The Journey's End" for more of the exact same - well, the chorus ain't bad and has a good flow ("Sole survivors, in the ashes of yesterday"), but so did "The Journey's End", and probably even moreso there. Still largely unspectacular, and towards the end we get the same boring, cliché play-a-faster-beat trick we already saw in "Beyond the Veil". MEH. Finally, the Manowar cover - can't say I'm a huge fan of that band, but this song belongs among their more tolerable ones and as a cover it is generally a winner.

In conclusion, get last year's 'Battering Ram' first if you don't have it, and if you like that one, get 'The Dark Legacy', and THEN get this one. However, if you find 'TDL' (or 'BR' to begin with) too generic and derivative for your taste, then of course don't get this one either. With a very few exceptions there's not much new ground covered here. But again, if you see yourself as a general power/speed metal fan, this one is unlikely a letdown. There are better choices, but it's still recommended.