Paragon is a speed metal/power metal band from Hamburg, Germany founded in 1994 by guitarist Martin Christian.
In 2009, Paragon took a break. During this time they lost two of their 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 November 2009, the band became active again and former bassist – Jan Bünning – rejoined the band. Recently, the band recruited Jan Bertram (Guitars, Backing Vocals. )
They have been working on their tenth studio album “Force Of Destruction” (now released on Napalm Records) which was produced by the legendary guitarist/ vocalist Piet Sielck ( Blind Guardian, Iron Saviour) at his Powerhouse studio in Hamburg.
RAMzine spoke to Jan Bünning about making their exhilarating new album “Force Of Destruction” and also about group dynamics in the new team.
Team RAM: How did enjoy working with Piet Sielck? Was it a good experience at Powerhouse?
Jan: “Yes of course. We worked with Piet on four albums before: (Steelbound, Law Of The Blade, The Dark Legacy & Revenge) and it really was like coming home. A few years [have] passed by, so we play a lot better … and Piet was much more relaxed than in the past.”
Team RAM: How do you think this new album compares with Revenge (2005)?
Jan: “As I said in the previous answer Piet was much more relaxed and I think that´s the reason that “FoD” sounds much more open and organic than ‘Revenge’.”
“When you don´t have a big budget you don´t really have the time to play every chord a thousands times. So sometimes you only play a riff which repeats e.g. three times – only one time perfect – and copy it to the other parts. That is of course time saving, but it also [creates an] album that sounds technical and maybe even cold. This time we played the songs from start […] and only corrected some playing mistakes when we were finished. We [had] already worked this way on “Revenge” but this time Piet was even more – let´s say – uncritical when it came to minor wrong notes etc.”
“When you use a producer [such as Piet Sielck ] he also helps you in some parts with the song-writing because as a band you are never objective. But this time we did a whole pre-production, and worked a lot on the songs, so there were not too many changes. All in all I would say that “FoD” has the best sound we ever had, and also the best songs. Every song deserves to be on this record and [each] fits in with the whole concept of the album.”
Team RAM: How do you view comparisons with (the band) Iron Savior? (Piet Sielck’s own project.)
Jan: “Piet, who writes all songs for Iron Savior, has the same influences as we have – like Judas Priest, old Maiden and Accept. That´s the reason he understands what kind of sound we need. Of course he also has certain techniques how to record guitars and e.g. choirs so there are of course some similarities. But all in all I think we are the much more aggressive band and use much darker vocal lines and melodies as Iron Savior do.”
Team RAM: This is your tenth album – is it getting any easier?
Jan: “More the contrary. First we had a hard time before recording “FoD” because of line-up and business problems. Second, after you have already written about 100 Metal songs it´s not easy to come up with another ten which sound totally different.”
“On the other hand, all the problems we had gave us fuel for the fire to record another Metal Attack because we [have] not gotten lazy … and I even wonder if our fans want to have album which really sounds different? “FoD” is 100% timeless Heavy Metal which every fan of classic Metal should like!”
Team RAM: What inspired you to cover the 1981 Accept song “Son Of A Bitch” from the Breaker disc (Bonus Track)? Whose idea was that?
Jan: “Record companies always need bonus tracks for limited edition releases and we really don´t like to give away one of our songs as they are all our ‘children’. So we – most times – do tribute songs. We are often asked which German bad inspired us, but the truth is that the only German band which really inspired us is Accept. So I collected some ideas, and as we were not sure, I asked Piet and he said straight away that ‘Son Of A Bitch’ should be the one. It´s also a statement to all the people who thought we are dead after such and long break … and the loss of Martin.”
Team RAM: There is normally a 2 year gap between Paragon albums. A little longer after your ‘break’ this time around. Is that about the right creative interval for you?
Jan: “I guess in a working band two years is OK. You always do shows after a release, have to try out if songs work etc. You don´t write 10 songs, enter the studio and all the songs work. You have to try them out – and that needs some time. Anyhow, we already have demos for about 12 more songs for the next album!”
Team RAM: How has Wolle ‘s song-writing worked out for you? (Wolfgang Tewes guitar and vocals)
Jan: “At first we only [had a ] lend of Wolle from Black Hawk. After a while we realized that he was very good in writing Paragon riffs, so we started to record demos in my little home studio. I sorted out which riffs fit to Paragon, arranged the songs and gave them to Buschi who wrote the lyrics and vocal lines. So it´s a team effort between Wolle, Buschi and me. Wolle has by now left his previous band Black Hawk and is a full time member of Paragon.”
