Hamburg Metal Attack 2025

Hamburg Metal Attack 2025
Location: Bahnhof Pauli – Hamburg
Date: 12 September 2025

Eighty years of Heavy Metal were celebrated on this evening. Eighty years? Exactly, Black Hawk have been playing the stages of this world for 45 years now, Paragon for 35 years. In comparison, the venue is still quite young. The doors of Bahnhof Pauli opened ten years ago. The club is located in a vaulted cellar of the St. Pauli clubhouse on the historic Spielbudenplatz. You can see the pictures of the evening on Flickr.

Black Hawk entered the stage punctually at 7.00 pm. The band was founded in 1981 in Mölln, a small town in the east of Hamburg. However, all the musicians now live in Hamburg. The first creative period ended in 1997 and apart from the EP ‘First Attack’ (1998) and a demo, no musical traces were left behind. During this time, however, there were various live activities – concerts and festivals. After a four-year hiatus, the band reunited in 2001. The debut album entitled ‘Twentyfive’ was released in 2005 to mark the band’s 25th anniversary. Seven further studio albums were then released. A best-of compilation was released for the 45th anniversary. In the meantime, none of the founding members are still on board. The longest-serving musician in the current line-up is singer Udo Bethke (since 1990). On this evening, the band presented a cross-section of their previous releases. Almost one and a quarter hours of Old School Heavy Metal in the style of Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept. The highlight was probably the tribute to the recently passed Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne with a cover of ‘Crazy Train’. At the end, singer Udo Bethke took a deep bow to the fans.

Lineup Black Hawk:

Udo Bethke – Vocals
Wolfgang Tewes – Guitar
Didy Mackel – Bass
Maximilian Behr – Drums

Track list Black Hawk:

• Dragonride (Dragonride, 2007)
• Angry Machines (Soulkeeper, 2023)
• Shoot Shoot (Straight to Hell, 2010)
• A Mighty Metal Axe (A Mighty Metal Axe, 2013)
• Hellfire (The Invasion, 2008)
• Streets Of Terror (The End Of The World, 2017)
• Better Times (Soulkeeper, 2023)
• War Zone (Soulkeeper, 2023)
• First Attack (First Attack, Mini-LP 1989)
• Scream In The Night (The End Of The World, 2017)
• Rock And Roll Hell (The Invasion, 2008)
• Soulkeeper (Soulkeeper, 2023)
• Masters Of Metal (Destination Hell, 2020)
• Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne Cover)
• Fire In The Night (The Invasion, 2008)

Paragon were founded by guitarist Martin Christian in Hamburg in 1990. After initially being signed to smaller labels, they landed a record deal with the Hamburg label Remedy Records in 2000. Several successful album releases followed. But like Black Hawk, Paragon are primarily a live band. They have performed at Sweden Rock and Summer Breeze, among others. Since the EP ‘Larger than Life’, they have continued their success story under the banner of Massacre Records. Even the temporary departure of founding member Martin Christian has not slowed the band down. Thirteen albums have been released to date. There are also several demos, EPs and singles. In other words, an impressive discography. It was certainly not easy to choose the songs for the evening. The fans were treated to a representative cross-section of Paragon’s entire catalogue. Power Metal, Speed Metal with a partial Thrash flavour could be heard. Extensive guitar solos, hard hitting drums and powerful bass. Towards the end, former guitarist Wolfgang ‘Wolle’ Tewes also made a brief appearance on stage. I was particularly impressed by the vocal range of singer Andreas Babuschkin (in the band since 1997).

Lineup Paragon:

Andreas Babuschkin – Lead Vocals
Martin Christian – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jan Bertram – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jan Bünning – Bass, Backing Vocals
Jason Wöbcke – Drums

Track list Paragon:

• Intro
• The Legacy (The Dark Legacy, 2003)
• Chalice Of Steel (Chalice Of Steel, 1999)
• Legions Of Metal (Chalice Of Steel, 1999; Larger Than Life – live, 2008)
• Rising Forces (Hell Beyond Hell, 2016)
• Hellgore (Screenslaves, 2008; Metalation, 2024)
• Mean Machine (Controlled Demolition, 2019)
• Law Of The Blade (Law Of The Blade, 2002)
• Palace Of Sin (Law Of The Blade, 2002)
• Across The Wastelands (Law Of The Blade, 2002)
• Fighting The Fire (Metalation, 2024)
• Gods Of Thunder (Force Of Destruction, 2012)
• Feel The Knife (The Final Command, 1998)
• Green Hell (The Dark Legacy, 2003)
• Into The Black (Into The Black, 1994; World Of Sin, 1995; The Dark Legacy, 2003)
• Impaler
• Thunderstorm (Steelbound, 2001)

What an evening that was. More than two hours of classic Heavy Metal. Handmade and without any frills. So, it doesn’t always have to be the really big live acts. The smaller bands can also be musically convincing and really get the fans going. Fittingly, the lighting and sound were also very good. I would like to thank everyone involved for this great evening. To the musicians, the technicians and the crew at Bahnhof Pauli.