PARADOX: The Wrath

Unveiled Wrath

Following up on the 2020 vinyl and CD releases/reissues of Ruler (1987) and Power & Glory (1988), Retroactive Records has unveiled to the world Paradox’s never professionally released third album entitled The Wrath. Part of the Metal Icon Series, The Wrath has been pressed on CD (500 copies/jewel case) and (forthcoming) vinyl (200 copies/red). The “set list” includes 7 original tracks/one demo/2 live tracks and another bonus track exclusive to the CD version.

Paradox

For those not familiar with Paradox, they were born in 1985 of a desire by founding guitarist John Vidaurri to mix metal and the message and inspiration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Hence the name Paradox!). Vidaurri hooked up with vocalist Manny Castillo and guitarist Fern Hernandez, who played with the fervor and skill of Randy Rhoads, and then rounded out the line-up with the Galicia brothers – Phil on bass and Efrain (age 15!!) on drums.

Alamo City

Oh yeah, did I fail to mention these guys were from San Antonio, TX – one of the greatest metal cities in the U.S.! In the liner notes of The Wrath – which comes with an 8-page booklet – drummer Anthony de la Garza provides his testimony of faith and discusses the experience of creating The Wrath and playing live at the time. There he gives a shout out to Sneakers, one of the best – if not the best – metal clubs in Texas. [This writer saw many a great show in “that thar” venue during his 4-year tenure in the Alamo City while serving his medical residency at Brooke Army Medical Center]

Ruler (1987)

Metal musings aside, the culmination of work generated by the newly formed Paradox and their local circuit touring was the 8-song cassette known as Ruler. The songs garnered great praise and sparked interest from the main Christian labels at the time. Self-released, the recording was only ever recorded on cassette until 2020 when Retroactive Records resurrected the band’s evangelistic power metal debut on both CD and vinyl (featuring liner notes by vocalist Manny Castillo and Heaven’s Metal editor Doug Van Pelt).

However, just when things looked promising for a label signing, tragedy struck when Vidaurri was killed in a car accident late in 1987. But through faith, and a commitment to John Vidaurri’s and God’s vision for Paradox, the band pressed onward…

Power & Glory (1988)

Unfortunately, the premature and untimely death of Vidaurri was likely integral to the subsequent disinterest from all the labels in signing the band. In hindsight, one might conclude that this was a monumental collective mistake on the part of the major Christian-based labels of the era because there was no denying the talent Paradox possessed. Regardless, in 1988 Castillo and company delivered 5 spirit-filled songs, replete with “power and glory,” and plenty of classic and melodic metal bite, including the much-lauded tribute (to Vidaurri) power ballad “Sweet Reunion.”

The 1988 EP cassette featured the same sequence on both Side A and B, but in 2020 Retroactive Records released CD and vinyl versions (once again with informative liner notes by Manny Castillo and Doug Van Pelt) which include 4 “Side B” tracks – “Give a Listen,” “Called and Chosen” (demo), “We Are The Temple” and “Sweet Reunion” (Accompaniment track).

The Wrath (1999)

Subsequently, despite the success of live-playing and two excellent independent releases, the tides once again turned both against and simultaneously in favor of Paradox. (Can’t think of a more appropriately named band ever in the history of Christian metal). With no record deal and the Galicia brothers out of the band, Castillo and Hernandez were blessed with 3 new players – Jave Patterson (bass), Roy Salas, Jr (guitars) and Anthony de la Garza (drums). Once again able to hit the live circuit with rejuvenated spirit, the band was subsequently inspired to create what would become their third release – The Wrath.

Texas Rockfest

Admittedly, I don’t know the reasons why things didn’t ultimately work out for the release of these songs in 1989, but what I do know is that I first encountered a reformed version of Paradox live at the Texas Rockfest in Marble Falls, TX in June of 1999. Hosted by Blanche Pall, in conjunction with HM Magazine/Doug Van Pelt, this festival had quite a run in the ‘90’s (I believe ’93 to ‘99). Johnson Park was the “venue” in the rural little community of Marble Falls north of Austin, TX and just south of Killeen, TX (home of then Fort Hood) where I was posted from 1997 to 2000.

