Customer Reviews

Demons & Wizards

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

People who say Demons and Wizards sounds like Blind Guardian meets Iced Earth aren't listening closely enough. This musical match-up of IE's Jon Schaffer and BG's Hansi Kursch is magical in a way that's hard for me to explain.

I'm a fan of both bands, and respect the talents of both musicians. Yet, neither creates music like this.

IE's music is intense, sometimes brutal that borders on the blatantly angry. BG's music is also intense, but in a more lyrically optimistic way.

On one hand, a friendship between Jon Schaffer and Hansi Kursch seems unlikely. Schaffer has never been accused of being a starry-eyed dreamer. And Hansi isn't known for seeing the glass half empty. Yet, these two musicians bonded on their first tour together many years ago...and now regard one another almost with mystical reverence.

On this, their first collaboration, Schaffer and Kursch achieve synergy -- a magical blending of styles that draws upon the foundation of both bands, yet transcends each.

Frankly, Schaffer's guitar work never sounded better. And Hansi's voice -- an acquired taste to some -- is at its melodic best.

My favorite track is "Fiddler on the Green," a song that arose from two real-life tragedies in Hansi's life. (In case you didn't know, the CD's cover graphics are based on the story line of "Fiddler.") This song has poignant lyrics, killer guitar work (both electric and acoustic) and stellar vocals from Hansi.

If you're a fan of Iced Earth and/or Blind Guardian, Demons and Wizards is a must-have.

If you aren't familiar with those bands, yet you like well-played metal with a lot of nice vocals -- not to mention the aforementioned element of "magic" -- you should give Demons and Wizards a try.

If you like what you hear, you'll be pleased to know that Schaffer and Kursch are working on the next Demons and Wizards album -- an album that will surely top my wish list for 2003.

I am 43 years old and listen to AC/DC, Black Sabbath ect. I've checked out lots of new bands on the internet through the years and have never found a single one worth buying, until now. I paid to download both of Demons & Wizards albums and after listening to the excellent side efforts from these two most talented musicians I had to order the actual CD's here through Amazon. I downloaded two albums each from Iced Earth and Blind Guardian and though the music was ok in my old rock opinion it is not even close to Demons & Wizards. I only hope these two guys remain friends and realize what a wide range of people they are reaching. Please give us more of this excellent music in the future.

Being a huge fan of both Iced Earth and Blind Guardian, I have been very eager to get this album. Well, it is definitely a great album, but perhaps not quite as good as I thought it would be. Either way, it is quite amazing. Jon Schaffer's riffing is, as always, godly, and Hansi's over-the-top vocals add a melodic twist to the crunching heaviness. "Fiddler on the Green", "Blood on my Hands", and "Path of Glory" are my favorites. The transitions from acoustic melody to thrashy heaviness is killer. Mike Prator hits us with some incredible kick-snare drumming, the likes of which we heard on "The Dark Saga". Oh, and I had no idea that Jon could play bass, not that he's all that great at it. Why didn't Hansi just do it, he is a bass player! As great as this album is, there's something about it that's just...off. I don't think Hansi's voice quite matches the dark and heavy nature of the music, whereas Blind Guardian is more anthemic power metal, which suits him better than the thrashiness of Iced Earth. It just seems like he's trying to comform to the sound, and he doesn't shine quite like he does in BG. Sometimes, it appears he's even trying to sound like Matt Barlow, and the attempt falls flat. Another thing is that the lyrics are kind of weird, and at times surprisingly violent. For instance, "Poor Man's Crusade" ends with the line "Let's kill them all", and "Fiddler on the Green" is an eerie tale of a little girl being murdered, with the line "her body smashed, her beauty's gone". It doesn't feel like Blind Guardian or Iced Earth. But, maybe that's better.

