Paragon
Paragon-Law of the Blade (Remedy Records)
2002
1. "Abducted"
(3:55)
2. "Palace of Sin" (3:55)
3. "Armies of the Tyrant" (5:02)
4. "Law of the Blade" (3:32)
5. "Across the Wastelands" (7:01)
6. "Shadow World" (5:33)
7. "Allied Forces" (5:28)
8. "Empire's Fall" (3:38)
9. "The Journey's End" (5:03)
10. "Back to Glory" (5:08)
11. "To Hell and Back Again" (4:31)
Excellent speed metal that falls somewhere between Manowar, Hammerfall and Primal Fear. Paragon manages to mix the speed and intensity of thrash metal, with the writing style of more traditional heavy metal. From beginnig to tend the intensity level never lets up, even though there are a few mellower moments, these only seem to add to the overall emotion of the disc rather than sounding like pathetic attempts at radio hits. To make things even better, the band even adds a smokin' bonus track cover of Saxon's "To Hell & Back Again." The packaging for this release is quite nice as well. The disc comes wrapped in a cardboard, full color digi that folds over four times. The disc itself is pressed on a dark purple CD with a marbleized effect, which I have never seen before. Very cool. Long live metal!