While the crowds in attendance were relatively small, the quality of the metal was exceptionally great. Over the course of its duration, Rockfest hosted headliners like One Bad Pig, Jeff Scheetz, Mortification, Tourniquet, Ultimatum and Disciple (and great underground favorites like Beheaded, Jesus Freaks, Slamcat, Eternal Decision, Godfear, Iron Faith, Fear Factor, etc.) … and it was there, in June of ’99, where I experienced a live encounter with Paradox.

“…Paradox, who completely took my breath away. I didn’t think lead guitarists were supposed to be this good anymore!! He shredded, playing at lightning speeds. There was also lots of double bass and sweet high octave vocals. As far as I am concerned, metal is coming back, and these guys are going to be at the forefront.” – David Bixler, HM Magazine (Sep/Oct 1999, Issue #79)

Great words, which exactly echo my own impressions, as I recall, from that show (which featured Disciple as the closer). I distinctly remember my 4-year old (at the time) son Matthew coming and collecting me to go home (it was a Sunday evening) during Disciple’s altar call/prayer session (“Daddy, its time to go home”). I also remember leaving that evening with a copy of The Wrath (CDR) in my hand. At the time, I thought those 5 new songs represented the reformed band’s new music, but it wasn’t until years later that I realized those songs represented the “unreleased” material from 1989.

CDR (1999)

After cassettes disappeared in the early to mid-1990’s, CDR became the “demo” media of choice for indie and upcoming bands. Mostly, they were solid, but some of them would not play well in certain CD players. But the strange thing about The Wrath (1999) was that it included 12 songs on 8 tracks?! (track list below) From a professional standpoint, not cool … however, back then most people still listened to music “in sequence,” so the track breaks really didn’t matter. More significantly, I was so focused on the quality of the music that it didn’t really matter to me (at the time) how the tracks were arranged.

1. At the Foot of The Cross/Psalm 25 (14:18)

2. The Wrath (5:59)

3. Crusaders of The Cross (5:54)

4. It’s Not Over Yet (5:55)

5. Power and Glory/I Just Wanna Love You/Meet the King (14:00)

6. Sweet Reunion/God’s Amazing Grace (7:59)

7. Called and Chosen (5:43)

8. Give A Listen (4:31)

The CDR contained 5 original songs meant for The Wrath and then the 5 songs from the Power & Glory EP plus “Called and Chosen” and “Give a Listen.” In retrospect, the sound quality here is muddy and at times distorted, but there seems to be little compression, so I wonder if this came from an analog source in the late ‘80’s. I suspect the purpose of the CDR was to promote the late ‘90’s “comeback” version of Paradox (but this is pure speculation).

The Wrath (2023)

This new CD, and the forthcoming vinyl, represent the first time this music has been officially released. Hard to believe, but after all these years Matt Hunt and Retroactive Records found a way to dig up this treasure trove of songs, buff-shine them (Rob Colwell) and give them a physical media (Scott Waters) worthy of the quality which the music represents.

Importantly, I would guess this new song line-up is consistent with how the band originally intended – the flow is much better. And, in addition to the five lyric-containing songs from the CDR version, this version contains two instrumental tracks I’ve never heard previously.

Finally, instead of including the Power & Glory tracks (reissued in 2020) we now have a demo track of “Call to Obedience,” two live tracks (CD/vinyl) and the CD bonus live track.

1. Banners at War (3:16)

2. Crusaders of the Cross (5:43)

3. At the Foot of the Cross (7:35)

4. Psalm 25 (6:06)

5. The Wrath (5:48)

6. The Parable (3:30)

7. It’s Not Over Yet (5:25)

8. Call to Obedience (demo) (4:13)

9. Called and Chosen (live) (3:16)

10. Give a Listen (live) (4:16)

11. You Must Be Saved/Guitar Solo (6:02)

More importantly, from my perspective, when I compare where Paradox was on Power & Glory with where they arrived on The Wrath I see a band which has moved on from mourning (the loss of their founder and the loss of their label deal) to a band truly playing their hearts out with the gifts they’ve been granted.