It may sound like I'm putting this album down a bit, but it is really great, although I think there should have been a bit more soloing in it. It was one of the best albums to come out last year, along with Iron Maiden's "Brave New World", Nevermore's "Dead Heart in a Dead World", and Jag Panzer's "Thane to the Throne". I recommend checking out stuff from Iced Earth and Blind Guardian before you pick up this, but a fan of either band should not be without it.

It's hard to convey perfection by describing the merits of an album through the written word. As a Heavy Metal listener I bought this album as a result of the recommendation of a friend. At first I hesitated. "Demons & Wizards? Never heard of them." I later realized that it was a collaborative effort by the frontman of Blind Guardian and the guitarist of Iced Earth. I was vaguely familiar with these bands, perhaps having heard a song or two in passing without much thought or worry. When I played this for the first time it blew me away. It was the first album I've purchased in the past five years that I have actually moved to my personal top ten list. It is that good. I popped the CD in my car while driving home from a rough day at work and happened to have my attention diverted from the road to "Fiddler on the Green", a dark and melodic tale about the Grim Reaper or "Death" and how Death realizes how he is prone to make mistakes as well and can feel sympathy for his victims, especially if they are young children. The first three or four times I heard the song it sent chills down my spine during the segway from atmospheric acoustic guitar work, to heavy rock at its finest. There is not one filler or bad song on this album, and even includes a bonus track of "White Room" by Cream, strutting the band's scope and complexity with their unique and faithful take on this classic track. If I was stranded on a desert island with only one CD, this incredible work, without question, would be the one I keep my sanity with.

I am a huge fan of both Iced Earth and Blind Guardian, and was extremely excited when I heard Jon and Hansi would be working together. However, I don't think they spent enough time writing the album; I noticed that there are a few recycled Iced Earth rifs in some of the songs. Some of the songs are excellent (My Last Sunrise, Fiddler on the Green) and some are definately going to be skipped in my CD player. They definately should have incorperated more of Blind Guardian's style into the music. This album will be listened to, but not nearly as frequently as The Dark Saga or Nightfall in Middle-Earth.

Being a fan of Hansi Kursch, Blind Guardian's 'Queenish' style singer, I was compelled to give Demons and Wizards a try. Though I've only reviewed one B.G. album and that was only a single, (and one of my best reviews if I do say so) "And The There Was Silence" is a fabulous fourteen minute masterpiece and one of my top ten songs if not top five out of a library of fifteen thousand songs and counting, so don't misunderstand me, Blind Guardian is, in the immortal words of Billy Crystal, "Marvelous". Once you get used to them that is.

What do I mean by that?

Well, Blind Guardian music is very busy music. They play a Melodious, Symphonic brand of metal whose music explodes at you and bombards you with multi-faceted ingenious melodies from all sides in fact it is so dense with layer upon layer of sound and with all those high pitched voices coming at you constantly from all over, that ones brain cannot absorb it all at one time. It needs time put everything in order, so that is why I recommend at least five or six plays to get used to their music.

So why am I talking about Queen and Blind Guardian?

I guess it's because Blind Guardian, who sounds a little like Queen is half of Demons and Wizards. Which half I don't know. The other half is Iced Earth an Floridian Trash/Heavy Metal band of some note, which admittedly never appealed to me much until their last release, The Glorious Burden, which is so good I can't seem to get it out of either of my car stereos.

With a pedigree like that you'd think Demons and Wizards would be a slam dunk (did I hear that somewhere before?) five star review, right? Well not quite. As with Blind Guardian it took some getting used to, so I played it over and over until it grew on me, however though it grew on me, I still prefer straight Blind Guardian and Demons and Wizards though very good is not as good as Glorious Burden. Don't get me wrong this is a quality recording with the ten actual songs averaging 4.4 stars. The main thing is this album needs to be listened to. Like Blind Guardian it does not work as background music.

Highlights

After a brief intro ("Rites of Passage") the first song "Heaven Denies" sets a fast tempo with heavy drums with speed metal and the usual Blind Guardian vocal sound, however it dissipates as the song swings to a slow ethereal pace subsides at the three minute mark. A very nice touch!

