Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Paradox
Label: AFM Records
Release: year_month
Duration: 54:58
Rating: 4.5/5
Charly Steinhauer is without a doubt one of the most persistent figures on the German metal scene. In 1986 Charly founded the thrash metal band Paradox, who made people sit up and take notice with their debut Product of Imagination (1987) and did so even more convincingly with the unforgettable cult thrash classic Heresy (1989). Melodic vocals, a technical approach and plenty of soloing brought Paradox closer to Bay Area thrash than to the raw aggression of the German holy thrash trinity of Destruction, Kreator and Sodom, but like many of their contemporaries, Paradox met a premature death at the end of the eighties. But Charly came back in 2000 and, with three albums released since, proved that Paradox’s energy is immortal. Tales of the Weird, released in the last days of last year, only confirms it!
The sound of thunder in the intro of the title track is a fitting way to kick off the album, because once it’s over, Paradox throw us into a storm of monstrous riffs and impressive solos lasting almost an hour. The band’s defining trait has always been a melodic approach to thrash metal, which gives Paradox a slight power metal flavor, mostly thanks to the generous twin-guitar play of breathtaking guitar lines. This time is no different, except that the complex riffing and technical soloing have been taken up another notch, because on Tales of the Weird Steinhauser got probably the best guitar partner of the band’s entire career. Christian Muenzner (Obscura, Spawn of Possession, Necrophagist) breathed new life into Paradox, just like Marty Friedman did for Megadeth in 1990. Not that the previous albums Electrify and Riot Squad lacked anything, but the Germans haven’t sounded this good since Heresy at least! Muenzner’s fingers have brought shredding solos to Paradox that kill from the first track to the last. There’s no end to the shredding, sweeping and supersonic speed, yet with every solo Christian manages to write a new, different story. The fusion of melodic guitar and vocal lines with aggressive, fast thrash is perfect once again, and Charly, with his infectiously melodic vocals in the style of Dave White (Heathen) and a young James Hetfield, is once more thoroughly convincing and victorious. The band works incredibly well this time both in the longer, more progressive-flavored songs (Tales of the Weird, Fragile Alliance, Brainwashed) and in the simpler, »straight-to-the-point« speed/thrash metal burners (Brutalized, The Downward Spiral). Both »types« of Paradox songs succeed in creating, with a baroque wall of sound, a plethora of riffs and mighty guitar harmonies, the epic atmosphere that pervades Tales of the Weird from the first second onward. The lively, standout bass adds a lot to this, its dynamic, restless rumble nicely complementing and filling out the guitar lines, and the drums do a solid job too, even if they get a bit lost in the brilliant interplay of endless guitar explosions. The powerful production, which gives every part of Paradox enough room to shine in all its glory, is the last factor that puts Tales of the Weird on the pedestal of the best releases of last year.
Paradox pulled it off again with Tales of the Weird, for the fourth time in a row since the reformation. The album brilliantly combines the technical daring of Heresy with the raw thrash aggression of Riot Squad and, alongside Dark Roots of the Earth, is probably the best thrash record of 2012. If anything, you could knock it for being a minute or so too long and for one or two songs that can’t hold a candle to the rest, but even that »flaw« fades to nothing next to the album’s other strengths. Charly Steinhauser clearly knows no stopping, so let’s hope the heart surgery he recently went through doesn’t stop Paradox’s return to the stage too.
Lineup
Charly Steinhauer – vocals, guitar
Christian Muenzner – lead guitar
Daniel Buld – drums
Olly Keller – bass
Production
V. Santura
Tracklist
1. Tales of the Wierd
2. Day of Judgement
3. Brutalized
4. Fragile Alliance
5. Escalation
6. Brainwashed
7. Slashdead
8. Zeitgeist
9. The Downward Spiral
10. A Light in the Black (Japanese bonus)
