There are very few bands that play their music the same way every time they have a new records coming out. Recently Metalrage discussed the new releases of System of a Down and Chimaira. After a few cd’s, almost every band seems to put something new in their music. Even my favorite band of all time Smashing Pumpkins did such kind of thing with their ‘Adore’ record. One of those bands that stays close to their success formula is Wizard, describing their music as ‘True Power Speed Metal.’ With their latest release I expect a descent, nice peace of work. Overwhelming as a description would not come into my mind.

Descent, just as one would expect. I think all the descriptions and metaphors could qualify for this band. Get a check list and start to mark.
Do we have an intro to create a mysterious atmosphere?
Have we got heavy power chords from the guitar?
Is the singer able to get those very high notes?
Do we seem to notice fast guitar solo’s?
Is the production worked out secure?
Are these solo’s combined with slow parts to make a sign of relief?
Does the drummer smash his drums as hell?
Are there nice synths to give the music that mystical themes?
Do the lyrics refer in any matter to knights and magic?
And finally, is the band able to follow the right structure of song building?

I’m not giving you the answer to every single question, but I can ensure you that the answers are all the same. So, is there nothing special to tell about this album? Well, that depends. I think that fans of the scene immediately could name up five better bands. On the other hand, people who dislike this kind of music (mostly because of the high notes produced by the singer) wouldn’t turn on this cd either. 

But imagine this: I’m a 21-year old man. I live in a descent city, called Maastricht (in the Netherlands) and I’m a student. When I’ve got nothing to do I’d like to visit concerts and I’m especially interested in speed metal. I visit a concert of; let me take Symphony X, one of my favorites. When I arrive at the venue, I’m really excited and nervous, but my god, do we have an opening act? In this way, I’ve to wait even longer to see my heroes. And then, my dear readers, Wizard shows up with their enthusiastic brought up songs, providing me their new material with the incredible songs like ‘Uruk Hai’, ‘Death is my life’ and the amazing ‘Warriors of the night’. The band is a really good live-act and the mood in the crowd is growing with every single touch of the guitar strings. When the last song is played and the band wishes us lots of fun with the main act, I walk towards the merchandise and see that their cd is for sale, for 10 euros or something. 

You get my point? Wizard is not that kind of band that could create a whole new era in the world of speed/heavy/power metal, but instead makes very good songs that could just happen to inspire a lots of fans in the scene. With this cd, they prove that they’re a real ambassador, leaving the very highest top to other bands. When a band is able to do such kind of thing for more than fifteen years, I can do nothing but give my applause.