The fourth track "Fiddler on the Green" starts with Hansi singing a slow folk sounding song with a nice melody and then at about the 3:40 mark the intensity starts to blow you out. This is like a reverse of "Heaven Denies" though not as fast and is followed by the upbeat "Blood on my Hands" a straight forward medium fast number with a catchy beat and a pleasant melody with Hansi and the usual background vocals.

A very nice introduction is followed by a variable tempo piece that is most representative of the classic Blind Guardian sound on the seventh track, "Winter of Souls". Another nifty varied tempo song, "The Whistler" follows again with familiar Hansi vox and backups accompanied by moderately heavy drums and guitars.

"Tear Down the Wall" is another variable speed number, which gets better as it goes. It starts out slow but it eventually warms up with a galloping beat and great vocals. Track ten, "Gallows Pole" is, in my estimation, the best song and the only five star number, though others are close.
It starts with Hansi's vox being electronically altered quickly switching to a hard rock sound but with a great refrain and melody.

CONCLUSION

Overall I'd say that Demons and Wizards leans more toward Iced Earth as far as heaviness is concerned but is fairly melodic and busy, as you might expect from Blind Guardian.

It should be noted that this album is a side project of good friends, Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer and Blind Guardian's Hansi Kursch. Some other band members and a couple guest artists joined in but not the full compliment of both bands.

Demona and Wizards is an interesting collaboration of two popular bands, Heavy Metal Iced Earth and Symphonic Metal Blind Guardian. I'd like to hear more from these guys!

When any real power metal fan hears the names Iced Earth or Blind Guardian, one can't help but have their eyes widen and say, "yea, they rule!" The idea of Shaffer and Kursch from both bands coming together would make any fan go out and by this, no questions asked. The CD cover, linear notes, and CD artwork itself look gorgeous, clean and exciting, therefore this is going to ge an incredible record - says the buyer. I myself thought all these things, but came out a somewhat dissappointed in the end.
Fans of the disc get annoyed when people simply describe the CD's music as "Iced Earth metal w/ Blind Guardian vocals." Still, this statement is more true then false. The guitars (dirty and thrashy), production (somewhat raw and electrifying), themes (religion, questioning, etc), and metal attitude are VERY Iced Earth sounding, and the vocals seems to be very Blind Guardian inspired (Choir style screams, soprano's and depthful passion). I would say though the Cd is more Iced Earth then Blind Guardian, it almost seems like this is really Jon Shaffer's idea and Hansi is just along for the ride. Guitars are structured the same as Iced Earth as well, not many lead oriented riffs, but just power chord thrashness. No symphonies or fancy production effects, or even keyboards or pianos for that matter - so if you're into epic stuff like Rhapsody/Kamelot/Sonata Arctica type power metal, this might not be your thing.
We open up w/ a quite mediocre song that opens w/ the thrash metal and vocals i described earlier, and a chorus that struggles to be good, but ultimately isn't anything worth headbanging to, or even tapping your fingers to. The song breaks into a acoustic lull about half way through and ends this way - it tries to build an absorbing atmosphere, and even though the second half feels out of place, it still works and sounds well, I just think they should've put something else as the opening track, something to excite and rev up the listener. Track 2 "Crusade.." is about the same, only a bit better w/ a good chorus and catchy rhythm, and the rest of the record just feels more mediocre then good (never really bad though). Only about 3 tracks really stuck out to me, like "Fiddler on the Green" (and that took about 3 listens) and the one that got me upon first try "Path to Glory" (I wish more songs on the record were like this, beautiful acoustic work and enchanting vocals) Basically, it's those w/ acoustic breaks that really stick out, only because the rest is just feels pretty mediocre, not bad though. The choruses really try hard to be catchy and memorable, but upon first listen they really aren't, and that will dissappoint impatient buyers, but give it another shot, you did pay about 15 bucks for it; this is mostly evident on tracks 5, 8, 9,10 - pretty boring songs. I really enjoyed the ending track though, very dark and twistfully melodic - very un-blind guardian/Iced Earth sounding. And the closing chants sound cool, despite some complaints.
The reason I gave this a just above-average 3 is because even though the songs on this one feel mediocre upon first listen, there's something about them that keeps you coming back. I haven't popped in my Iced Earth CD in quite a while and the music on D&W made me miss that old school style of power metal (as I've been indulging lately on too much Lost Horizon, and Blind Guardian modern power metal). Some songs on D&W feel like those you really have to hear at least 3 times to remember, like Opeth songs, because they don't seem to want to be remembered upon first listen, which is better, in a way - unfortunately though, most people don't have the patience for that and will ultimately discard the record, just as many people ignorantly discard Opeth. I can't put my finger on what this is though, but I think it mostly has to do with Hansi Kursch's vocals - passionate, ambient, and imagnative - and the way they fuse together w/ the instrumentals irregularly but depthfully, and it keeps you coming back the way he does on BG records. You really have to LISTEN for it though, as I said before, patience. I've only spun this CD about 2 and a half times, and this review might change, but I definitely feel that given enough patience, this album will be that sleeper hit in your CD collection, not to pop in and listen to everyday, but just every now and then when you're in the mood for something more down to earth; keep in mind though that only about 5 or 6 of the songs on this 10 track record are really worth listening to. Worth the money if your into power metal, even more worth it if your into something old school IE sounding.

