Demons & Wizards new album review.

Wyvern

Master of Disaster
Staff member
Nov 24, 2002
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Well fans of Iced Guardian and Blind Earth, the kids are back to give their special blend for the second time.

‘Crimson King’: starts very fast in the vein of the traditional Iced Earth riff, only I feel the double bass faster than in the previous album. The chorus is more in the vein of latest Blind Guardian releases. Exactly what you’ll expect a mixture of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. But also sounds kind of thrashed in some parts going more to old BG.
I can perceive a lot of different things in the song I’ll say is, part power, part prog, part thrash, which makes it pretty interesting for merely 5:47

‘Beneath These Waves’: a more standard power song, fast, melodic, very potent in the riffing as expectable from Schaeffer. Kursch vocals reminds more of the days of “Somewhere Far Beyond”. At 3:34 turns into a soft melodic, semi-acoustic song all the way towards the end.

‘Terror Train’: with that name you can expect a riff like this. Again a lot of middle era BG with all the backup of IE, is the feeling. Strong power metal, nothing sugary here.


‘Seize The Day’: these sounds more like the first album. Is a mid-tempo semi-acoustic song, very nice and melodic. A hybrid between ‘Ghost Of Freedom’ and ‘And Then There Was Silence’, but not epic.


‘The Gunslinger’: starts very soft until 1:45 when it hits hard and fast. The bridge and the chorus have a really nice harmony, again very good power without the sugar.


‘Love’s Tragedy Asunder’: also starts soft to burst at 1:10 but more mid-tempo. Reminds me of ‘Under The Ice’ or ‘Age Of False Innocence’, I’ll say it has more of BG than IE this one, and works fine for me :D


‘Wicked Witch’: acoustic ballad. Beautiful harmonies flowing intertwined with layers of voices, great song in the proper place of the album.


‘Dorian’: is the longest song of the album. Starts pretty energetic and then changes to mid/slow tempo. Like the opener is a mix of power, prog, epic, like some stuff from “Horror Show” IMO. Not the most interesting song of the album either.

‘Down Where I Am’: goes also soft and acoustic until the middle when it takes force. The melody carries on pretty well and the chorus is catchy.

‘Immigrant Song: I’m not fan of LZ (sorry zeppie), and I have never liked this song in particular. One good thing is that Kursch is not trying to scream like Plant having his balls in a press, but the rest of the song is not an improvement of the original, nor a distinctive version to make it enjoyable. In a nutshell it could have been NOT made and no one would have care.



If you’re a fan of IE and/or BG you’ll like this album, it sounds less medieval than its predecessor but is good power metal. It may or not make the top ten 2005, but surely is not disappointing. I was ready to get it before hear it and I haven't change my mind.
 
Wyvern said:
Well fans of Iced Guardian and Blind Earth, the kids are back to give their special blend for the second time.

I've just downloaded it from Kerrazy, now I'm having a first listen...
Sounds promising so far! :headbang:
Oh yeah, and that Led Zep cover was totally unnecessary, I agree.
So bland and uninspired... And it didn't come close to the frantic Dark Angel cover... ;)
 
seems like most cover songs are pretty unnecessary.
Glad to hear that it they've changed the sound a bit and are not simply regurgitating the first album. Can't wait!
 
SickBoy said:
I've just downloaded it from Kerrazy, now I'm having a first listen...
Sounds promising so far! :headbang:
Oh yeah, and that Led Zep cover was totally unnecessary, I agree.
So bland and uninspired... And it didn't come close to the frantic Dark Angel cover... ;)

I got it there too :D, and indeed DA cover is way better compared side to side.