PARADOX – Tales Of The Weird

The German cult Thrash Metal masters Paradox are back with their sixth full length album. These guys have been around for over 25 years releasing their first two albums with much success on the Roadrunner Records label in 1987 & 1989, at a time when Thrash Metal was at a climax. The band regrouped back in 2000 with an outstanding comeback album Collision Course. Sadly though, another layoff followed and subsequently some lineup changes. Thankfully now they are concentrating on making music full time with Tales Of The Weird being their third album in the last five years.

Paradox’s style of Thrash can be compared to some of the greats of classic Thrash Metal; Metallica, Testament, Kreator, or Annihilator. They produce a very traditional melodic style of Thrash with precision guitar work, and bold and powerful vocals. Anyone that is a fan of 80s style Thrash will enjoy everything Paradox has to offer.

With each release the core sound of Paradox gets slightly heavier as they try to keep up with the modern day Thrash Metal scene. Behind that, the main factor to their success is the vocal work of Charly Steinhauer. He presents a delightful mix of both a jarring harshness with a smooth, pleasing sound. His style is very similar to Flotsam & Jetsam’s Eric Knutson or even Testament’s Chuck Billy. His dynamic quality helps to add a significant energetic value needed to sustain music of such a high caliber.

The most predominant feature of Paradox is the twin guitar assault of Charly Steinhauer and Christian Muenzner. The Speed Metal riffs they produce are extremely infectious; it’s not so heavy that you hear a great deal or reverb nor do they drown out the vocals. It’s very similar to the airy, virtuoso riffs heard from Annihilator’s Jeff Waters. Every note has a purpose and is presented with meticulous exactness. As an added bonus, each track contains a fiery guitar solo that has unprecedented amounts of fervent passion.

There is not any specific weak track on the album. Some of the songs of note would be “Fragile Alliance” which features all the elements of the aforementioned traits from the guitars and vocals. The opening pulsating riff does an excellent job of building all the excitement included within this track. Another great song is the acoustic instrumental “Zeitgeist” that adds a great dimension to the total overall dynamic value of the album. Then there is the cover of Rainbow’s “A Light In The Black.” When turned into a highly qualified piece of Thrash, even with the signature keyboard solo as featured on the original version; this song comes off nothing short of amazing.

Although Paradox will never be categorized into the Thrash Metal legend category, there is no doubt they can carry themselves toe to toe with the best of them. Tales Of The Weird is another gratifying notch in their already impressive discography.