History & Biography After much talk and speculation, the German and American friends got together and recorded an album mixing the two bands' sounds. The two main men were aided on their debut by Jim Morris guitars and Mark Prator on drums. Prator also played in Iced Earth and also joined Sebastian Bach.
The project issued a second album in mid-2005 that was recorded by Jim Morris again. The producer also played on the album. The duo behind the project was looking at playing select shows in 2005 and 2006. According to a 219 announcement, the side-project was planning to release a third album in January 2020. This would be the follow-up to 2005's Touched By The Crimson King album. Demons & Wizards would release its III album through Century Media on February 21st, 2020. Hansi Kürsch quit his project with Jon Schaffer as the latter man was part of the fascist mob attacking the US Capitol in Washington DC trying to steal the US elections in January 2021. Iced Earth members guitarist Jake Dreyer, singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton also quit that already dormant act.
Reviews DEMONS & WIZARDS - TOUCHED BY THE CRIMSON KING - SPV
Demons & Wizards, for those who do not know, is the band of metal names guitarist Jon Schaffer and singer Hansi Kürsch respectively of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. To be blunt they should have called their side-project either Blind Earth or Iced Guardian because that is truly what these songs represent. The album opens with a symphonic track a la Avantasia, but from there on Touched By The Crimson King (Hammerfall-ish album title notwithstanding) sounds like a fifty-fifty split between the two bands' music. A couple of peculiarities are the lack of guitar solos and the abundance of quiet softer moments. It is during these times that the listener wishes the band would rock out more. This is heavy metal after all. One last thing worth mentioning is the cover version of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. If there is a way to play this Classic track with less feeling or more stiffly then someone please point it out. Why record a cover and why play it so badly is a good question. That is just the way it is. This is not anyone's main band or priority and it is therefore difficult to be too critical. - Sheila Wes Det
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