Demons and Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King

Demons and Wizards is the byproduct of a metal friendship. Jon Shaffer of Iced Earthand Hansi Kursh of Blind Guardian are both friends and fans of each other's bands. In metal circles, this means that you end up doing a side project with each other. Side projects are all the rage these days, with virtually every member of a European metal band being in some other band. Shaffer and Kursh got together in 2000 for the first Demons and Wizards album, which was recieved with grand acclaim from the metal world. What was in essence Kursh putting melodies over discarded Iced Earth demos turned into a band that people liked more than Iced Earth itself. Being one to see the commercial benefit of this, Shaffer has finally put together enough music for Kursh to make a second highly anticipated album. Would this album be another mash of two bands, or would they finally create a new sound for a new entity?

"Crimson King" thunders out of the gate with Shaffer's light speed galloping. The speed at which the man can play is astounding, and all the thrash metal bands of the 80's would have killed to have him in their ranks. The galloping, combined with a well placed double kick drum gives the song a great foundation for Kursh, who follows suit with a nice verse melody. The problem with this song is the chorus, which is so painfully obvious and blunt that it borders on being offensive. There's no sense of melody at all in it, and that sours an otherwise fine song.

"Beneath These Waves" is next, and kicks up a nice mid paced chugging rhythm underneath Kursh's distinctive vocals. You eithe rlove his voice or hate it, and that's one of the problems with this band. No matter how good their songs are, and this is a nice melodic rocker, the appeal of the band is tied directly to Kursh's vocals. They're unspectacular in this song, as he tries a laid back approach, which is interesting, but drains the song of some of it's energy. Kursh does, however, demonstrate that he can create grand hooks.

"Terror Train" is another psuedo thrasher, complete with continual double bass drumming. Kursh resorts to his whiniest tone of voice for this one, which doesn't allow the song to grow into anything other than what it is. Shaffer is a bit limited in his musical creativity, and it shows in this song, as it sounds like the same one riff for almost five minutes.

"Seize the Day" slows the pace down, opening up as an acoustic ballad. This sort of song works best for Kursh, as his voice is much better suited to being tender and warm than it is for screaming over walls of sound. This song builds into what you would be hard pressed to call a chorus, as the hook is rather subtle, and not as powerful as the genre would mandate.

"The Gunslinger" is for the first half another ballad, this time built on a finger picked clean elecrtic guitar. The song wanders and plods for a minute and a half before another high speed galloping riff takes over, and brings the song into full metal territory. A virtual army of Kursh's congregate for the chorus, bombarding the hook into the ears of the listener. This is how background vocals are to be used. Metal singers take note of this.

"Love's Tragedy Asunder" is yet another rocker disguised as a ballad. Fortunately for the weak hook of this song, the riff dominating the song is the most original served up by Shaffer in this album, not relying on full on thrashing gallops. It's nice to see that he still has something left in his bag of tricks after a decade plus of using the same riff for every song.

"Wicked Witch" is another true ballad in which Kursh demonstrates again that he's in the wrong line of music. A subtle piano line accentuates the acoustic strumming of the chorus, in which the mellow vocals bring with them a sense of pain that no galloping riff could accomplish.

"Dorian" is another paint-by-numbers Shaffer thrasher, which after this many years has to be boring even for him. This is the sort of song that he can churn out in his sleep, and judging by the results of this one, he just might have. After having no hook for the first half of the song, it breaks down into a slow tempo section in which melody is ever further eschewed. Kursh makes no effort to save this tired piece of work.

"Down Where I am" is my highlight of this album. This is another song that is half ballad and half rocker (anyone see a pattern yet?). Unlike the previous song, Kursh brings his best melody of the album to this song, and it works extremely well. A simple hook serves as the anchor for the song, and anything more complicated would have overpowered the simple accompaniment. "I don't want to hold you, I don't want to see you, cause even your smile hurts, It hurts like hell". A simple message that resonates, and lets this song hold an emotional weight that no other song on this record can bring. The obvious electric buildup only serves to make the hook bigger, which is exactly what it should be doing.

"Immigrant Song" is the required cover for this band. their first album featured an inspired cover of Cream's "White Room", but this cover falls flat. There's no life in the song, and you can tell that neither man has any interest in the song.

The bottom line on this record is that it's exactly what it was supposed to be. Shaffer has a formula for everything that he writes, and this follows it without exception. That's ok if you like to hear the same thing over and over again, but it doesn't make for a great album. There are great moments on this record, but they're far too infrequent for men who've been in the business for as long as these two. This effort does break some new ground for the band, but it's not enough to save it. The first album was too much an Iced Earth album, and this one is too much a formula album. That being said, it's still a better effort than the first Demons and Wizards album, and lightyears ahead of the dreadful offering that Iced Earth last tried to pass upon the world.

Rating: 70/100