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 (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Biography

Paragon was founded by guitarist 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''. 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 debtor ...

, 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 Paragon is a speed metal band from Hamburg, Germany. Biography Paragon was founded by guitarist 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 ...

'' 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'' (1995) * '' The Final Command'' (1998) * '' Chalice of Steel'' (1999) * '' Steelbound'' (2001) * '' Law of the Blade'' (2002) * '' The Dark Legacy'' (2003) * '' Revenge'' (2005) * '' Forgotten Prophecies'' (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'' 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 Wei ...

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 ...

" (included as a bonus disc on the AFM Records 2007 Tankard release "Best Case Scenario: 25 Years In Beers")

References

External links

Official homepage

Paragon @ 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