Demons & Wizards--Demons & Wizards

Demons & Wizards--Demons & Wizards (1999/Steamhammer) Rating--8.9

The much-anticipated project from Iced Earth guitarist/songwriter Jon Schaffer, and Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kursch. The result is almost like having a "new" album-- from each of the two bands. Actually a bit of an improvement over the BG material, as it fixes the few shortcomings that the band may have: the overall rhythms are much meatier, and the guitar work is pushed up to the forefront, where it belongs.
Schaffer is as super-tight as ever, helping to make this release solid throughout.
The driving and galloping "Poor Man's Crusade" is a top highlight, with good, biting vocal work. Several tracks incorporate a heavy-to-light mix, including "Path of Glory" and "Winter of Souls". The continuous flow of "Heaven Denies" is tight, and "Blood on My Hands" is faster as well.
Other high points abound: the solid vocal arrangements of "The Whistler"; nice stutter-chops from "Tear Down the Wall"; the rapid-straffing pickup of "My Last Sunrise"; and the chunky chords fueling "Gallows Pole." A bonus track surfaces in the form of Cream's "White Room," and you know it is compact and air-tight, with Schaffer working the rhythm.
In all, a great interlude as we await new albums from the artists' respective bands.
TRACK LIST: Rites of Passage/Heaven Denies/Poor Man's Crusade/Fiddler on the Green/Blood on My Hands/Path of Glory/ Winter of Souls/The Whistler/Tear Down the Wall/Gallows Pole/My Last Sunrise/Chant/White Room

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