Paradox (German Band)

Paradox is a German thrash metal/speed metal band formed in Würzburg in 1986.

History

The group was formed in Würzburg in 1986 by two young musicians, Charly Steinhauer and Axel Blaha. Both of them were founding members of German cover bands of Overkill, Venom and Warhead since 1981. In February 1986, Markus Spyth joined on guitar and Roland Stahl on bass.

In July 1986, the band recorded a demo, drawing the attention of Roadrunner Records who went on to produce their first two albums. In 1987, their second demo "Mystery" was a success for the band, with the German press calling it the best demo of the year. In the same year, the band started recording their first album '' Product of Imagination'', which contained 10 songs and lasted 40 minutes. It was a success in Germany, with ''Metal Hammer'' recognising it as the best German debut after '' Walls of Jericho'' by Helloween.

A year before releasing their second album, Roland Stahl left the band to be replaced by Matthias 'Kater' Schmitt. Shortly afterwards, Spyth Markus also decided to leave the band and was replaced by Dieter Roth. In November 1989, Paradox released their second album ''Heresy''. The international acclaim received by the album helped to bring a worldwide fanbase to Paradox. In 1990, Markus Spyth was replaced by Kai Pasemann. From this year on, the band remained on hold for personal reasons, and continuing line-up changes did not help their activity.

The band was inactive for almost ten years. In 1998, Charly Steinhauer had plans to reform Paradox. The new line-up featured Kai Pasemann on guitar and brothers Oliver and Alex Holzwarth on bass and drums respectively. In May 2000, Paradox signed with AFM Records and released their third album ''Collision Course''. Once again the album received positive reviews. After this album, the band again went on hiatus, this time because Steinhauer contracted a serious intestinal disease. In September 2005, he again reassembled the band, with Roland Jahoda on drums and Olly Keller on bass.

In January 2008, Paradox released their fourth album, ''Electrify'', which became a success especially in Japan.

In October 2009, the band released its fifth album, ''Riot Squad'', the album's main themes concerning the problems and violence present in civilization. The artwork was designed by Italian/Chilean artist Claudio Bergamin who had also created the artwork for ''Electrify''. In December 2012, they released ''Tales of the Weird''.

In late 2013, Paradox began working on their seventh album, which was said to be a concept album and a sequel to the band's 1989 album ''Heresy''. However, the band stated on their Facebook page that their new album was not going to be called ''Heresy II''; instead it was titled ''Pangea''. Slovenian bass player Tilen Hudrap joined the band in 2015 and recorded the bass for ''Pangea''. The album was released in June 2016 and received great reviews all over the world.

Paradox's eighth studio album, and the long-awaited sequel to ''Heresy'', titled ''Heresy II – End of a Legend'', was released in September 2021. Their next album, ''Mysterium'', is due for release on 26 September 2025.

Members

Current members

* Charly Steinhauer – vocals, guitar
* Tilen Hudrap – bass
* Kostas Milonas – drums
* Christian Münzner – guitar

Past members

;Guitar
* Achim Hömerlein "Daxx"
* Martin Buchmann
* Andreas "Wuschi" Meyer
* Earl Carter
* Michael "Micky" Wehner
* Detlef Kernwein
* Markus Spyth
* Jochen Glöggler
* Dieter Roth
* Werner Wilz
* Kai Pasemann
* Fabian Schwarz
* Gus Drax
* Fabian Schwarz

;Bass
* Volker Hartmann
* Martin Stark
* Rainer Langgut
* Brian Sorensen
* Klaus "Marshall" Albert
* Roland Stahl
* Joe DiBiase
* Matthias "K.ter" Fries (Schmitt)
* Klaus Lohmeyer
* Armin Donderer
* Andi Siegl
* Olly Keller
* Armin Donderer

;Drums
* Axel Blaha (died 2023)
* Udo Klein
* Stefan Schwarzmann
* Chris Weiss
* Roland Jahoda

;Vocals
* Peter Motschiedler
* Günter Niedermeyer
* Mitch Schmitt
* Stefan Haller

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
PlotArea = left:130 bottom:100 top:05 right:20
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1986 till:04/01/2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1986
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1987

Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:album value:black legend:Studio_album
id:bars value:gray(0.90)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

