It took these Germans eight years to return with their third album Electrify, now only two years on they steadily plough forth with another album and continue to bang out their brand of power-thrash. I suppose Paradox are one of those bands I can take or leave; I’m not crazy about them, perhaps as they reside a little too far into the ghetto of power metal for my liking, but I do quite enjoy their music when I am in the right mind-frame. This album is no exception and having given it half a dozen spins I have found it to be quite an enjoyable one with a number of the tracks having grown on me.
The album comes at you with an instant punishing attack that goes with so much speed that you can’t prepare yourself. The vehement riffs of ‘Hollow Peace’ sound more like war, while the trademark blazing guitar solos do their best to fight back. This is followed by ‘Riptide’ which is a real highlight on this album; fuelled by sheer adrenaline this goes straight for the jugular while the high-pitched vocals are belted out with some force. This one manages to worm its way in, slowly infecting the memory with its melody.
‘Nothingness’ slows the pace down a bit yet retains that heavy sound. There’s an atmospheric overtone to this one as well, while ‘Evolution Reset’ has a groovy drumbeat. The vocals are incredibly melodic and are doused in a candy coating, and to say this album is cheesy is a bit like saying the Pope is religious; it’s kind of an understatement and maturity isn’t exactly top of the priority list I’m guessing either. By far the strongest track, ‘No Place To Survive’ hurtles along like a train that’s lost control of the brakes and there is some tasty stop-start riffage that you just can’t help but bang your head to. There is a kind of raw energy behind their sound that aids a frenetic, old school attack that really thrashes the senses.
As I find with their back catalogue, this has a handful of real gems hidden among a fairly nondescript complete album and the good thing about having this as MP3 format is that I can pick and choose those that I want to listen to. Electrify was a stronger album in my opinion and I can’t say this has made quite the same impact; still it’s absolutely worth putting on your shopping list if you’re a fan.
http://www.myspace.com/paradoxbangers
