Paragon Zero hail from Hungary and little is known about the band. A short EP of three songs and A Pestilence cover show a young band still mixing their influences in hopes of finding their own unique style.
Riff types can be summed up into long cadenced tremolo picked with an NWOHBHM sense of melody, first generation Death metal power chord riffs and consonant arpeggios in the minor key. The band have a very restrained vocabulary of riffs and melody types which works best for these simple songs. There is very little chromatic quality to the riffs as they stick to the natural minor scale to convey a grandiose sense of adventure as seen in Iron Maiden’s music. During the fourth repetition of these tremolo picked riffs the band will expand with an additional melody which enriches the riffs.
The songs are arranged within the melodic narrative framework but simplified with riffs being repeated a large number of times before the band transitions to the next idea. An introduction generally consisting of arpeggios will lead towards a tremolo picked riff that will be the song’s central idea. The band then introduce the simple Death metal riff which will then progress towards a calmer break before exploding towards the tremolo picked riff or a variant of it. The major issues with these songs are that while they have vision they lack direction. Only “An Existence Beyond Sane Reality” has a satisfying conclusion with the rest of the other songs ending with more of a whimper than a bang. The arrangements fail to conjure a story or the evolution of idea and are stuck within the same sentiment of grandeur with little very little in regards towards dynamics and variation within that sentiment. This EP showcases a good base from which Paragon Zero have every tool necessary to make some excellent Black metal and a genuine love for Death metal (as seen on the excellent Pestilence cover) that could be the beginning of something great.
Tags: Black Metal, death metal, paragon zero, pestilence, timesless new breed
Is there any good metal from Hungary? Seems like there is not much from Eastern Europe in general, save for Graveland, early Vader, Old Wainds…
Tormentor are good. Fantom, Pokolgép and maybe the 2000 Taranis demo (I only listened to it like twice back in like 2011) are okay. I believe that’s about it for Hungary.
Master’s hammer, Imperator, Xantotol are a few. Baron records put out a lot of Polish metal in the early 90’s. You’d have to sift through to find what’s good but there’s a lot of iron curtain metal that’s been mostly neglected.
conscious rot from lithuania
I never cared for Master’s Hammer. Imperator sounds familiar; I’ll have to check out the other bands.
I’ve heard the Tormentor I cover by SDG; will have to check out their other material
Xantotol is good if you like “Worship Him” era Samael. “Worship Him” is better but they’re good.
xantolol is kind of cartoonish and bad, but the girl’s vocs are very cute. like I str8 up want to cuddle her bro. you’d be better off listening to moenen of xezbeth (who are influenced by xantolol but consolidate that sound into a much better and seriouser work…) or the latest from baxaxaxa […which is easily the album of the year btw]
They’re no more cartoonish than black metal itself and definitely less than the character you put on.
in the second album theres literally a part where a black Sabbath riff breaks down into an Egyptian disco riff. its fucking retarded. you should stop putting on this “person capable of discernment” character of yours, because thinking xantolol is good is more befitting of a jumbo dumbo.
Hahaha you’re the one projecting this “person capable of discernment” persona onto me. I merely made a recommendation. It’s up to the listener to discern for themselves if the music is worth listening to. Your opinion is worth as much as mine, which is very little, so calm your tits buddy boy.
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These are the issues or politicians should be addressing
Besides Tormentor, the only thing I really enjoy from Hungary is the first Sear Bliss album ‘Phantoms.’ It’s not exactly a work of riff madness, but it has a nice mid-era Graveland sort of pace to it. And it’s perhaps the only black metal I know of with real brass. The first Negura Bunget album, also from 1996, is worth hearing as well.
Ultimatum from Romania was also good. Unfortunately it’s very hard to find a copy these days.