UMUR "Collision Course" is the 3rd full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Paradox. The album was released through AFM Records in 2000. It´s the successor to "Heresy" from 1989. Paradox went on a 10 year hiatus from 1990 to 2000 and "Collision Course" ended up being their only release in this incarnation as they would soon cease activities again and have another longer break as a result of lead vocalist/guitarist Charly Steinhauer having serious health issues. Paradox would reunite again in 2005 with a new lineup. On "Collision Course" there have also been quite a few lineup changes since "Heresy (1989)" as only Steinhauer remains from the lineup who recorded the predecessor. New in the lineup are guitarist Kai Pasemann and the Holzwarth brothers Oliver and Alex on bass and drums respectively (Sieges Even).

Bringing in the Holzwarth brothers always ensure a high level of musicianship, and that´s certainly also the case on "Collision Course". The instrumental part of the music on the album is delivered with great technical skill and power. The vocals are unfortunately the weak link here. They are semi-shouted and often overlayered with harmonies, but Steinhauer has a voice, which is not that powerful and not particularly distinct sounding. The result is a rather tedious vocal performance, and it´s a real shame because the instrumental part of the music is not only well played, it´s also incredibly well composed. Epic scale thrash metal which is both powerful, melodic, and very often features multi-harmony lead guitar parts, which I haven´t heard like this since "...and Justice for All (1988)" by Metallica.

The sound production is grand, and fully details the many layers of instruments and vocals on the album. It can be a bit overwhelming at times, but the band understand how to balance epic multi-layered parts with a little more stripped (not necessarily simple though) parts. So upon conclusion everything on this album but the vocals are high quality and I almost dare not think what a beast of an album "Collision Course" could have been with a more interesting vocalist in board. Oh well...as it is the vocals drag my rating down a bit but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved, which speaks volumes about the high quality of the instrumental part of the music.

The Spotlight Kid German Thrash Metal icons Paradox have returned with a sequel to their 1990 classic Heresy. Released through AFM Records, Heresy II End of a Legend, brings the story of the original concept album forward and reaffirms the band's intention to remain one of the best Thrash Metal bands in the game. Frontman, guitarist and driving force of the band Charly Steinhauer has assembled a killer line up to tackle this material in the hopes of living up to the classic first installment. Coming back into the band after a one album layoff is guitar wizard Christian Munzner and long time bass player Olly Keller, as well as, Paradox founding member, drummer Alex Blaha who hadn’t played with the band since Heresy. Also included for the task of completing the story concept was the original lyricist from Heresy, Peter Vogt.

Musically the band is in electrifying form. The songs are vibrant, heavy, melodic and exciting. Taking equal parts Thrash, Melodic Thrash, Technicality, Classic Heavy Metal and Power Metal and even elements of Doom and molding them into a completely coherent mix that works to perfection. Lyrically “Heresy II End of a Legend” continues the story of the crusade of the Catholic Church against the schismatic Cathars in the 13th century. “Heresy II End of a Legend” begins somewhat doomy with “Escape From The Burning” and as the song builds up they unleash the Thrash and absolutely nail it. There are even some touches of groove metal in “The Great Denial''. The song also has fantastic vocal melodies from Charly and of course Christian showing once again, as he does throughout the album, why he is one of the best guitarists in metal these days. Songs like “The Visitor'' and “A Man Of Sorrow'' among others highlight the band's anthemic power while never getting anywhere near the cheesiness of some power metal. The guitar solo’s throughout “Heresy II End of a Legend” are the epitome of excellence, which is the hallmark of Christian’s playing on all the albums he’s done. Vocally Charly delivers a perfect hybrid of Thrash delivery and Power Metal melodicism. It always feels that it could all derail at any moment but it never does and so that gives the music a great tension and danger that makes it so compelling. Alex Blaha is a pummeling force to be reckoned with and drives the whole album forward with dynamic ferocity, and Olly Keller’s melodic bass lines are classy and enrich the whole album. Also the band has managed to achieve a modern production sound while also capturing the old school thrash sound as well. An Impressive feat.

