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DEMONS & WIZARDS
Demons & Wizards (Steamhammer/SPV)
Reviewed by Christophe Chuvan
After hitting its peak in terms of popularity and mainstream acceptance in the 80s, "traditional" heavy metal went through some troubled times in the 90s as younger bands wanting to go back to basics decided to reopen the Neil Young songbook and rename it "Grunge". Yet, while the genre isn't as visible today as it once was, there is a plethora of bands out there, which are bent on keeping the metal flame alive. Among these, Blind Guardian and Iced Earth represent the current upper hierarchy of a music genre which finds its roots in the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and is now known as Power Metal.
Given the genre-leading status enjoyed by Iced Earth and Blind Guardian, the pairing of Jon Schaffer, lead singer for the former, and Hansi Krsch, lead guitar-slinger for the latter, sounds like an appealing prospect. Demons & Wizards is the first product of their collaboration and, while most star-studded side-projects ultimately fail to match expectations, this one actually delivers.
If you like your daily dose of metal rich with fast and furious guitar riffs, galloping bass lines and escalating choruses, you're gonna love this. From the opening track, where Gregorian choirs set the mood for the rest of the album, you pretty much know what you're in for. Before you know it, the guitars have stepped up the pace, delivering lightning-fast riffs intertwined with smooth harmonies, and you're taken on a medieval ride, accompanied by Schaffer's powerful and confident singing, back to dark ages where, as the title suggests, demons and wizards roamed the land.
As you must have guessed by now, the lyrical content of the album doesn't stray too far from the usual cliched Dungeons & Dragons stuff. This kind of imagery really only works if you deliver it with enough confidence. Half-hearted attempts at emulating Dio won't do; you really have to go for it. No such qualms here though: as we could guess from their respective other bands, the two main protagonists literally live and breath this stuff and their love of the genre shines through their music.
The album is neatly paced, starting with a bang but slowing down in places with the odd acoustic ballad. The Gregorian choirs show up again on the last track, book-ending the album with an appropriately moody finish. I must say I never really followed Iced Earth and Blind Guardian's careers too closely, more because of a lack of opportunity rather than a matter of taste. However, the strength of the material presented here has definitely aroused my interest in these two bands: if they're anywhere near as good, they must be worth checking out. Overall, this is not a groundbreaking release that's going to turn the world on its head, but nonetheless, a worthy addition to your heavy metal collection.
A small footnote: if you get the collector's release, you will get a bonus track in the form of a cover of Cream's "White Room." While the band certainly does a decent job of it, the most surprising aspect of it was how close they kept it to the original and yet how contemporary-sounding the track turned out. If anything, making the guitars a tad heavier and using modern production techniques just made more obvious how ahead of their time Cream really were. Forget Clapton's afro haircut, the psychedelic album covers and the rest, this is classic heavy metal.
© 2000 - Christophe Chuvan