Demons & Wizards in Bloomington, MN

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
(
) and vocalist
Hansi Kursch
) does deliver a first-rate product on this, their eponymous debut. The music is sharp and punchy
, and
Kursch
's voice is in excellent form, but the utter predictability of
may disappoint fans curious about the possibilities of a
Schaffer
collaboration. Every song would fit nicely on a
or
outing.
could disappoint listeners expecting a fresh take on
from two of the genre's more successful practitioners. ~ Vincent Jeffries