The power metal supergroup Demons & Wizards (a side-project of singer Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian and guitarist/song writer Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth) released their self-titled debut album in February 2000 followed by a short tour. In 2005, the band released their second album entitled Touched by the Crimson King but this time, mo touring. In 2019 the band reunited for a series of shows and festival appearances. Demons & Wizards being a project combining two of my all time favorite bands, it feels weird to say that I never really took the time to appreciate them. Mostly because I am not a fan of supergroups, but as they rejoined forces for touring, I decided to dive into it. I watched the WOA live stream and of course I was quite impressed with what I heard. Following that I spent some time with their first two albums.
After the tour the band announced their third studio album, III. The LP marks the band's first collection of new material in 15 years. Going over the 1 hour mark, the album feels a bit long but manageable. The variability and dynamic certainly help. Each song is independent and delivers a unique story. When it comes to the guitar work, the similarities to Iced Earth are inevitable, John's trademark style is fully present, but the beauty is that when the vocals from Hansi are laid on top of it, then it gets also very Blind Guardian due to his very unique voice and style. Album opener, "Diabolic", is a vivid example of this synergistic dynamic.
Despite those years apart, III feels like a natural progression from the first two albums. The 2000's roots are there, but it has a very intense, modern, new feeling to it. It goes further into adding new directions. For example "Midas Disease" shows this clearly. It's a cool upbeat track in which they go completely old school classic rock as a tribute to AC/DC’s Malcolm Young. But it also sounds a lot like WASP, specially the vocals. The guitar work and solos are simply awesome. Other tracks more traditional heavy metal include: "Universal Truth", "New Dawn" and "Invincible". Interestingly the three were originated in the Iced Earth's Incorruptible writing sessions. But it is "Split" that reminds me of old school Iced Earth (circa Night of the Stormrider). And for the Blind Guardian fans "Dark Side Of Her Majesty" is the closest we get to it, great tune and fantastic vocals. Then for the first time Demons & Wizards go proggy with epic songs around the 10-minute mark. The acoustic dominated leading to a big ending "Timeless Spirit" (a modern folk version of "A Question of Heaven") and the closer "Children Of Cain". Here I feel this song was stretched for the sake of hitting the 10 min mark and not that it really needed.
Overall, III is still a Power Metal album, so you can expect catchy melodies, big choruses, uncountable hooks and overall big and epic feeling. The video single "Wolves In Winter" being a strong example of a short power metal hymn that will be sang along when played live. Unfortunately there are some issues with III. First, it's a bit too long. A song like "Final Warning" felt unnecessary and "Children Of Cain" never gets anywhere. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the production values, it is pristine but maybe too polished. As for the mix, at moments the vocals seem low specially compared to the bass drum and rhythm guitars which are a bit too loud (e.g. "Split").
Like the blend of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian that Demons & Wizards are, their third LP is an epic journey with picks and valleys. While not perfect, it's a worthy follow up from the first albums taking the band's sound into new directions (traditional metal and prog) without loosing their roots (epic anthems, power metal catchiness).
SCORE: 80/100
Genre: Power Metal
Released by Century Media Records on February 21st, 2020
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Rating System
96 - 100 Perfect
88 - 95 Excellent
84 - 87 Great
80 - 83 Very Good
75 - 79 Good
69 - 74 Mixed
58 - 68 Bad
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