Review: PARAGON - Force Of Destruction

„Hoho... new Paragon?! They’re still out there?“ - I blurted out in surprise when I saw a post about it while browsing one of the forums I frequented. I stopped following them some time ago, I just gave up on their then-latest stuff, I didn’t listen to them for a good five years. I didn’t have a good opinion on 2005‚s „Revenge“, the band started sounding tired and stale, losing their power. The next one, „Forgotten Prophecies“ from 2007 was the last one I listened to; not much good to be said about it, just plain mediocre, a total failure in my opinion. I don’t remember much of it today anyway. „Screnslaves“ from 2008, I didn’t even listen to, crossing the band off my list. Apparently the tensions in the band were pretty bad, given the departure of one of the leaders, guitarist Martin Christian, followed by bassist Jan Bunning. Without them and Piet Sielck (producer), the band kept spiralling out of shape, to the point of suspending its activity. Not a word was to be heard about them for quite some time. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I learned that the band was back and had recorded an album! I approached it very carefully, but also very curiously, seeing all the positive reviews it got. I had a hard time believing that the guys returned to their style and shape from the „Law of the Blade“ and „Dark Legacy“ era. How come... without the brain of the band, Martin Christian, how did they record something to match the level set by those two? I couldn’t believe that those musicians would be able to, once again, reach their best and return to the shape they were in a decade ago. An indicator of welcome change was the return to co-operation with Piet Sielck, responsible for the sound of Paragon’s best releases, and the participation of THE bassist of Paragon, Jan Bunning, who joined drummer Christian Gripp and vocalist Andreas Babuschkin alongside two new axemen, namely Wolfgang Tewes and Jan Bertram. The first striking element of the new offering is the cover art - very stylish, a good reference to the old covers. And it is no marketing stunt supposed to attract oldschool fans. The basic version of the album contains eleven tracks, the limited one brings about two others: the awesome cover of Accept’s „Son of a Bitch“ and a special version of „Blood & Iron“, featuring Gamma Ray’s Kai Hansen on guest vocals alongside Babuschkin. I wonder how to capture the essence of „Force of Destruction“ as briefly as possible. This release contains all the best German heavy metal has to offer. First of all, the POWER (not the soft Rhapsody/Edguy power, power power), there’s a lot of great riffs, dynamic instrumental parts, great bass audibility. Also the vocalist did a great job - his aggressive, sometimes very diverse parts come as a very positive surprise. All that notwithstanding, the songs are still very catchy. Fast, energetic, abrasive songs are dominant, like „Iron Will“, „Tornado“, „Rising from the Black“ (amazing riff) and „Secrecy“ (great „pounding“ guitar sound). Distant echoes of Judas Priest’s music can be heard in the dynamic „Blades of Hell“. Apart from the fast stuff, the band also proves that it does great with slower, massive songs too. The best one is the exquisite, dark and intriguing „Blood and Iron“ - in my opinion the best one on the album (audible Sabbath influences, that suffocating mood and the riff); another great one is the majestic ballad „Demon’s Lair“. Andreas Babuschkin’s work is remarkable - also in „Gods of Thunder“. It’s pretty clear that he put a lot of effort into improving his diverse vocal delivery (not just the aggresive side of the spectrum, there are good layered vocals in the slower parts too). When it comes to weaker songs... they are there, but they’re not abundant in number. Namely the fast yet unconvincing „Bulletstorm“ and the majestic „Dynasty“. But they certainly do not deprive the album itself of awesomeness. To sum it all up, what we have here is an extremely non-inventive album, which yet manages to defend itself, and has some truly breathtaking, moving moments. It’s a great listen (with a great sound); I cannot help but smile. Paragon are back like bosses, proving that they’re still worthy competition in the field of power metal. Makes me want to mimic the chants of sport fans (especially football ones): where’s Gamma Ray? Where’s Grave Digger? Where? Far behind Paragon! As for me, „Force of Destruction“ is the most awesome surprise of 2012! Bravo! This album can be safely placed next to „Law of the Blade“ and „The Dark Legacy“.

Tomek/Nevermore 8/10