Team RAM: And what about Jan Bertram ( Guitars, Backing Vocals) ? Fitting in well?
Jan:” Our other second guitar player had to go in the beginning of 2012 and our plan was to enter the studio as a four piece with some help from our old guitar player Martin Christian. Just before we booked the studio, our drummer Chris said that Jan Bertram – the guitar player of one of his other bands – would be interested in doing an audition. To be honest I already knew after the first rehearsal that Jan [was] fitting in very well. He is a nice guy, loves Metal. He is a Paragon fan for a long time already, and he also plays very good. He “only” played lead guitars and didn´t write any songs for ‘FoD’ but together with Wolle it´s the best guitar team we ever had. I am sure you can expect a lot more of them in the future.”
Team RAM: What has the experience been like, working with Kai Hanson? How demanding was he? (Renowned Helloween vocalist Kai Hanson lends his voice to ‘Blood and Iron’)
Jan: “That was really easy. Buschi and Kai are friends with him, and we do a lot of party with him. We played Wii Tennis with him one time and I just said for fun ‘If you loose now Kai, you have to sing on our next album’. Of course he lost ha ha!”
“It took some time before he delivered his vocals, but in the end it was good because now we have both Kai and Piet … because Piet did some pilot-tracks for Kai to sing on, we used them as well.”
Team RAM: Your music seems gutsier and gritty than Helloween – how much of an influence do you think that have they been to Paragon?
Jan: “None at all. Personally I like the First EP and LP with Kai singing … but they had no influence on us. We are more inspired by stuff like Overkill, Metal Church, Helstar, Forbidden, Vicious Rumors, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, old Maiden, of course Judas Priest and Accept – and even some Slayer. You don’t hear it at first hand but if you would “analyze” our riffs, structures, melodies and harmonies you would still find traces of these bands.”
Team RAM: “Blades of Hell” – Where did you get that hook?
Jan: “That would be question for our singer Buschi. When we did the pre-production/demos for the album, I was very impressed [about] how many good ideas he had for the vocal lines of the album. He, for sure, has grown as a songwriter and is much better now than he was in the past.”
Team RAM: What techniques does Christian Gripp (Drums) use – to increase speeds? Any new kit we should know about?
Jan: “That would have been a question for Chris of course. By chance, I just recently spoke with him about that topic and his answer was that it´s not the equipment which makes you play fast but your playing technique of course. But he has a few endorsements and plays Dixon Drums. We are not really the fastest band in the world, when you compare us to some examples of Death or Thrash Metal bands, but that is not the point. A good song is a good song no matter how fast it is.”
Team RAM: How does Andreas Babuschkin (vocals) keep his vocal cords so healthy? They must be crushed almost to extinction… Any advice for those who want to follow?
Jan: “To be honest, I don´t know! He smokes a lot, drinks beer, gin or whiskey, whatever. He has Asthma, and he’s still got the oldest voice Piet has ever recorded! For “FoD” he was much more relaxed and needed half the time to record his vocals than for previous recordings, and it´s really his best work so far. Maybe it´s like wine [his voice] is getting better and better with time…”
Team RAM: We have been listening to ‘Iron Will’ constantly …. In fact, our ears are have started to smoulder! Tell us about creating this song…
Jan: “Funny enough, ‘Iron Will’ was the last song written just before we entered the studio. When we threw out the second guitar player, we were of the opinion that it would not be a good idea to use the three songs he wrote so we had to do write three more which turned out really great.”
“The songs are ‘Iron Will’, “Tornado” and “Blood & Iron”. When we write songs we first have the main riff and then we add the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, lead part etc. to it. For “FoD” we did demos with Logic and gave the instrumental songs to our singer Buschi who then writes lyrics and vocal lines. Maybe you still have to work on it, and alter parts because one riff doesn´t fit [another] riff or the other way round. And after awhile you have a version which you bring to the studio. In the studio You maybe alter some more, because as a band you are not objective, and your producer says it´s should be made different. That´s it more or less…”
Team RAM: Thanks, Paragon
Jan: “Thank you for the interview! A big thank you to our old fans for the patience and a “hello” to our new fans!”
“Metal is the law!”