Judging by the sheer number of reviews on this album, I'm going to guess that the combination of Hansi from Blind Guardian and Jon from Iced Earth was something most were looking forward to, no? Ha ha, just kidding.

Anyway, the album. It's fantastic to be sure. But is it the greatest metal album ever (as many of these reviews would have you believe)? Absolutely not. In fact, while I do have much goodness to spread about it and certainly hope it's not a one-time collaboration, I don't believe it's as good as the best individual efforts from the above mentioned Guardian and Iced families. The fantasy, power metal themes run strong, and certain songs like "Heaven Denies," "Fiddler on the Green," "Winter of Souls," and "My Last Sunrise" are sheer brilliance. The Maiden/Saxon-esque riffing pays sheer homage to that awesome early-to-mid-80s classic metal era. There's lots of good stuff going on here, like Schaffer and guest guitarist Jim Morris playing searing lead under Hansi's always powerful vocals. Or the absolutely fantastic harmonizing that you'd expect from some of the premier epic power metal musicians around these days.

So why not 5 stars? Simple. Because the album just didn't hook me the way Blind Guardian's "Somewhere Far Beyond" or Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" or Helloween's "Keepers I & II." It's a remarkable metal album for the year 2001, make no mistake about it. It's just not the greatest ever.

This album is breath-taking. I have all Blind Guardian's CDs but had never listened to much Iced Earth. On the strength of this album I bought Alive in Athens!

This album is not 'Iced Guardian' - more like Iced Earth with a new vocalist. The highlight is Fiddler on the Green. A haunting tale about a boy who the grim reaper has taken before his time, so the reaper takes the girl who would have been his future wife so they can spend eternity together. It build slowly to a bone crunching finale.

Some weak spots on the album, but Fiddler and Tear Down the Walls make up for any shortcomings.

Wow, I heard about this CD coming out, and knew I HAD to get it... Being a fan of both Blind Guardian and Iced Earth, I was sure I was not gonna be dissapointed, and I defenitely wasn't! This has to be one of the BEST metal recordings this year! All fans of TRUE heavy metal should go pick it up, you WON'T be dissapointed, EVERY song is just incredible, some slower, some faster, but ALL are powerful, and show incredible musicianship, these guys can PLAY.. The lyrics are well thought out too, not just mindless lyrics about death and the like... I would have given it 10 stars, but five is all I am allowed, so... Anyways, ALL fans of true power metal, GO buy this CD, you WON'T regret it..