Tracks
Disk #1
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Demons & Wizards is a collaboration between the creative forces of Iced Earth (Jon Schaffer, guitars) and Blind Guardian (Hansi Kursch, vocals) united, it seems, by their mutual penchant for mystery, sci-fi and apocalyptic themes. I have to admit that, for me, Touched By the Crimson King is the definite album and the one to start with.
Released in the now distant 2005, and only second in the group’s discography, it features a tasty, varied and intriguing selection of tunes. It wouldn’t be too ambitious to call them mini-plays either, since each takes a familiar story and sets it to music. I think it works and the listener won’t be hard pushed to sense familiar Iced Earth motifs. Schaffer is famous for his trade-mark and somewhat Maidenesque fondness for triplet rhythms which he multitracks his guitars to create a wall of sound experience. His rhythm playing is tight and the listener often feels he or she is in the path of Genghis Khan’s cavalry, approaching head-on. Yes, Schaffer over does it at times and peculiarly, seems unable to vary his ballad approach from the cannon of descending ‘Em’ – ‘D-‘ ‘C’ – ‘G’ – which makes every single ballad he has written, from the very early Solitude and Life and Death featured on Iced Earth’s eponymous 1990 release, to Love’s Tragedy Asunder from the current album, sound alike. No matter. This, although familiar, combined with Kursch’s interesting vocal approach works.
Listeners familiar with Blind Guardian will know that Hansi usually creates a ‘vocal army’ and relies on a multitude of vocal melodies, choral arrangements and subtle notes here and there, to surprise and excite the listener, which I rather enjoy. This is put to good use in the Wicked Witch song from the current album based, you guessed it, on the Wizard of Oz, yet retold in a deep, profoundly melancholic manner.
Other literary greats appear here, too. Oscar Wilde’s Portrait of Dorian Gray is represented in the punchy, power-metal laden with 10-ton-riffs Dorian, while The Gunslinger, Terror Train and Crimson King are all taken from Stephen King’s Dark Tower magnum opus. Those are all expertly executed and intelligently written pieces, and please do take note of the double-bass drumming throughout the album, courtesy of Halford drummer, Bobby Jarzombek. It couldn’t be a true Schaffer band without a drummer able to keep-up and punctuate the guitarist’s rapid fire, triplets, after all, could it?
Melody and soaring choruses, albeit not in your typical power metal canon, abound. Kursch is a clever song-writer and a perfectionist, and in fact, this is the only bone I have to pick with his vocal delivery. The overproduction and auto-tune is too visible and in-your-face at times, especially on what are meant to be subtle, acoustic pieces such as the Wicked Witch slow version and Down Where I Am, which are otherwise splendid instances of heavy metal balladry.
The highlight of the album, for me, is Beneath These Waves, a song inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and which has the most stellar lyrics on the album as a whole. Just look at poetic beauty of the pre-chorus:
"Somewhere deep within
I am forever Ahab
And this whole act is immutably decreed" (Kursch, Beneath These Waves")
The tragedy and agony of Captain Ahab are palpable, dynamic, sad and vengeful and I was truly impressed with the atmosphere – second only perhaps to Iron Maiden’s own nautical masterpiece Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Overall, this is an impressive sophomore effort and I am excited to hear the rumours of an up-coming third album.
Released in the now distant 2005, and only second in the group’s discography, it features a tasty, varied and intriguing selection of tunes. It wouldn’t be too ambitious to call them mini-plays either, since each takes a familiar story and sets it to music. I think it works and the listener won’t be hard pushed to sense familiar Iced Earth motifs. Schaffer is famous for his trade-mark and somewhat Maidenesque fondness for triplet rhythms which he multitracks his guitars to create a wall of sound experience. His rhythm playing is tight and the listener often feels he or she is in the path of Genghis Khan’s cavalry, approaching head-on. Yes, Schaffer over does it at times and peculiarly, seems unable to vary his ballad approach from the cannon of descending ‘Em’ – ‘D-‘ ‘C’ – ‘G’ – which makes every single ballad he has written, from the very early Solitude and Life and Death featured on Iced Earth’s eponymous 1990 release, to Love’s Tragedy Asunder from the current album, sound alike. No matter. This, although familiar, combined with Kursch’s interesting vocal approach works.
Listeners familiar with Blind Guardian will know that Hansi usually creates a ‘vocal army’ and relies on a multitude of vocal melodies, choral arrangements and subtle notes here and there, to surprise and excite the listener, which I rather enjoy. This is put to good use in the Wicked Witch song from the current album based, you guessed it, on the Wizard of Oz, yet retold in a deep, profoundly melancholic manner.
Other literary greats appear here, too. Oscar Wilde’s Portrait of Dorian Gray is represented in the punchy, power-metal laden with 10-ton-riffs Dorian, while The Gunslinger, Terror Train and Crimson King are all taken from Stephen King’s Dark Tower magnum opus. Those are all expertly executed and intelligently written pieces, and please do take note of the double-bass drumming throughout the album, courtesy of Halford drummer, Bobby Jarzombek. It couldn’t be a true Schaffer band without a drummer able to keep-up and punctuate the guitarist’s rapid fire, triplets, after all, could it?
Melody and soaring choruses, albeit not in your typical power metal canon, abound. Kursch is a clever song-writer and a perfectionist, and in fact, this is the only bone I have to pick with his vocal delivery. The overproduction and auto-tune is too visible and in-your-face at times, especially on what are meant to be subtle, acoustic pieces such as the Wicked Witch slow version and Down Where I Am, which are otherwise splendid instances of heavy metal balladry.
The highlight of the album, for me, is Beneath These Waves, a song inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and which has the most stellar lyrics on the album as a whole. Just look at poetic beauty of the pre-chorus:
"Somewhere deep within
I am forever Ahab
And this whole act is immutably decreed" (Kursch, Beneath These Waves")
The tragedy and agony of Captain Ahab are palpable, dynamic, sad and vengeful and I was truly impressed with the atmosphere – second only perhaps to Iron Maiden’s own nautical masterpiece Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Overall, this is an impressive sophomore effort and I am excited to hear the rumours of an up-coming third album.