DEMONS & WIZARDS

Touched By the Crimson King

SPV
rating icon 8 / 10

Track listing:

01. Crimson King
02. Beneath These Waves
03. Terror Train
04. Seize the Day
05. The Gunslinger
06. Love's Tragedy Asunder
07. Wicked Witch
08. Dorian
09. Down Where I Am
10. Immigrant Song


You pretty much can't go wrong with Jon Schaffer or Hansi Kürsch. The ICED EARTH guitarist and BLIND GUARDIAN vocalist are masters of their chosen callings, and two of traditional metal's leading lights, so when they get together, the results are bound to be pretty stellar. Schaffer's precision triplets and tasteful riffing, and Kürsch's distinct voice, make DEMONS & WIZARDS something that exists in a rarefied realm far above most "supergroups" and side projects. This is more a summit of metal's elite, a meeting of Valhallan minds, and a distillation of everything that's good about quote-unquote "power metal" into one colossal package.

"Touched By the Crimson King" may have been five years in the making, but it picks up right where the self-titled debut left off. Some of BLIND GUARDIAN's bombast seeps into the ICED EARTH ethos, making for some huge choruses and monumental songs, starting off in fine fashion with the urgent "Crimson King". "Terror Train" lives up to its title with a manic, edgy performance from Kürsch and insistent guitar harmony runs. The band's ballads are equally strong, though "Seize the Day" and the acoustic "Wicked Witch" fail to match up the poignant majesty of the debut's "Fiddler on the Green". "Love's Tragedy Asunder" spotlights some rare fancy bass work, and features a killer midtempo chorus similar to "Tear Down the Wall" from 2000.

Kürsch and Schaffer are so damn good, they even take what sounds like an awful idea on paper — covering a song as ubiquitous as LED ZEPPELIN chestnut "Immigrant Song" — and redeeming themselves quite well with it. I'd still rather have one more original tune on the "plain" version (the usual raft of limited editions with bonus tracks, slipcases, and whatnot on the way),but they do the song justice, and it's a nice capper to the album.

So why "only" an 8? Familiarity, mostly — maybe it's just because these guys make it look so damned easy, but DEMONS & WIZARDS is a formulaic concept, no matter how flawlessly that formula is executed. There are absolutely no surprises here for anyone who's heard the first record, and that alone makes it less than perfect — after all, you can only hear a sound for the first time once, and we've heard this before (especially given Schaffer's workmanlike playing and insistence on sticking to basic riffs that, while leaving all the spotlight for the vocal melodies, can sometimes start sounding samey).

Does that make it less enjoyable? Hell no — "Touched By the Crimson King" is pure talent and class, top-notch musicianship and quality songwriting from two icons from whom we'd expect nothing less. A request, gentlemen — don't make us wait half a decade for the third album… and how about a tour?

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).