Paragon

A consensus among heavy metal historians identifies the 1970s and 1980s as the most consequential decades for power metal, both commercially and creatively. The style originated during the earlier of those two periods, while many of its signature acts—including Queensrÿche, Manowar, Savatage, and Helloween—emerged in the latter. Power metal nevertheless persisted beyond the 1980s, and numerous European exponents of the genre appeared during the following decade, among them Germany’s Paragon. Guitarist Martin Christian assembled the band’s initial lineup in 1990, precisely when pop-metal and hair bands such as Poison, Bon Jovi, and Warrant dominated MTV and just before the 1991–1992 Nirvana/Pearl Jam/grunge explosion. Paragon remained untouched by either prevailing fashion; Christian’s group never adopted a hair-metal aesthetic and showed no inclination to pursue alternative sounds once Nevermind achieved its unforeseen mega-platinum status. From the outset the band pursued power metal exclusively, delivering a sound that combined intensity with melody while drawing primary inspiration from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Manowar.

Although Paragon never established a significant American audience, the group gradually cultivated a modest European following that did not materialize overnight. Their first demo cassette, Maelstrom of Decline, appeared in 1993 with original lead singer Chris Barena and was succeeded the next year by the EP Into the Black. World of Sin, the band’s debut full-length album, reached stores in 1995 via the Blue Merle imprint, yet the label’s impending bankruptcy produced dismal sales and inadequate distribution. Those difficulties destabilized Paragon and triggered repeated personnel shifts; within a few years every participant on World of Sin except Christian—lead singer Kay Carstens, bassist Dirk Sturzbecher, guitarist Daniel Görner, and drummer Kay Noise—had departed. Christian suspended operations in 1996, only to reactivate the band the following year with a fresh configuration comprising lead singer Andreas Babuschkin, guitarist Claudius Cremer, bassist Jan Bünning, drummer Markus “Big M” Corby, and himself. From the late 1990s through the mid-2000s the lineup proved considerably more consistent than it had been amid the upheavals of 1994–1996.

Paragon’s second album, Final Command, surfaced on B.O. Records across Europe in 1998 and was followed by the third full-length effort, Chalice of Steel, also issued by B.O. After parting ways with that label the group aligned with Hamburg’s Remedy Records, which released Steelbound in 2001, Law of the Blade in 2002, The Dark Legacy in 2003, and Revenge in 2005. As of 2005 the roster consisted of Christian—the sole remaining founding member—alongside Babuschkin, Bünning, Corby, and guitarist Günny “Gunman” Kruse, who had replaced Cremer in 2004 and previously belonged to the German Iron Maiden tribute band Powerslave.