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Band Name: Demons And Wizards
Album Name: Demons And Wizards
Rating: 5 / 5 User Rating: 3 / 5
Label: SPV
Buy Album: Amazon.com
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Tracklist
1. Rites Of Passage
2. Heaven Denies
3. Poor Man's Crusade
4. Fiddler On The Green
5. Blood On My Hands
6. Path Of Glory
7. Winter Of Souls
8. The Whistler
9. Tear Down The Wall
10. Gallows Pole
11. My Last Sunrise
12. Chant Listen
13. White Room
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On this side project of Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kursch and Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer fans are treated to the best from both worlds, as this pairing of talents results in an album that is remarkably melodic yet oh-so-heavy metal. Kursh's unmistakable voice is in top form on this twelve-track masterpiece, his distinct style blending perfectly with the spectacular axe-work of Schaffer. The combination of their writing talents has resulted in an album that is much more straightforward than Blind Guardian and far more melodic than Iced Earth has ever been. Nothing about this project could be said to be disappointing whatsoever. With Demons and Wizards being a befitting moniker for this collaboration, the metal listener is taken on a highly dynamic, richly textured journey through a musical world of light and shade that melds savage six-string onslaughts together with soft acoustic atmospheres.
Produced at Tampa's famed Morrisound Studios, considered by many to be the preeminent studio for recording heavy metal in all of America, 'Demons And Wizards' is blessed with superior production quality, courtesy of none other than the master himself, Jim Morris, along with Kursch and Schaffer. But this is not the only manner in which Morris touches this significant recording. Morris additional lends his talents on the six-string, providing a handful of rather remarkable, highly melodic leads on the album, accenting the excellent songwriting of Schaffer in fine fashion.
On to the songs themselves, the highlight being the deeply dramatic 'Fiddler On The Green', a massive metal symphony which in one track becomes the summation of everything that is great about this record. A folksy melody initiates this tremendous song, with Schaffer providing a lush backdrop of ringing acoustic chords behind the soulful vocalizations of Kursch. Lyrically, this cut is splendid as Kursch spins a tale wherein the Grim Reaper (as pictured on the album's cover) takes a young girl away from her earthly life to be in companionship with a boy that the fiddling dealer of death had taken too soon. This is a highly moving number that slowly builds in intensity as it progresses, with a haunting lead from Morris ushering in a layered acoustic break before gliding smoothly into the second verse of the track. The song builds very theatrically into a wall of guitars, some wailing, others chugging and ringing out as Schaffer shows a fantastic knack for providing the song with exactly what it needs in order to be engaging, without overplaying. Kursch's vocals become powerfully commanding near the end of the cut, illustrating with perfection the manner in which to give a truly excellent vocal performance.
Starting off with a galloping, thrashing riff, 'Heaven Denies' evokes majesty, as Kursch pushes the air with his powerful lungs and Schaffer attacks the song head-on with a flurry of complex rhythms. Possessing a massive chorus, 'Blood On My Hands' combines stark melodies with a thrashing fury, making for yet another high point of the record while 'Poor Man's Crusade' remains highly tuneful and appropriately memorable. Schaffer provides further fascinating acoustic warmth during passages of 'Path Of Glory', where Kursch lets loose with his patented, vibrant yell between the cut's smooth verses. One of the albums more thoroughly melodic tracks, 'Winter Of Souls' finds the pair of songwriters undertaking a contrasting approach, with Kursch crooning warmly over significantly grinding guitars. Again the group skillfully exercise their musical talents in order to provide duality on 'The Whistler', with Schaffer alternating between plucked single notes and a substantially crushing riff. Listeners will discover one of the album's more surreal cuts in 'Tear Down The Wall', with the duo undertaking a turn of progressiveness. On 'Gallows Pole', the phased vox of Kursch usher in an appropriately weighty cut, here his vocals resonate with pure electricity, embellishing the powerful track in a fantastic manner.
Nothing short of extraordinary, this record is a landmark in the history of metal that exposes Schaffer and Kursch to be song masters of the highest order, something of a modern-day Page and Plant, but effectively capturing the inherent majesty of heavy metal in a manner which those respected forefathers could never accomplish. 'Demons And Wizards' is that huge, being an album that is likely to hold up for years and years to come.
Review by: EF
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