The mission of this album was to live up to Heresy and they have succeeded in not only reaching that level but surpassing it. “Heresy II End of a Legend” is overflowing with amazing, hard hitting riffs, epic and uplifting melodies, in your face Thrash pummeling onslaughts, doomy escapades and top tier guitar playing. Most importantly each song on this album is a beast and even though I’m personally more of a fan of shorter run times for albums, and even with the 1hour and 16 minute runtime, in this case, there is zero filler and only killer. “Heresy II End of a Legend” is a masterclass in Melodic - Power Thrash.

[Originally published on Sea of Tranquility]

Warthur A concept album about the Albigensian Crusades, in which the medieval Catholic Church and its allies fought in the south of France to stamp out the Cathar heresy, the final release of Paradox's original 1980s run may be steeped in European history - but it's decidedly US-oriented when it comes to its musical style. With a thrash approach reminiscent of Testament or the harder, more serious moments of classic Anthrax, Paradox might not be enormously original in their sound, but they're certainly very good at it; someone who didn't know better might well guess that this album hailed from the US scene rather than the somewhat differently-flavoured German thrash realm.

adg211288 Tales of the Weird is the sixth full-length album by German thrash metal act Paradox. The album was released in 2012. Tales of the Weird features a re-worked line-up compared to the group’s last album Riot Squad (2009), with Christian Muenzner (Obscura) and Daniel Buld (Hatred) joining the fold. With the new line-up the band has produced an album which is much better described as power-thrash rather than straight up thrash metal.

Or maybe that should be thrash-power. It’s still quite clear where Paradox’s allegiance lies when listening to the album despite the generally high sense of melody and use of power metal riffs as well as thrash ones. I guess power-thrash has a better ring to it than thrash-power though. This is definitely still a thrash metal album first and foremost. I’m not actually familiar with the previous work of Paradox but I must say that the sound the current incarnation of the band has come up with is a real winner. The flitting back and forth between thrashing away and the much tighter percussive riffs of power metal provides a good variation that albums that are a more pure example of each genre can struggling with achieving, and the sound has the aggression of thrash metal regardless of what side of their sound they’re doing at any particular time. There may well be a lot of power metal elements but there’s certainly no cheese here.

The band prove equally competent at the longer more complex songs like the opening title track and the more in your face style songs like Brutalized. While a couple of tracks on the album don’t strike me as being as good as the rest, Tales of the Weird maintains a very high quality level with several highlights including the aforementioned Brutalized, as well as Escalation, Brainwashed, and The Downward Spiral. Frontman Charly Steinhauer has a voice that is perfect for the music. Rough but not without a sense of melody, the lack of which has put me off even some of the most successful thrash metal bands going. As a bonus track the band also does a cool cover version of Rainbow’s A Light in the Black, which despite a different overall vibe fits into the album well and is definitely worth having.

Paradox have produce a real kick arse kind of album in Tales of the Weird. It’s heavy, fast and aggressive but melodic and definitely has a real sense of class about it. An exceptional grade rating is easily deserved.

92/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/paradox-tales-of-the-weird-t2881.html))

UMUR "Heresy" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Paradox. The album was released through Roadracer Records in February 1989. The lyrics to the album form a concept story about the Roman Catholic Crusades of the 13th century.

Like the case was on the debut album "Product of Imagination (1987)", I sense a strong Testament influence in the music, and Paradox are generally not the most teutonic sounding German thrash metal act on the scene. Their music style is far more sophisticated than most more raw German thrash metal acts, with both strong US thrash metal leanings but also with quite a few melodic speed/power metal elements that remind us of their European heritage. There are some incredible lead guitar work throughout the album and even though I´d say the lead vocals are the weakest element in the music, they are still decent and doesn´t ruin the listening experience. The drumming needs a mention too as it´s pretty varied for the style and well played too. There is generally a very good energy in the music, so while the music is occasionally very melodic, the basic thrasy aggression is not neglected.

The material on "Heresy" is generally of very high quality (a track like the title tracks is of exceptionally high quality to my ears), the musicianship is excellent and the sound production sharp and powerful (considering the time of release it´s brilliant). That adds up to a very strong thrash/speed metal release by Paradox and I´d say a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.