Demons & Wizards

CMJ - "...a not-so-curious mixture of medieval folklore, acoustic melodies, big solos, and soaring power metal vocals....you'll expect gargoyles to pop out of your speakers..."

Originally released throughout Europe in 1999, this Blind Guardian/Iced Earth side project made it to American record stores a year later. Considering the lineage of Demons & Wizards, this Steamhammer/SPV offering is an automatic must-own for fans of latter-day European power metal. All-star membership certainly doesn't ensure a quality recording, but the duo of guitarist Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth) and vocalist Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) does deliver a first-rate product on this, their eponymous debut. The music is sharp and punchy power metal, and Kursch's voice is in excellent form, but the utter predictability of Demons & Wizards may disappoint fans curious about the possibilities of a Kursch/Schaffer collaboration. Every song would fit nicely on a Blind Guardian or Iced Earth outing. Demons & Wizards could disappoint listeners expecting a fresh take on power metal from two of the genre's more successful practitioners. ~ Vincent Jeffries|