Paragon (band)
{{Short description|German heavy metal band}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Paragon
| image = Paragon (band) - Börsencrash Festival Wuppertal 2016-AL1745.jpg
| caption = Paragon performing in 2016
| image_upright = 1.3
| background = group_or_band
| years_active = 1990–present
| genre = {{hlist|Power metal|heavy metal|speed metal}}
| origin = Hamburg, Germany
| label = {{hlist|Napalm|Massacre|Remedy}}
| website = {{URL|paragon-metal.com}}
| current_members = Andreas Babuschkin
Martin Christian
Jan Bertram
Jan Bünning
Jason Wöbcke
| past_members = See below
| module = {{Infobox
| child = yes
| header1 =
| headerstyle = background:#b0c4de
| data2 = 200px
}}
}}
Paragon is a German heavy metal band from Hamburg.
History
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, 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. 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|Andreas Babuschkin
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 18.jpg|Günther Kruse and Jan Bertram
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 10.jpg|Jan Bünning
Paragon Metal Frenzy 2018 03.jpg|Sören Teckenburg
= Current members =
- Andreas Babuschkin – lead vocals (1997–present)
- Martin Christian – guitar, backing vocals (1990–2010, 2015–present)
- Jan Bertram – guitar, backing vocals (2012–present)
- Jan Bünning – bass, backing vocals (1997–2007, 2009–present)
- Jason Wöbcke – drums (2024–present)
= Former members =
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
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)
David Wieczorek (2010–2012)
{{col-2}}
Bass:
Dirk Sturzbecher (1990–1995)
Uwe Wessel – bass (1995–1996)
Dirk Seifert (2007–2009)
Drums:
Kay Neuse (1990–1996)
Markus Corby (1996–2005)
Chris Gripp (2005–2013)
Sören Teckenburg – drums (2013–2024)
{{col-end}}
= Timeline =
{{#tag:timeline|
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DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1990 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}}
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1990
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:lines value:black legend:Studio_Album
LineData =
at:08/28/1995 color:black layer:back
at:05/24/1998 color:black layer:back
at:03/24/1999 color:black layer:back
at:05/29/2001 color:black layer:back
at:06/20/2002 color:black layer:back
at:09/15/2003 color:black layer:back
at:04/15/2005 color:black layer:back
at:05/12/2007 color:black layer:back
at:09/15/2008 color:black layer:back
at:10/25/2012 color:black layer:back
at:05/12/2016 color:black layer:back
at:04/11/2019 color:black layer:back
at:11/08/2024 color:black layer:back
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bar:Chris text:"Chris Barena"
bar:Kay text:"Kay Carstens"
bar:Andreas text:"Andreas Babuschkin"
bar:Martin text:"Martin Christian"
bar:Frank text:"Frank Hellweg"
bar:Marcus text:"Marcus Cremer"
bar:Köhler text:"Wolfgang Köhler"
bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Görner"
bar:Cremer text:"Claudius Cremer"
bar:Günter text:"Günter Kruse"
bar:Tewes text:"Wolfgang Tewes"
bar:David text:"David Wieczorek"
bar:Jan text:"Jan Bertram"
bar:Dirk text:"Dirk Sturzbecher"
bar:Uwe text:"Uwe Wessel"
bar:Jan1 text:"Jan Bünning"
bar:Seifert text:"Dirk Seifert"
bar:Neuse text:"Kay Neuse"
bar:Corby text:"Markus Corby"
bar:Gripp text:"Christian Gripp"
bar:Sören text:"Sören Teckenburg"
bar:Jason text:"Jason Wöbcke"
PlotData=
width:11
bar:Chris from:start till:07/01/1994 color:vocals
bar:Kay from:07/01/1994 till:12/31/1996 color:vocals
bar:Andreas from:01/01/1997 till:end color:vocals
bar:Martin from:start till:12/31/2009 color:guitar
bar:Martin from:07/01/2015 till:end color:guitar
bar:Frank from:start till:07/01/1991 color:guitar
bar:Marcus from:07/01/1991 till:07/01/1993 color:guitar
bar:Köhler from:07/01/1993 till:12/31/1994 color:guitar
bar:Daniel from:01/01/1995 till:07/01/1996 color:guitar
bar:Cremer from:07/01/1996 till:11/01/2003 color:guitar
bar:Tewes from:01/01/2010 till:07/01/2015 color:guitar
bar:David from:01/01/2010 till:02/01/2012 color:guitar
bar:Günter from:11/01/2003 till:12/31/2009 color:guitar
bar:Jan from:02/01/2012 till:end color:guitar
bar:Dirk from:start till:11/01/1995 color:bass
bar:Uwe from:11/01/1995 till:12/31/1996 color:bass
bar:Jan1 from:01/01/1997 till:07/01/2007 color:bass
bar:Jan1 from:01/01/2010 till:end color:bass
bar:Seifert from:07/01/2007 till:12/31/2009 color:bass
bar:Neuse from:start till:07/01/1996 color:drums
bar:Corby from:07/01/1996 till:07/01/2005 color:drums
bar:Gripp from:07/01/2005 till:07/01/2013 color:drums
bar:Sören from:07/01/2013 till:04/01/2024 color:drums
bar:Jason from:04/01/2024 till:end color:drums
}}
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 {{Cite web|title = PARAGON – So as promised, here are some more details:...|url = https://www.facebook.com/paragonmetal/posts/10153865830436495|website = www.facebook.com|accessdate = 8 December 2015}} (2016)
- Controlled Demolition (2019)
- Metalation (2024)
= Other releases =
- Into the Black [EP] (1994)
- 2000 Promo CD [Demo] (2000)
- Eye Of The Storm [Single] (2003)
- Larger Than Life [EP] (2008)
= Compilation appearances =
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{cc}}
- [http://www.paragon-metal.com/ Official website]
- {{allmusic}}
- {{musicbrainz artist|name=Paragon|id=091217c3-f90c-48da-9b42-eaa0aeaddcca}}
- {{discogs artist}}
{{Paragon}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paragon}}
Category:Musical groups established in 1990
Category:German power metal musical groups