BarData =
bar:Charly text:"Charly Steinhauer"
bar:Jochen text:"Jochen Glöggler"
bar:Markus text:"Markus Spyth"
bar:Werner text:"Werner Wilz"
bar:Dieter text:"Dieter Roth"
bar:Kai text:"Kai Pasemann"
bar:Gus text:"Gus Drax"
bar:Christian text:"Christian Münzner"
bar:RolandS text:"Roland Stahl"
bar:Matthias text:"Matthias Schmitt"
bar:Joe text:"Joe DiBiase"
bar:Armin text:"Armin Donderer"
bar:Klaus text:"Klaus Lohmeyer"
bar:Oliver text:"Oliver Holzwarth"
bar:Andi text:"Andi Siegl"
bar:Olly text:"Olly Keller"
bar:Tommy text:"Tommy Kittsteiner"
bar:Tilen text:"Tilen Hudrap"
bar:Axel text:"Axel Blaha"
bar:Udo text:"Udo Klein"
bar:Alex text:"Alex Holzwarth"
bar:Stefan text:"Stefan Schwarzmann"
bar:Chris text:"Chris Weiss"
bar:Roland text:"Roland Jahoda"
bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Buld"
bar:Kostas text:"Kostas Milonas"

LineData =
at:10/01/1987 color:album layer:back
at:11/20/1989 color:album layer:back
at:06/01/2000 color:album layer:back
at:01/18/2008 color:album layer:back
at:10/16/2009 color:album layer:back
at:12/14/2012 color:album layer:back
at:06/03/2016 color:album layer:back
at:09/24/2021 color:album layer:back

PlotData =
width:11
bar:Charly from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1991 color:guitar
bar:Charly from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1991 color:vocals width:3
bar:Charly from:01/01/1998 till:end color:guitar
bar:Charly from:01/01/1998 till:end color:vocals width:3
bar:Jochen from:01/01/1986 till:11/01/1986 color:guitar
bar:Markus from:11/01/1986 till:01/01/1989 color:guitar
bar:Markus from:09/01/2016 till:01/01/2020 color:guitar
bar:Werner from:01/01/1989 till:05/01/1989 color:guitar
bar:Dieter from:05/01/1989 till:06/01/1990 color:guitar
bar:Kai from:06/01/1990 till:06/01/1991 color:guitar
bar:Kai from:01/01/1998 till:06/01/2010 color:guitar
bar:Gus from:06/01/2010 till:12/01/2011 color:guitar
bar:Gus from:06/01/2014 till:09/01/2016 color:guitar
bar:Christian from:01/01/2012 till:06/01/2014 color:guitar
bar:Christian from:01/01/2020 till:02/25/2024 color:guitar
bar:RolandS from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1988 color:bass
bar:Matthias from:01/01/1989 till:12/01/1989 color:bass
bar:Joe from:12/01/1989 till:07/01/1990 color:bass
bar:Armin from:07/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 color:bass
bar:Klaus from:01/01/1991 till:06/01/1991 color:bass
bar:Oliver from:01/01/1998 till:12/01/2002 color:bass
bar:Oliver from:06/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:bass
bar:Andi from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2006 color:bass
bar:Olly from:01/01/2007 till:06/01/2011 color:bass
bar:Olly from:01/01/2012 till:06/01/2013 color:bass
bar:Olly from:06/01/2014 till:06/01/2015 color:bass
bar:Olly from:01/01/2020 till:02/25/2024 color:bass
bar:Tommy from:06/01/2013 till:06/01/2014 color:bass
bar:Tilen from:06/01/2015 till:01/01/2020 color:bass
bar:Axel from:01/01/1986 till:06/01/1991 color:drums
bar:Axel from:09/01/2016 till:09/12/2023 color:drums
bar:Udo from:01/01/1998 till:06/01/1998 color:drums
bar:Alex from:06/01/1998 till:12/01/2002 color:drums
bar:Alex from:06/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:drums
bar:Stefan from:12/01/2002 till:01/01/2005 color:drums
bar:Chris from:01/01/2005 till:12/01/2006 color:drums
bar:Roland from:01/01/2007 till:06/01/2010 color:drums
bar:Daniel from:01/01/2012 till:06/01/2014 color:drums
bar:Kostas from:06/01/2014 till:09/01/2016 color:drums

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Product of Imagination'' (1987)
* ''Heresy'' (1989)
* ''Collision Course'' (2000)
* ''Electrify'' (2008)
* ''Riot Squad'' (2009)
* ''Tales of the Weird'' (2012)
* ''Pangea'' (2016)
* ''Heresy II – End of a Legend'' (2021)
* ''Mysterium'' (2025)

Demos

* ''Mystery'' (1987)

References

External links

*

{{Authority control

German thrash metal musical groups
German power metal musical groups
German speed metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1986
1986 establishments in West Germany