Let the Games Begin…

Like every great sporting event in the nation … let’s start with our National Anthem! “Banners at War” represents the “Paradox shred” version. In Jimi Hendrix fashion, we hear Fern Hernandez tearing it up in glorious precision and distortion. This instrumental track was not present on the ’99 CDR. It perfectly sets the stage for what follows.

Cross Metal

“Crusaders of the Cross” is a perfect “lead-off” song because it strongly conveys the Paradox vision both with music and with words. In so many ways, it’s the perfect transition from the previous material and this “new” material because it bridges the soaring vocals with the melodic metal accessibility and the evangelical push from a band on a mission. From a practical standpoint, this is the song you play for long-time fans – to get them re-engaged.

Contrastingly, “At the Foot of the Cross” represents something new and creative for Paradox – a song which easily placed them in the prog/power realm. Not only is the song longer, with a complexity we haven’t heard to date from them, but there are the spoken parts and the expressive hymn (“Ode to Joy”) guitar lead during the middle section of the song.

Prog Metal

Furthermore, when you whip out the flute accompanied by beautiful guitar pluckings then you know you have entered the prog zone! “Psalm 25” is the proverbial ballad song where we get to hear an entirely different side of Castillo’s voice. The guitar leads and solos, the thrumming, yet well-articulated bass line and the energetic drumming – not to mention the confessional words – make for an absolute killer of a song.

Trouble Metal

And, since we are talking vocals now… Manny Castillo sounds like a mix of Eric Wagner (Trouble), Midnight (Crimson Glory) and Robert Plant (on steroids!). I confess I wasn’t as much of a fan of his vocals on Power & Glory because it just seemed like he was straining into an uncomfortable upper register on some of the songs, but his voice on The Wrath recording is near perfect for the music.

Nowhere is that more apparent than on the title track, “The Wrath.” If you listened to this song outside the Paradox context, you might think you were listening to an upbeat Trouble song. I mean, Castillo sounds like Eric Wagner here! And the lyrics on this song are so pertinent to our times today that they are seemingly prophetic.

“The Lord is angry with all the nations/His wrath is upon all their armies/Woe to you, oh destroyer/His wrath is on you/For the Lord has a day of vengeance.”

I love the middle section with the whispered vocals (which are not printed in the booklet) but then this is followed by Hernandez’s world-class shred solo. This song is so perfectly preserved and rendered on this release – live vibe with balanced EQ.

Maniacal Metal

The second instrumental (also not on the ’99 ‘‘CDR) is “The Parable.” This track exemplifies the ’89 line-up chemistry in terms of sheer musical muscle. The song is three and a half minutes of maniacal metal bliss!

…and the guitar just keeps sweetly singing. “It’s Not Over Yet” – in true “paradoxical” fashion – is the last track from the era. Here Paradox echoes Sacred Warrior (and The Warning era Queensryche) with more exceptional songwriting. I love how they open the song up in the middle for Hernandez’s solo yet the bass and drums simultaneously keep up the active underflow of intensity.

Bonus Material

“Call to Obedience” is not a song that has been previously released to my knowledge, and so I don’t know from which session this song arose. This is a demo track by sound quality, but the bass guitar really comes to the forefront of the mix (think Maiden’s Steve Harris). Killer romp with surprising vocal clarity.

This live version of “Called and Chosen” here is plenty loud, but there are some annoying cutouts in the sound which make it a tough listen. Fans of raw music can still appreciate what Paradox brings to the stage – they possessed a confidence and audacity which went sadly underappreciated by the Christian music industry. The same can be said of “Give a Listen” which captures nicely the raw live experience, but the cut-outs in sound make loud listening a bit uncomfortable. But look, as a fan I get it. Paradox was never given the promo and recording privileges they clearly deserved.

The CD bonus track “You Must Be Saved” and the guitar solo sound thin, but the raw talent and passion bleed through in a way a fan of the band can truly appreciate.

Selah

In many ways, The Wrath represents the culmination of everything Paradox strived to accomplish during their brief career. If you can think of a band where their most promising and original material was never released, then that would be yet another example of the “paradox” of Paradox.  Thanks to Retroactive Records for “unveiling” these songs and giving them a life well-deserved.

Look forward to hearing this on vinyl…

Retroactive Records

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