Paragon is a
speed metal
Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...
band from
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
.
Biography
Paragon was founded by
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
Martin Christian (who in many of the band's album booklets is written as Martin Wöbcke when it comes to songwriting-credits). After releasing some demo tapes and a mini-CD, they were able to release an album in 1994, the debut ''
World of Sin
World of Sin is the debut album by German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Ge ...
''. Shortly after this, their record company Blue Merle went
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
, and Martin decided to put the band on hiatus.
About two years later, Martin found four new members (Andreas, Jan, Markus, and Claudius) and recorded the album ''
The Final Command''. In 1999, ''
Chalice of Steel'' was released. In 2001, Paragon released ''
Steelbound'', engineered and produced by Piet Sielck of
Iron Savior
Iron Savior is a German power metal band that was formed in Hamburg in 1996. Following a period of several years working behind the scenes in music production, multi-instrumentalist and producer/engineer Piet Sielck joined with former Helloween ...
. Piet has worked with the band on every album since then.
After the recording of ''Forgotten Prophecies'' in early 2007, the band's longtime bass player Jan Bünning quit the band because of "musical differences." Shortly after the band had found a replacement in Dirk Seifert.
In late 2007 the band changed labels to Massacre Records and released ''
Screenslaves'' in 2008.
In the mid to ending months of 2009, Paragon took a break. During this time they lost two members. Guitarist Günny Kruse who had played on their three studio albums between 2005–2008, and also bassist Dirk Seifert who only played on "Screenslaves".
In 2012 the album "Force Of Destruction" was released.
On 4 November 2014 Paragon announced a new album will be released for the band's 25th anniversary. The album, ''Hell Beyond Hell'' came out in 2016.
Band members
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 12.jpg, Singer Andreas Babuschkin
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 18.jpg, Guitarists Günther Kruse and Jan Bertram
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 10.jpg, Bassist Jan Bünning
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 03.jpg, Drummer Sören Teckenburg
Current members
* Andreas Babuschkin - Lead Vocals (1997–present)
* Martin Christian - Guitar / Backing Vocals (1990–present)
* Jan Bertram - Guitar / Backing Vocals (2012–present)
* Jan Bünning - Bass / Backing Vocals (1997–2007, 2009–present)
* Sören Teckenburg - Drums (2013–present)
Former members
''Vocals:''
Chris Barena (1990–1994)
Kay Carstens (1994–1996)
''Guitar:''
Frank Hellweg (1990–1991)
Marcus Cremer (1991–1993)
Wolfgang "Woko" Köhler (1993–1994)
Daniel Görner (1995–1996)
Claudius Cremer (1996–2003)
Günter Kruse (2003–2009)
Wolfgang Tewes (2010–2015)
''Bass:''
Dirk Sturzbecher (1990–1995)
Uwe Wessel - bass (1995–1996)
Dirk Seifert (2007–2009)
''Drums:''
Kay Neuse (1990–1995)
Markus Corby (1995–2005)
Chris Gripp (2005–2013)
Timeline
Discography
Albums
* ''
World of Sin
World of Sin is the debut album by German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Ge ...
'' (1995)
* ''
The Final Command'' (1998)
* ''
Chalice of Steel'' (1999)
* ''
Steelbound'' (2001)
* ''
Law of the Blade
Law of the Blade is a full-length studio album by German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** Fo ...
'' (2002)
* ''
The Dark Legacy
The Dark Legacy is a studio album by German heavy metal band Paragon
Paragon may refer to:
Places
*Paragon, Indiana, a town in the United States
* Paragon, Nebraska, former community in the United States
*The Paragon, Bath, a Georgian street ...
'' (2003)
* ''
Revenge
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
'' (2005)
* ''
Forgotten Prophecies
Forgotten Prophecies is Paragon
Paragon may refer to:
Places
*Paragon, Indiana, a town in the United States
* Paragon, Nebraska, former community in the United States
*The Paragon, Bath, a Georgian street in the Walcot area of Bath
* The Para ...
'' (2007)
* ''Screenslaves'' (2008)
* ''Force of Destruction'' (2012)
* ''Hell Beyond Hell''
(2016)
* ''Controlled Demolition'' (2019)
Other releases
* ''Into the Black''
P(1994)
* ''
2000 Promo CD''
emo
Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
(2000)
* ''
Eye Of The Storm''
ingle(2003)
* ''
Larger Than Life
Larger than Life may refer to:
Film and television
*Larger than Life (film), ''Larger than Life'' (film), a 1996 American comedy
*''Larger than Life'', a 1998 short film by Ellory Elkayem
*''Carol Channing: Larger than Life'', a 2012 documentary a ...
''
P(2008)
Compilation appearances
* "Metal Invader" on a
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael W ...
tribute released by Arise Records
* "Two Faced" on "A Tribute to
Tankard
A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard m ...
" (included as a bonus disc on the AFM Records 2007 Tankard release "Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers")
References
External links
Official homepageParagon @ Myspace*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paragon
Musical groups established in 1990
German power metal musical groups
German heavy metal musical groups
Musical groups from Hamburg
1990 establishments in Germany