I'm a fan of
Blind Guardian. I'm an even bigger fan of
Iced Earth. So it would only make sense that this band would be great for me, right? Enter
Demons and Wizards, the side project of
Blind Guardian's Hansi Kursh and
Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer. These two have been friends for quite some time now and decided that forming their own band would be an excellent idea. Well, one album wasn't enough for these two so they entered the studio again to record their sophomore release. This album is straight up power metal, plain and simple. Enter an album filled with thrashy riffs, powerful vocals and plenty of other surprises. You've just been...
Touched By The Crimson King!
Demons and Wizards is:
Hansi Kursch - Vocals
Jon Schaffer - Rythm, Bass, Lead & Acoustic Guitars
With Guest Musicians:
Bobby Jarzombek - Drums and Precussion
Jim Morris - Guitar solos and Backing vocals
Rubin Drake - Bass & Fretless Bass Guitar
Howard Helm - Piano and Backing vocals
Kathy Helm - Backing vocals
Tori Fuson - Backing vocals
Jesse Morris - Backing vocals
Krystyna Kolaczynski - Cello
What was good about this album:
-- For those who are fans of
Blind Guardian or
Iced Earth, this album will be something to look forward to.
Demons and Wizards offer just what fans of both bands are really into, so there's plenty of power metal madness to be had.
-- Jon Schaffer's incredible riffs are present on here. Jon's work with
Iced Earth has always been phenomenal and he certainly puts plenty of great, heavy power metal riffs on
Touched By The Crimson King. The guitars also have a pretty decent variety in styles - the guitars range from thrashy headbangers, chugging breakdowns, somber acoustic sections, and even more. As far as rhythm guitar goes, this album does it quite well.
-- Hansi Kursh has been said by many to be a talented vocalist, and he certainly shows it on here. His unique style of epic clean vocals can be found on every song.
Blind Guardian fans out there will certainly be happy to hear that his skills have not been brought down at all on this album. The vocals range from epic, sustained wails to emotional clean vocals so power metal fans out there will certainly be pleased with this album.
-- The band's cover of
Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" worked really well. When I first looked at the album's tracklist before buying I thought that covering this would never work and end up being one of the weakest songs on the album. I was proven wrong. This cover stays completely loyal to the original version, but just makes it heavier than before. Hansi also does a great job with the vocals and does Robert Plant justice. It's overall a great song.
-- Bobby Jarzombek is drumming on this album, and he's one of the best metal drummers in the business.
What was bad about this album:
-- Power metal was never a genre to focus much on the bass guitar, which I've always found to be an issue.
Demons and Wizards certainly doesn't bring out the bass on this album much at all...it's just there to provide a solid groove to the rest of the band. It does the job, but it could have done so much more.
-- Bobby Jarzombek is one of the greatest technical drummers I have ever heard, so his work on here is nothing of what he is capable of doing. The drumming on here certainly isn't bad, but it's just basic. The whole time he's either carrying out a simple beat or laying down a fast double bass patter that just about any metal drummer can do. It's a shame to hear such talent not be used.
-- There are some filler tracks on here. Such songs as "Terror Train" and "The Gunslinger" are pretty average songs that don't really have anything new or impressive to add to the album. If the band makes another album sometime in the future I hope that they make all of the songs on their album essential and don't have anything that I could find to be expendable.
Suggested listening:
Crimson King - The strongest song on the entire album. This track features some of Schaffer's best riffs to date and my personal favorite vocal performance from Kursh. All of the riffs are incredibly awesome, along with some of the coolest power metal lyrics ever. This is certainly a song you should be listening to.
Beneath These Waves - This song sounds alot like a typical metal ballad, but goes way beyond that. This song is filled to the brim with emotions and some powerful guitar playing behind it. The guitar solo is also pretty cool and fits the song great.
Immigrant Song - Like I said earlier, does
Led Zeppelin justice. The guitar riffs are spot on and the vocals are as wonderful as ever. Bobby Jarzombek's drumming also carries the song along quite well. Just about anyone should find this to be a good cover.
In conclusion: Overall this is a solid album, but there are some filler tracks here and there. It's also nothing innovative or groundbreaking in the genre so if you're big on power metal this probably isn't something you haven't heard before.
Thor gives this album a 3/5, which is recommended.
